Technically we could have done this in two day trips but it ended up costing about the same and I found a hostel that had capsule-hotel-esque beds in the dorm room so figured this might be my best chance to try one out - they were actually pretty spacious (I'm guessing they would be smaller in an actual capsule hotel but sometimes those are hard to stay in as a girl) and I preferred them to a bunk bed because you actually had a private area
Kobe Overview
Kobe is the capital of Hyogo Prefecture and is the sixth largest city in Japan. Kobe has been an important port city for many centuries and its port was among the first to be opened to foreign trade in the 19th century. I really like the vibe there because it reminds me a bit of Wellington with the harbour and hills with a bunch of funky shops, good restaurants and cafes in-between. I have visited quite a few times during my year here seeing something a little bit different each time, but always having some of the delicious cake the city is known for. The first time I visited was with Stuart in October, unfortunately it was raining so we just wandered around the Kitano district which is full of western houses and checked out the slightly old-school Harbourland. He enjoyed it much more the second time when we stopped off on the way to Hiroshima and went to check out the Hakatsuru Sake Brewery in the Nada District and have some Kobe Beef for lunch. If I haven't convinced you that its worth a quick trip out there yet, another exciting time to visit Kobe is for the Luminarie Light Festival held in December ever year since 1995 commemorating the Great Hanshin Earthquake of that year. It can be a bit crowded but is very pretty - you can see my pictures here. It was nice to take Mum back here for one last visit to Kobe to revisit some places and explore a few new places too, check it out...
Chinatown (Nankinmachi)
Nankinmachi is five minutes walk south of Motomachi Station, a ten minute walk southwest of Sannomiya Station or a five minute walk north of Meriken Park. We walked from Sannomiya station through this compact Chinatown towards Meiken Park. There are two main streets running through the district, meeting each other at a small plaza in the center that are packed with shops, restaurants and food stands that sell popular items. The area was developed by Chinese merchants who settled near Kobe Port after the port was opened to foreign trade in 1868. As the Chinatown developed, it became known as Nankinmachi after Nanjing, the former Chinese capital.
Meriken Park
Built on an outcropping of reclaimed land, this is a nice waterfront park covered in grassy lawn and open courtyards dotted with a collection of modern art installations and fountains. It is home to some of the city's more iconic contemporary architecture such as the red Kobe Port Tower and the Kobe Maritime Museum. The park was devastated by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, but has now become a popular spot for locals and tourists again. A small memorial in the park commemorates the many victims who were killed in the port during the earthquake. It preserves a short section of damaged waterfront as a reminder of the earthquake's tremendous, destructive power.
Kobe Nunobiki Herb Garden
Hours: 10:00 - 17:00 (first ropeway up 9:30, last down 16:45 slightly later in summer)
Admission: Y900 / Y1400 (entry to Herb Garden and one-way / return ropeway ticket)
This was somewhere I had wanted to go for a while, unfortunately the first trip it was raining, and then it was closed from December through March for renovations (my second and third trips) so even though the weather wasn't amazing on this, my fourth (and probably final) trip to Kobe I decided to go up with Mum (in all fairness she probably appreciated the Herb Garden more than Stuart would have anyway). There are over 5,000 herbs and flowers (200 varieties) on display and on a clear day there is a good view of Kobe. Within the park there is are restaurants and cafes (where you can enjoy dishes made with seasonal herbs), a Green Shop (with various herb and aroma gifts) and the Aroma Museum.
The Shin-Kobe Ropeway is actually split into two parts, most people get a return ticket and go all the way to the top, walking down through the Herb Garden and ride it back down from halfway. Rather than rushing it to make the last ropeway down, Lonely Planet said "you can easily walk down to the bottom station from the Herb Garden in about 30minutes" so we decided to do that. When we got out of the herb garden there was a sign in English pointing left that said "JR Shin Kobe Station" and a sign in Japanese pointing right that said "JR Shin Kobe Station via the waterfalls".... the second sounded much more appealing than just following the paved road all the way down so we went right, and then following the signs headed left down some stairs into the bush...I had read about a few people walking up from Shin Kobe station past the waterfalls so figured it couldn't be too bad going down, unfortunately it had been raining and we were a little bit worried about losing light (which isn't ideal when some of the bush is quite thick). With only Japanese signs Mum wasn't much help and I wasn't super confident I was leading us the right way but we eventually made it down to the station and it turned out to be a really nice walk, here is some information about some of the sights we saw along the way (only in Japanese sorry). Met up with Colleen afterwards for an izakaya dinner and in true Kobe style we rewarded ourselves with cake at the end of it all (no, not the entire plate, they bring one slice of each cake to your table so you can choose!)
