Day 53: Kobe, Japan

Emily
Dec 5, 2018
10 min read

Updated: Aug 4, 2019

I slept so much better last night! I didn't wake up at a ridiculous time and it didn't take me hours to fall asleep!

I was up before 9 so I could get a good start to the day. The sun sets super early here (around 4 pm) so I need to wake up earlier to get as much travel time in as possible. I don't remember what train I took but the length of the trip was around an hour and it cost somewhere between 500-600 yen.

Here's a list of the places I went to in Kobe today (in order):

- Kobe Chinatown

- Kobe Port, Meriken Park, and Kobe Port Tower

- Kobe Harbourland

- Anpanman Children's Museum

- Soraku-en

- Kitano-cho

- Ikuta-Jinja Shrine

Chinatown

My first stop today was Chinatown. It was organized in kind of a cross shape so I made sure to check out each part of it. There were four main streets filled with food carts and restaurants and they all met in the middle where there was a pavilion and lots of lanterns! There were also huge stone arches at the end of each main street

I was super hungry but everything was in Japanese (there was no English or Korean on the signs) so I didn't know what anything was. I decided to try what looked like sesame dough balls because I could buy 1 for 100 yen. It was so yummy! Definitely not a healthy choice because it must have been deep fried and it had red bean filling in it but the taste was amazing. I ended up going back to a different stall and buying a pack of 6 to snack on while I walked. I thought they would all be the same but there were two with red bean, two with cream (oops), and two with this purple powderyish filling (maybe taro?).

Kobe Port, Meriken Park, and Kobe Port Tower

I grabbed a water from a vending machine near the market area and then set off to the Kobe Port and Meriken Park, which were about a 20 minute walk away from Chinatown. The port was beautiful! There were so many ships, the weather was sunny, and it felt beyond relaxing to be there. At the entrance to the park there was a sign that pointed out and explained different art pieces and areas around the port (10 in total).

1. Eagle and Salmon statue: The first art piece I saw was a statue gifted to Kobe by Seattle on the 120th anniversary of the ports opening and the 20th anniversary of the relationship between the two cities. The statue is a bald eagle with a salmon in its talons.

2. Fish Dance: The second art piece I saw was a huge fish statue that was made to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the ports opening.

3. Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park: In 1995 there was a huge earthquake, called the Great Hanshin-Awaji, which destroyed Meriken Wharf. A motor-boat race was held in 1995 and 1996 to raise funds for the reconstruction of the area. Although most of it has been rebuilt, they preserved a small area (60 m) by the edge of the water so people could see the destruction the earthquake had caused.

4. Monument of Emperor Showa's Poem: In 1956, the 11th National Sports Festival was held in Kobe. Emperor Showa attended it and later wrote a poem to express his feelings after seeing a lantern boat procession. The monument was created to commemorate his poem.

After I looked at the monument and memorial I found a bench facing the sun and sat down to eat one or two of the sesame dough things. Of course I ended up eating the entire container instead. I also face-timed my parents to show them the harbour because it was super sunny and beautiful and I was really happy. After I drank my water and finished off all the deep fried yummy snack things I got back up to continue looking around the port.

5. Kobe Kaientai: This is a monument at the end of the port that is meant to be the image of 'young people seeking to sail the wider world'.

6. Port of Kobe Emigrant Ship Monument: A monument built to commemorate the wave of emigrants that left Kobe in the first half of the 20th century.

7. Cinema Monument: The first movies in Japan were screened in Kobe using imported projectors. Thus Kobe is said to be the birth place of movies and the monument was built to commemorate its 120th anniversary.

8. Kids Playing Marbles: A statue given to Kobe by the city of Rotterdam to commemorate the 120th anniversary since the ports opening and the 20th anniversary of the relationship between the two ports. The Netherlands introduced the first marbles to Japan, which is why the statue is two children playing with marbles.

