Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

. It is located in

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

, which makes up the southern side of the main island of Honshū, on the north shore of

Osaka Bay Osaka Bay (大阪湾 ''Ōsaka-wan'' ) is a bay in western Japan. As an eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea, it is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Kii Channel and from the neighbor western part of the Inland Sea by the Akashi Strait. ...

. It is part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

and

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

. The Kobe city centre is located about west of Osaka and southwest of Kyoto. The earliest written records regarding the region come from the '' Nihon Shoki'', which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201.Ikuta Shrine official website
– "History of Ikuta Shrine" (Japanese)
– "History". Retrieved February 2, 2007. For most of its history, the area was never a single political entity, even during the

Tokugawa period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterize ...

, when the port was controlled directly by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. Kobe did not exist in its current form until its founding in 1889. Its name comes from .Nagasaki University
– "Ikuta Shrine". Retrieved February 3, 2007.Entry for .

Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 mil ...

, fifth edition, 1998, Kobe became one of Japan's designated cities in 1956. Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan and

nuclear-free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons (see nuclear-weapon-free zone) and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question. Nuclear-free zones usually neither address nor pro ...

port city. While the 1995

Great Hanshin earthquake The , or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and ha ...

diminished much of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth-busiest

container port A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...

.American Association of Port Authorities
– "World Port Rankings 2006". Retrieved April 15, 2008. Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and

Kobe Steel Kobe Steel, Ltd. (株式会社神戸製鋼所, ''Kabushiki gaisha Kōbe Seikō-sho''), is a major Japanese steel manufacturer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe. KOBELCO is the unified brand name of the Kobe Steel Group. Kobe Steel has the low ...

, as well as over 100 international corporations with Asian or Japanese headquarters in the city, such as Eli Lilly and Company,

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Nestlé."Number of foreign corporations with headquarters in Kobe passes 100." (Japanese) in Nikkei Net, retrieved fro
NIKKEI.net
on July 3, 2007.
– "List of Foreign Enterprises and Examples". Retrieved February 8, 2007. The city is the point of origin and namesake of

Kobe beef is Wagyu beef from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle, raised in Japan's Hyōgo Prefecture according to rules set out by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association. The meat is a delicacy, valued for its flavor, ...

, the home of

Kobe University , also known in the Kansai region as , is a leading Japanese national university located in the city of Kobe, in Hyōgo. It was established in 1949, but the academic origins of Kobe University trace back to the establishment of Kobe Higher Comme ...

, as well as the site of one of Japan's most famous

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

resorts, Arima Onsen.

History

Origins

Tools found in western Kobe demonstrate the area was populated at least from the Jōmon period.City of Kobe
– "Kobe's History" (Japanese). Retrieved October 22, 2007. The natural geography of the area, particularly of Wada Cape in Hyōgo-ku, led to the development of a port, which would remain the economic center of the city.Hyogo International Tourism Guide
– "Hyogo-tsu". Retrieved February 2, 2007. Some of the earliest written documents mentioning the region include the '' Nihon Shoki'', which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201. File:Ikuta Shrine, Kobe City; April 2017 (04).jpg, Ikuta Shrine File:Nagata Jinja Kobe Torii.jpg, Nagata Shrine File:Taisanji31s3872.jpg, Taisan-ji. The main hall is a National Treasure of Japan (built in 716).

Nara and Heian periods

During the Nara and

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

s, the port was known by the name and was one of the ports from which

imperial embassies to China The Japanese missions to Imperial China were diplomatic embassies which were intermittently sent to the Chinese imperial court. Any distinction amongst diplomatic envoys sent from the Japanese court or from any of the Japanese shogunates was lost ...

were dispatched. The city was briefly the

capital of Japan The current capital of Japan is Tokyo."About Japan"
The Government of Japan. Retrieved 9 March 2022.

in 1180, when

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and ''kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Heian-kyō, Japan, in 1118 as the first so ...

