Now, after the European travel series, I take you to the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan!
Konnichiwa! – a Japanese greeting that means “hello”.
I went to Japan in 2007 and 2008 and experienced 3 seasons: Winter, Spring and Summer. I only lack one season which is Fall/Autumn. In time, I’ll experience that too.
Anyway, I’ll take you first to Hyogo Perfecture where I stayed for three months doing my training in a Japanese company. I won’t talk about the company but the places you can see if ever you get a chance to visit sites near Kobe, Japan in particular. It is the capital of Hyogo. (pronounced as Ko-Be and not like the basketball start Kobe Bryant)
Perched on a hillside overlooking the sea, Kōbe is one of Japan’s most attractive cities. It’s also one of the country’s most cosmopolitan, having served as a maritime gateway to Kansai from the earliest days of trade with China. – from the Lonely Planet
The Kobe Tower is a hyperboloid structure, is a 108 metre high lattice tower in the port city of Kobe, Japan. The unusual design with scaffolding cover at the top is liked by tourists all over the world. The massive tower decorated with lights all over presents a unique sight at night.
The Kobe Maritime Museum has an extensive collection of high-quality model ships and displays with some English explanations.
Outside the Museum, you can find a beautiful park with statues and other figures and I can’t remember their significance.
The view of Kobe Port Tower and Kobe Maritime Museum at night is a nice spot too.
The Shin-Kōbe Cable Car leaves from behind the Crowne Plaza Kōbe hotel near Shin-Kōbe station and ascends to a mountain ridge 400m above the city. The views from the top over Kōbe and the bay are particularly pretty after sunset.
You can go there by train and just look at the signs. Don’t worry, there are English translations for all the signage you’ll see as you go to the Cable Car. The place is also known as Shin Kobe Ropeway.
Nunobiki Habu-koen or Herb Garden
There’s a complex of gardens, restaurants and shops below the top cable car station known as the Nunobiki Hābu-kōen. Note that you can easily walk down to the bottom station from the Herb Garden in about 30 minutes.
As you ascend the top of Shin Kobe, you’ll reach the Herb Garden. The entrance is located a few steps after you go down the Cable Car. Actually, you just ride the Cable Car for the experience and then go back to the station just by walking down the Herb Garden.
Suma Aqualife Park is a pioneer large scale modern aquarium that has a unique, large triangular roof rising against the background of the sea. Visitors can see live dolphin shows, marine creatures and much more. – by Hyogo Tourism Guide
Similar to Ocean Park where you can see a wide range of sea creatures including dolphin and penguin shows. Like other parks, there are rides available for children to enjoy.
Motomachi
A shopping street that connects Sannomiya and Kobe. This is where we go to after hearing mass on Sundays since the Catholic Church is located in Sannomiya and we go for a walk to Kobe thru Motomachi.
There are other places you can see like the Kobe Stadium where football games are held and the Outlet stores in Tarumi where you can find good stuff at a very low price.
Finally, if you get a chance to go there, don’t forget to try their famous Kobe Beef. It is quite expensive but it’s worth it. The taste and the texture of the beef is really world-class. One bite and you can already taste the juiciness of the beef. Since it was our first time, we all had a stead. And our Japanese co-worker only got a sample size. After eating, we realized that we only need a small piece to appreciate the beef that’s why she ordered only a small portion of it.
I made a separate post for our adventure in Himeji since I’ve got a lot of things to share about our trip there. Watch out for that! ^_^
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