Kobe is the place that I would someday like to call home. I’m a small town girl who loves the city and Kobe has managed to mix and blend the two together. Although it is one of the largest cities in Japan, several of the side streets are cobblestone. In 1995, the city was torn apart by an earthquake. Today, little evidence of it exists except by the harbor where a museum was built in memory of one of the worst natural disasters to date. Several areas are left untouched to show the destruction that happened.
There are several things to do in Kobe, and a week isn’t enough to see it all. Even just walking around, you are sure to find wonderful sites. While walking though the city, we walked around a corner and were taken from 21st century Japan back in time to one of the oldest Shinto shrines in the country. One of my Japanese friends showed me a little area to the right where there was water. I took a long pole with a cup on the end, poured the water over my hands, and cleansed myself. From there I went into the shrine. There is an area that looks into the shrine. I stood near a long rope connected to a bell. My friend showed me how to throw change into a collection bin in front of me as a gift to the gods, clap my hands three times, ring the bell, and then make a wish.
The Sorakuen Garden was another stop on my tour of Kobe. Not being someone who likes gardens, mainly due to allergies, I decided anyway that I couldn’t leave Japan without seeing at least one Japanese garden. The garden is only a five-minute walk south of the Kencho-mae Station. Admission was rather cheap, about 300 yen. The gardens are beautiful, not so much for the flowers that are in them, because there weren’t any when I was there, but for the lay of the land. Paths wind over ponds and past sculptures though this Meiji period garden. The garden is set up so that it is hard to see great distances so you never really know haw many people are in the garden.
There are city-sponsored trips that showcase Kobe’s and the surrounding area's hidden gems. One trip took me to an area in Kobe called Nada. Nada is to sake what Napa Valley is to wine. The bus went to several places including an incense factory, where I got to make my own incense, and to Mount Roko which overlooks Kobe. The mountain gives a beautiful view of the city at night.