(I forgot to get pictures of both of these unfortunately)

9. Bell of Hortensia: The bell marks the opening of the first Kobe fashion festival in 1990.

10. People of the North: The winner of Port of Kobe 120th Anniversary Commemorative Award.

After I had looked at all the places from the map at the harbour's entrance I went to look at the Port Tower. I could see it from every spot that I was at on the port! It's this huge red tower that looks pretty cool. I think you can go up it but I wasn't interested in doing that so I continued to walk along water's edge toward the Anpanman museum and Harbourland.

I passed a bunch of really fancy looking hotels along the way. This area would be a really pretty place to stay if. The port is beautiful and behind the hotels are tons of restaurants and streets to explore.

Anpanman Museum and Harbourland

I made it to the Anpanman Museum and found a huge ferris wheel outside of it!

Although the Anpanman museum is for children I had to make it one of my stops because BTS has a song called Anpanman based on the hero. Anpanman is the main character of a Japanese picture book and animated cartoon series. Here is an analysis of the character and it's use in BTS's song:

"Anpanman is a red bean bread man and the world’s weakest hero. He doesn’t have any superpowers like Batman or Superman, but is a kind hero who helps those in need. ... If Batman and Superman are star heroes that can fly anywhere in a flash, Anpanman is a bourgeoisie hero who is always nearby and stays by your side for a long time.

BTS compare themselves to the character Anpanman. The artists said they wanted to convey their desire to give people hope through their music and performances in the song. By comparing themselves to not the world’s strongest hero, but the world’s weakest hero, BTS stays true to their message with the idea that rather than being a hero just because you’re strong, you can be a hero even if you’re weak.

This may be the key point of “Love Yourself: Tear.” This album, which says that loving yourself is the start of true love, is not just talking about the part of you that is strong and that you’re satisfied with. It goes along with the message that even if you’re lacking and full of flaws, you must love your true self."

Here's the full article if you're interested: https://www.soompi.com/article/1179329wpp/closer-look-inspiring-message-behind-btss-anpanman

You can also watch their super adorable performance here:

I wandered around the gift shop and bought a small keychain. I was getting pretty hungry at this point but wanted to check out one more place before I stopped for lunch. The last place on my list that I really wanted to see today was Harbourland Park. I walked around more of the harbour to find it and ended up walking right past it the first time. It was not at all what I expected... It was a super tiny park that really didn't offer much. However, there were a few families playing catch and some school kids practicing baseball, which was nice to see. I'm not sure why I had it on my list of must-see places though. I walked through the park and back towards the Anpanman Museum.

I had passed a restaurant called North Shore on the way to Harbourland Park that had a really yummy looking chicken salad on the menu outside. I ate terribly yesterday and was craving something healthy so I decided to stop here for lunch. The inside of the restaurant was really pretty, but it was sunny and nice out so I chose to get take out. I got my meal and went back outside to sit near the water. The meal came in a cute paper bag and it was super fun to unpack. There was rice, chicken, salad, and a small soup. I turned on some quiet music and sat in the sun to relax and eat.

I typically eat a little more quickly because I have so many places I want to go see. However, I had already made it through my entire list of must-see places in Kobe and it was only 1 pm so I slowed down today. It was really nice to be eating something yummy and healthy while listening to relaxing music and not trying to rush so I can get to my next stop. I ended up just sitting and enjoying the sun for an hour. I ate super slowly because I wasn't rushed but also because I hadn't gotten a knife with the food and the chicken and lettuce leaves were huge and challenging to eat haha.

If you look carefully you can see people in yellow hats working on this building. I thought they were real and it took me way too long to realize they are just statues of people.

After I finished eating, I wandered back to the Anpanman museum. I was nearing the ferris wheel when I started getting hilarious and cute drunk texts from my roommates (who had decided to have a beer pong night with just the three of them at our house). I didn't have anywhere to be so I face-timed them. It was really nice to see them all again and catch up. I had decided to check out Soraku-en botanical garden before I called them, but we were able to chat while I was walking to the garden. By the time I made it to the garden we had been talking for just under an hour. We ended the call once I arrived because the garden looked super quiet and I didn't think it would be appropriate to be on a call while walking around it.