At 931 metres, this is the highest peak in the Rokko mountain range, and provides the pleasant green backdrop to the city of Kobe. If you are there around sunset you can apparently enjoy panoramic views of the heavily urbanized Hanshin region (Kobe and Osaka) but we were there mid-morning and it was so foggy you could barely see 20 metres in front of you, however the ride up the Rokko Cablecar (opened in 1932) was beautiful and well worth it. Various small tourist attractions can be found on Mount Rokko, including a botanical garden, a music box museum, a pasture with flowers and sheep, Japan's first golf course and Rokko Garden Terrace, a pleasant complex of a few restaurants and shops and an observation deck however due to the weather we just took the circular bus line (running clockwise that connects many of the attractions) to the Rokko Arima Ropeway.
To get there from Sannomiya Station, take the Hankyu Kobe Line to Rokko Station (7 minutes, Y180), and then it is a 10 minute bus ride by Kobe City Bus number 16 to the base station of the Rokko Cablecar (note you can also get this bus from JR Rokkomichi station or Hanshin Mikage Station and it takes 15 and 25 minutes to the cablecar station respectively, both are Y200). Once you are there the cablecar ride up the mountain takes 10 minutes and costs Y570 one way or Y1000 for a round trip ticket. You can also get the "Omote Rokko Shuyu Joshaken" ticket that includes unlimited use of the circular bus and return cable car ticket for Y1300. It really was a beautiful journey.
Arima Onsen
Basically wikitravel told us there were two ways to get into Arima Onsen, "the cheap and practical way, or the fun but expensive way". Mum really likes cablecars, ropeways, gondolas etc (hell she even likes glass elevators) so we wanted to take the fun way in, and out of Arima Onsen so purchased a return trip for the first leg of the journey (the Rokko Cablecar). Unfortunately seeing as this was only a day trip we underestimated the time and the amount of changes it would take to get there from Sannomiya = train, bus, cablecar, bus, ropeway = and then back again...so I would recommend doing the "fun and expensive" option for just one of the legs. Seeing as the Rokko Arima Ropeway itself takes about 12 minutes and costs Y980 one way, Y1770 return, you can save a small amount by getting the "Rokko Arima Katamichi Joshaken" ticket which gives you a one way ticket for the Mount Rokko cablecar, unlimited use of the circular bus at the top and a one way ticket for the Arima Onsen ropeway for Y1700. The "cheap and practical" option is to take the Kobe Railway Arima Line to the last stop; Arima Onsen. You can meet up with this line by taking the Hanshin, Hankyu or Sanyo Line to Shinkaichi just west of Kobe or if you come in by JR, take the Kobe Subway from Sannomiya to Tanigami, and connect there to the Kobe Arima Line. In either case, make sure to transfer at the Arimaguchi station onto the (one stop only) Arima Onsen line. The whole trip will cost around Y900-1000 and take about half an hour.
This is a famous hot spring town within the city limits of Kobe, but on the opposite side of Mount Rokko from the city centre. It is close enough from Kobe and Osaka to be a popular day trip or weekend getaway as it feels like you are really up in the mountains. Although Arima Onsen has a modern look today and is pretty built up, there are still many narrow lanes and wooden buildings in the centre of town. Because it is compact you can explore it on foot once you are there, and there are several hot spring sources, nice temples and shrines and a small hot spring museum (Y200) to be discovered. With a history of over one thousand years, Arima Onsen is considered one of Japan's oldest hot spring resorts and has often stood at or near the top of onsen rankings.
The town has two types of hot spring waters which spring up at various sources around town: the Kinsen ("gold water") is colored brown with iron deposits and is said to be good for skin ailments and muscle pain, while the clear Ginsen ("silver water") contains radium and carbonate and is said to cure various muscle and joint ailments.Mum had never been to onsen before and after the hiking around the waterfalls yesterday we decided to indulge in both. I am glad we did Gin no Yu first as it was a bit smaller an less busy (probably helped that it was earlier in the day too) - here are the details for both of them from Japan Guide
Kin no Yu | |||||
Open: 8:00 to 22:00 (Admission ends at 21:30) Closed: 2nd and 4th Tues each month (Wed if Tues is a holiday), Jan 1 Admission: 650 yen (Kin no Yu only), 1000 yen (Kin no Yu and Gin no Yu) | |||||
Located at the centre of town, Kin no Yu is the larger of Arima Onsen's two public bath houses. It features two indoor "gold" water baths of varying temperatures for each gender. Outside the bath house there are a free foot bath (ashiyu) and a drinking fountain fed by thermal waters. | |||||
Gin no Yu |
Hours: 9:00 to 21:00 (Admission ends at 20:30) Closed: 1st and 3rd Tues each month (Wed if Tues is a holiday), Jan 1 Admission: 550 yen (Gin no Yu only), 1000 yen (Gin no Yu and Kin no Yu) |
Gin no Yu stands further back in the town, and is the smaller of Arima's two public bath houses. It has one large indoor bath for each gender, featuring the clear, "silver" water. |
One of the best things about living in Sakai is that I am only about 1-2 hours away from so many beautiful places in the Kansai region, I was really lucky that Wellington has a sister city relationship with Sakai and that I was placed here. Ive enjoyed exploring the area and I hope you will too ;) Will hopefully fill you in on some of the history of Sakai in the next blog.