moved his grandson Emperor Antoku to Fukuhara-kyō in present-day Hyōgo-ku. The Emperor returned to Kyoto after about five months. Shortly thereafter in 1184, the

Taira The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divided ...

fortress in Hyōgo-ku and the nearby Ikuta Shrine became the sites of the Genpei War battle of Ichi-no-Tani between the Taira and

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...

s. The Minamoto prevailed, pushing the Taira further. File:Taira no Kiyomori,TenshiSekkanMiei.jpg,

File:Yukimi-no-gosho.jpg, Marker indicating the former location of Fukuhara-kyō File:Genpei kassen.jpg, Battle of Ichi-no-Tani（ Genpei War）

Kamakura period

As the port grew during the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

, it became an important hub for trade with China and other countries. In the 13th century, the city came to be known by the name . During this time, Hyōgo Port, along with northern Osaka, composed the province of

Settsu is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. As of 2017, the city has an estimated population of 85,290 and a population density of 5,664 people per km². The total area is 14.88 km². Surrounding municipalities *Osaka Prefecture **Higa ...

(most of today's Kobe belonged to Settsu except Nishi Ward and Tarumi Ward, which belonged to Harima). File:Yukai sanjurokkassen 勇魁三十六合戦 (Courageous Leaders in Thirty-six Battles) (BM 2008,3037.02214).jpg,

Kusunoki Masashige was a Japanese samurai of the Kamakura period remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty. Kusunoki fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in the Genkō War to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and restore power in Japan to the Imperial Court. Kusunoki ...

(

Battle of Minatogawa The Battle of Minatogawa (), also known as the Battle of Minato River, was a battle of the Nanboku-chō Wars fought near the Minato River in Settsu Province (present day Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture) on 5 July 1336. The Imperial forces loyal to Em ...

) File:Minatogawa-jinja shinmon.jpg,

Minatogawa Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Chūō-ku, Kobe, Japan, roughly on the site of the Battle of Minatogawa established in 1872. The enshrined kami is the spirit of Masashige Kusunoki, a military commander. It is one of the Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Resto ...

Edo period

Later, during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

, the eastern parts of present-day Kobe came under the jurisdiction of the Amagasaki Domain and the western parts under that of the

Akashi Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Harima Province in what is now the southern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Akashi Castle, which is located in what is now the ci ...

, while the center was controlled directly by the

. It was not until the abolition of the han system in 1871 and the establishment of the current prefecture system that the area became politically distinct. File:Hanakuma castle01s3200.jpg, Hanakuma Castle

Meiji period

Hyōgo Port was opened to foreign trade by the Shogunal government at the same time as Osaka on January 1, 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin War and the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. At the time of the opening of the city for foreign trade, the area saw intense fighting resulting from the civil war in progress. Shortly after the opening of Kobe to trade, the

Kobe Incident The , also known in Japanese as the and in English as the Bizen affray or Bizen affair, was a diplomatic incident between Imperial Japan and several Western powers, caused by a skirmish on February 4, 1868 between Bizen soldiers and foreign sai ...

occurred, where several western soldiers sustained gunshot wounds from fire opened by troops from Bizen. The region has since been identified with the West and many foreign residences from the period remain in Kobe's Kitano area. File:Kobe Bund 1979.94.6P01B.jpg,

Kobe foreign settlement The , also known as the Kobe foreign concession, was a foreign settlement located about 3.5 kilometers east of the Port of Kobe, in the future Chūō-ku of Kobe, Japan. Established based on the Ansei Treaties, it existed from January 1, 1868, t ...

