Best things to do in Kobe

Kobe's Absolute Essentials

Kobe's landscape spans from the 108-meter Port Tower and the Harborland waterfront to the historical Kitano Ijinkan district, home to late 19th-century foreign residences. The city features Japan’s first mosque, built in 1935, and the ancient Ikuta Shrine. Natural sites include the Nunobiki Falls, accessible via the Shin-Kobe Ropeway, and the Taisho-era Sorakuen Garden. Culinary highlights center on Nankin-machi Chinatown and world-renowned Kobe beef, while the Former Foreign Settlement preserves Meiji-era architecture like the 1880 American Consulate building.

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Kobe Port Tower

This architecturally unique structure of an imposing height (108 meters) was built in 1963.

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Kobe Harborland

Hundreds of shops, restaurants, and dozens of attractions for families and children make this area a popular district among tourists.

Laitr Keiows / CC BY-SA 3.0

Kobe Chinatown

Nankin-machi is a neighborhood in Kobe, Japan located south of Motomachi station adjacent to the Daimaru Department Store and is a major…

663highland / CC BY 2.5

Shin-Kobe Ropeway

The Shin-Kōbe Ropeway is Japanese aerial lift line in Kōbe, Hyōgo, operated by Kōbe City Urban Development.

663highland / CC BY 2.5

Kitano Ijinkan

Kitano-chō or Kitano Ijinkan is a historical district in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, which contains a number of foreign residences from…

Laitr Keiows / CC BY-SA 3.0

Nunobiki Falls

Nunobiki Falls is a set of waterfalls near downtown Kobe, Japan, with an important significance in Japanese literature and Japanese art.

Orlando G. Calvo / CC BY-SA 3.0

Steakland Kobe

This elegant restaurant is known for serving only premium quality beef produced by careful breeding in Kobe.

Hebi~commonswiki / CC BY-SA 2.5

旧居留地十五番館

Built in 1880, this structure served as the United States Consulate and remains the only surviving building from the original foreign settlement era. Designated an Important Cultural Property, it was reconstructed following its collapse during the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.