Soraku-en Garden

I think my dad would have loved the garden! The entrance had a small path lined with all sorts of different colourful flowers and small trees in pots and the plants were so pretty . There was also someone playing music in the middle area.

There was a house in the middle of the garden. I remember reading that it had originally been owned by someone important and the house had been restored but I don't remember the details.

There was a doorway to a second garden near the first garden's entrance . This one was beyond beautiful. It had a huge pond in the middle filled with colourful fish as well as a small bridge across the pond and a path around it that took me into a tiny forest with two houses/temples. I walked all around this garden and took lots of pictures. It was one of the times I really hated the time difference because it was way too late in Canada for me to face-time my parents to share this with them. I sat down near the water on a bench to watch the fish for a bit and just relax. An older man came up and sat on the bench too and we talked for a few minutes. At one point he clapped his hands over the water area and all the fish swarmed to us. He seemed super nice and was interested in where I came from and why I had chosen to visit Japan of all places.

He left after our conversation died down and I got up shortly after to leave the garden. I thought the last door would take me outside but it took me into another garden area with loads of flowers and a cute tea stand. I got a cup of green tea and a tiny flower treat. I'm not sure what it was but it literally melted in my mouth and it was so good with the tea. I sat down on one of the benches near the flowers and finished off my tea and candy. Once I was done I left the garden and decided to look for Kitano-cho.

Kitano-cho

I walked by so many cool buildings on the way to Kitano-cho.

Kitano-cho is a historical district near the mountain. It's a place where many foreign merchants and diplomats settled after the Port of Kobe was opened to foreign trade in the second half of the 19th century (www.Japan-guide.com) so the area is filled with former mansions, known as Ijinkan, that are now open to the public as museums. There was an admission fee for most of the houses, but the area also has cafes and boutiques along the street so I was happy to just look around. It took me forever to find the place and I was only able to find one area of it with a few mansions and several cute boutiques. I got a small cheesecake (when I say small I mean 'super tiny in a baby cup with a mini spoon' small) and took a few pictures.

There was a small shrine at the top of a set of stairs in the middle of one of the roads so I went up and looked around briefly.

The view from the top was amazing.

Ikuta-Jinja Shrine

By now it was getting a little dark and I still wanted to see the Ikuta-Jinja shrine. Fortunately the shrine was close by and it only took a quick walk to get there.

There was a huge temple in the centre and a walkway around it. I went in through what I later realized was a back entrance but found a cool little tunnel created by some bright orange archways (I don't know the correct word for them sadly).

I walked around the temple area and then out to the main street. The temple was right by a big market that had tons of lights and looked really pretty. I absolutely love all the lights and bright signs in both Japan and Korea.

My legs were so tired and shaky that I figured it was a good time to head back home. I went into the wrong train station at first and had to ask one of the desk people for help because I couldn't find the line that I needed on the sign. The stations here were super busy!

After I found the right station I hopped on my train. I had to do a couple transfers to get back to my station and I was so tired by the time I got back that I went to my room and lay in bed for a few hours before trying to find a place to eat for dinner.

Osaka

I love Dotonbori street and I have decided to go there for dinner every night even though it is a 40 minute walk away. I get to walk through Shinsekai market and past Tsutenkaku tower on the way and there are tons of lights, so the walk is worth it.

I was craving Korean food (yes I know I will be going back to Korea in a week but I was already missing the food) and I remembered passing a few Korean restaurants last night. Unfortunately, I walked around the entire Dotonbori area and couldn't seem to find the restaurant that I had seen before. I went in a full circle and then finally gave up and picked a restaurant near the end of the street.

The entire menu was in Japanese so I ordered based on pictures and hoped for the best. I got what I think was potato pancakes with green onion, dumplings, and lime soda. The food was good and I really liked the pancakes so it worked out event though it wasn't what I had originally been hoping for. I forgot to take a picture of my food before I ate almost all of it so here is a lonely dumpling and an almost empty drink, oops!