Kaigan-dōri Avenue around 1885 File:Shinkaichi.jpg, Shinkaichi theatre street in Kobe (Taisho era) File:Viewofkobe.PNG, Hyōgo Port in the 19th century File:Kobe kaigan street01 1920.jpg, The Bund, built in the 1860s–1930s File:Choueke house02 1920.jpg, Kitano area, built in the 1880s–1910s File:Old hyogo prefectural office bld03 1920.jpg, Former Hyogo prefectural office, built in 1902 File:Sesshu Kobe coast prosperity view.jpg, This

nishiki-e is a type of Japanese multi-coloured woodblock printing; the technique is used primarily in ukiyo-e. It was invented in the 1760s, and perfected and popularized by the printmaker Suzuki Harunobu, who produced many ''nishiki-e'' prints between 17 ...

(colored woodcut) shows a foreign steamboat entering Hyōgo Port shortly after its opening to the West in the late 19th century.

Modern era

Kobe, as it is known today, was founded on April 1, 1889, and was designated on September 1, 1956 by government ordinance. The history of the city is closely tied to that of the Ikuta Shrine, and the name "Kobe" derives from , an archaic name for those who supported the shrine. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Kobe was bombed in the

Doolittle Raid The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japa ...

on April 18, 1942, along with

and a few other cities. Eventually, it was bombed again with incendiary bombs by B-29 bombers on March 17, 1945, causing the death of 8,841 residents and destroying 21% of Kobe's urban area. This incident inspired the well-known

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and h ...

film ''

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film based on a 1967 short story by Akiyuki Nosaka. It was written and directed by Isao Takahata, and animated by Studio Ghibli for Shinchosha Publishing. The film stars , , and . Set in the city ...

'' and the

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...

by Akiyuki Nosaka on which the film was based. It also features in the motion picture A Boy Called H. Following continuous pressure from citizens, on March 18, 1975, the Kobe City Council passed an ordinance banning vessels carrying nuclear weapons from Kobe Port. This effectively prevented any U.S. warships from entering the port, policy being not to disclose whether any warship is carrying nuclear weapons. This nonproliferation policy has been termed the " Kobe formula". On January 17, 1995, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred at 5:46 am JST near the city. About 6,434 people in the city were killed, 212,443 were made homeless, and large parts of the port facilities and other parts of the city were destroyed. The earthquake destroyed portions of the Hanshin Expressway, an elevated freeway that dramatically toppled over. In Japan, the earthquake is known as the

(or the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake). To commemorate Kobe's recovery from the 1995 quake, the city holds an event every December called the Luminarie, where the city center is decorated with illuminated metal archways. The

Port of Kobe The Port of Kobe is a Japanese maritime port in Kobe, Hyōgo in the Keihanshin area, backgrounded by the Hanshin Industrial Region. Located at a foothill of the range of Mount Rokkō, flat lands are limited and constructions of artificial isla ...

was Japan's busiest port and one of Asia's top ports until the Great Hanshin earthquake.Maruhon Business News
– Port Conditions in Japan. Retrieved January 23, 2007. Kobe has since dropped to fourth in Japan and 49th- busiest container port worldwide (). File:KobeFormerSettelment Map JapDirectory (1905).tif, Map of the Foreign Settlement File:Kobe after the 1945 air raid.JPG, View of Kobe after the bombing in 1945 File:Hanshin-Awaji earthquake 1995 337.jpg, Damage in

Sannomiya is a district of Chūō-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo, Japan. Today, it is the biggest downtown area in the city. The district takes the name from Sannomiya Shrine, a branch of Ikuta Shrine. Before the 1920s, Sannomiya was just an edge of the city. Th ...

after the

in 1995 File:Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park2.jpg, Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park

Geography

Wedged between the coast and the mountains, the city of Kobe is long and narrow. To the east is the city of Ashiya, while the city of

Akashi Akashi may refer to: People *Akashi (surname) Places *Akashi, Hyōgo *Akashi Station, a Japanese railroad station on the Sanyō Main Line *Akashi Strait *Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, crossing the former *Akashi Castle *Akashi Domain * Akashi, the name ...

lies to its west. Other adjacent cities include Takarazuka and Nishinomiya to the east and Sanda and Miki to the north. The landmark of the port area is the red steel Port Tower. A

ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...

sits in nearby

Harborland is a shopping district in Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan. Kobe Port Tower is located there. This shopping district was made on the site of the former freight yard, Minatogawa Kamotsu Station of the Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR ...

, a notable tourist promenade. Two artificial islands, Port Island and Rokkō Island, have been constructed to give the city room to expand. Away from the seaside at the heart of Kobe lie the Motomachi and

districts, as well as Kobe's Chinatown,

Nankin-machi Nankin-machi (Japanese for "Nanjing town") ( ja, 南京町; zh, 南京町) is a neighborhood in Kobe, Japan located south of Motomachi station adjacent to the Daimaru Department Store and is a major tourist attraction. Considered as Kobe's Chi ...

, all well-known retail areas. A multitude of train lines cross the city from east to west. The main transport hub is

Sannomiya Station , or simply , is located in the heart of Kobe, Japan. This station is the main railway terminal of Kobe. Lines Sannomiya is served by the following railway lines and stations: * Hanshin Electric Railway ( Main Line) - Kobe-Sannomiya Stati ...

, with the eponymous Kobe Station located to the west and the

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

Shin-Kobe Station to the north.

Mount Rokkō is the name of a range of mountains in southeastern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Outline There is no single mountain or peak called "Rokkō," although the highest peak of the mountains is called , (literally, ''the highest peak of the Rokkō ...

overlooks Kobe at an elevation of . During the autumn season, it is famous for the rich change in colors of its forests.

Wards

Kobe has nine wards (''ku''): # Nishi-ku: The westernmost area of Kobe, Nishi-ku overlooks the city of

and is the site of Kobe Gakuin University. This ward has the largest population, with 247,000 residents. # Kita-ku: Kita-ku is the largest ward by area and contains the Rokko Mountain Range, including

and

Mount Maya is a mountain in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. This mountain is one of the major peaks of the Rokkō Mountains, and is the most popular peak for visitors on the West-Rokkō Mountains. Outline Mount Maya is one of the two centers in Rokk ...

. The area is well known for its rugged landscape and hiking trails. The onsen resort town of Arima also lies within Kita-ku. # Tarumi-ku: Tarumi-ku is a mostly residential area. The longest suspension bridge in the world, the

Akashi Kaikyō Bridge The is a suspension bridge which links the city of Kobe on the Japanese island of Honshu to Iwaya on Awaji Island. It is part of the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, and crosses the busy and turbulent Akashi Strait (''Akashi Kaikyō'' in Japanese ...

, extends from Maiko in Tarumi-ku to Awaji Island to the south. A relatively new addition to Kobe, Tarumi-ku was not a part of the city until 1946. # Suma-ku: Suma-ku is the site of Suma beach, attracting visitors during the summer months. # Nagata-ku: Nagata-ku is the site of Nagata Shrine, one of the three "Great Shrines" in Kobe. # Hyōgo-ku: At various times known as Ōwada Anchorage or Hyōgo Port, this area is the historical heart of the city. Shinkaichi in Hyogo-ku was once the commercial center of Kobe, but was heavily damaged during

, and since, Hyogo-ku has lost much of its former prominence. # Chūō-ku: literally means "central" and, as such, Chūō-ku is the commercial and entertainment center of Kobe.

, Motomachi and

make up the main entertainment areas in Kobe. Chūō-ku includes the city hall and Hyōgo prefectural government offices. Port Island and Kobe Airport lie in the southern part of this ward. # Nada-ku: The site of Oji Zoo and

, Nada is known for its sake. Along with Fushimi in

, it accounts for 45% of Japan's sake production. #

Higashinada-ku is one of 9 wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 30.36 km², and a population of 212,111 (2012). South of the Hanshin Main Line, it is also home to some notable sake brewing areas, including Uozaki and Mikage. Transportation Railways *J ...

: The easternmost area of Kobe, Higashinada-ku borders the city of Ashiya. The man-made island of Rokko makes up the southern part of this ward.

Cityscape

File:Kobe unterwegs in Kobe 3.jpg,

Meriken Park Meriken Park is a waterfront park located in the port city of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The park features the Kobe Port Tower, Kobe Maritime Museum, and a memorial to victims of the Great Hanshin earthquake. The name of the park comes fro ...

(2018) File:151003 Port of Kobe Japan01s3.jpg, Skylines of Kobe from Kobe Bridge (2015) File:Twilight view of Kobe, from a point near Shin-Kobe station.jpg, View of

from Shin-Kobe Station (2009) File:121208 Nunobiki Herb Garden Kobe Hyogo pref Japan09s3.jpg, Nunobiki Herb Garden (2012） File:Kobe Kobe Port Tower Panoaramablick 03.jpg, Kobe central business district (2018) File:Kobe Meriken Park area at night 2016-06-14.jpg, Kobe central business district at night (2016) File:Kobe Chuo and Suma at night.jpeg, Downtown at night File:View of Kikuseidai from Mount Maya Kobe.jpg, Night view from

Kikuseidai is a view point and a park just aside of the top of Maya-san in Kobe, Japan. It has one of the Three Major Night Views of Japan called ''ten million dollar'' night views. Outline Kikuseidai is located at about 700 meters above the sea lev ...

File:Views from Venus Bridge in Kobe 001.jpg, alt=, Sunset from Mt.Suwa observation deck File:Views from Venus Bridge in Kobe 003.jpg, Chūō-ku, Kobe of Night view from Mt.Suwa observation deck File:Views from Venus Bridge in Kobe 002.jpg, A panorama of Kobe from Mt.Suwa observatory deck

Climate

Kobe has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool to cold winters. Precipitation is significantly higher in summer than in winter, though on the whole lower than most parts of Honshū, and there is no significant snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kobe is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Kobe was on 5 August 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.

Demographics

As of September 2007, Kobe had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 1,530,295 making up 658,876

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...

s. This was an increase of 1,347 persons or approximately 0.1% over the previous year. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was approximately 2,768 persons per square kilometre, while there are about 90.2 males to every 100 females.City of Kobe
– "Estimated Population of Kobe". Retrieved October 2, 2007. About thirteen percent of the population are between the ages of 0 and 14, sixty-seven percent are between 15 and 64, and twenty percent are over the age of 65.
– "Statistical Summary of Kobe". Retrieved July 25, 2007. Approximately 44,000 registered foreign nationals live in Kobe. The four most common nationalities are

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

(22,237), Chinese (12,516), Vietnamese (1,301), and American (1,280).

Economy

The

is both an important port and manufacturing center within the

Hanshin Industrial Region The is one of the largest industrial regions in Japan. Its name comes from the ''on''-reading of the kanji used to abbreviate the names of Osaka (大阪) and Kobe (神戸), the two largest cities in the megalopolis. The GDP of this area (Osaka ...

. Kobe is the busiest container port in the region, surpassing even

, and the fourth-busiest in Japan.American Association of Port Authorities
– "World Port Rankings 2005". Retrieved July 3, 2007. , the city's total real

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

was ¥6.3 trillion, which amounts to thirty-four percent of the GDP for Hyōgo Prefecture and approximately eight percent for the whole

.Hyogo Industrial Advancement Center
– "Industry Tendencies in Various Areas of Hyogo Prefecture" (Japanese). Retrieved July 3, 2007.

Per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the year was approximately ¥2.7 million. Broken down by

sector Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a p ...

, about one percent of those employed work in the primary sector (agriculture, fishing and mining), twenty-one percent work in the secondary sector (manufacturing and industry), and seventy-eight percent work in the service sector. The value of manufactured goods produced and exported from Kobe for 2004 was ¥2.5 trillion. The four largest sectors in terms of value of goods produced are small appliances, food products, transportation equipment, and communication equipment making up over fifty percent of Kobe's manufactured goods. In terms of numbers of employees, food products, small appliances, and transportation equipment make up the three largest sectors. The

in Kobe

Metropolitan Employment Area is a definition of metropolitan areas used in Japan, defined by the Center for Spatial Information Service of the University of Tokyo. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry defined 233 areas for the UEAs of Japan. It is different from ...

(2.4 million people) is US$96.0 billion in 2010.

Major companies and institutes

Japanese companies which have their headquarters in Kobe include ASICS, a shoe manufacturer;

Daiei , based in Kobe, Hyōgo, Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Maruben ...

, a department store chain; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co.,

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...

(ship manufacturer), Mitsubishi Electric,

, Sumitomo Rubber Industries,

Sysmex Corporation is a Japanese company headquartered in Kobe that is engaged in the health care business. Originally called TOA Medical Electronics (a branch of the TOA Corporation), the Sysmex brand was established in 1978, and were mainly involved with haematol ...

(medical devices manufacturer) and TOA Corporation. Other companies include the confectionery manufacturers Konigs-Krone and Morozoff Ltd., Sun Television Japan and UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. There are over 100 international corporations that have their East Asian or Japanese headquarters in Kobe. Of these, twenty-four are from China, eighteen from the United States, and nine from Switzerland. Some prominent corporations include Eli Lilly and Company, Nestlé,

, Tempur-Pedic, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Toys "R" Us. In 2018, April,

Swift Engineering Swift Engineering Inc. is an American spacecraft engineering firm that builds autonomous systems, helicopters, submarines, spacecraft, ground vehicles, robotics, and composite parts. Swift used to produce racing cars for open-wheel racing series ...

USA, an American aerospace engineering firm established their joint venture in Kobe called Swift Xi Inc. Kobe is the site of a number of research institutes, such as the RIKEN Kobe Institute Center for developmental biology and medical imaging techniques, and Advanced Institute for Computational Science (AICS, home of the K supercomputer), the

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(NICT) Advanced ICT Research Institute, the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, and the Asian Disaster Reduction Center. International organizations include the WHO Centre for Health Development, an intergovernmental agency forming part of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

. The Consulate-General of Panama in Kobe is located on the eighth floor of the Moriyama Building in

Chūō-ku, Kobe is one of 9 wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 28.46 km², and a population of 127,602 with 74,814 households as of January 31, 2012. The ward was formed from the 1980 merger of the former Fukiai-ku () and Ikuta-ku (). The Consu ...

. File:Kobe crystal tower01 2048.jpg, Kawasaki Heavy Industries headquarters on

File:Kobe Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co02ds3200.jpg, Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co. headquarters on Kobe Harbor File:P and g02 1024.jpg,

Asia headquarters on Rokko Island File:Kobe Nestle Japan HQ01ss3200.jpg, Nestlé Japan Ltd. headquarters on

File:UCC Ueshima Coffee Company02s3872.jpg, UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. headquarters on Port Island

Transportation

Train of Sanyo Shinkansen leaving Shin-Kobe Station

Train for Sannomiya-Hanadokeimae Station at Shin-Nagata Station

Airways

Airport

Itami Airport, in nearby Itami, serves mainly domestic flights throughout Japan, Kobe Airport, built on a reclaimed island south of Port Island, also offers mainly domestic flights, while Kansai International Airport in

mainly serves international flights in the area.

Railways

High-speed rail

;JR west *

Sanyō Shinkansen , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...

：- Shin-Kobe Station -

Rapid Railway

is the main commuter hub in Kobe, serving as the transfer point for the three major intercity rail lines
see external map
. The

JR Kobe Line The is the nickname of portions of the Tokaido Main Line and the Sanyo Main Line, between Osaka Station in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture and Himeji Station in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture. The line, along with the JR Kyoto Line and the Biwako Line, ...

connects Kobe to

and

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...

while both the Hankyū Kobe Line and the

Hanshin Main Line {{BS-map , title=Route map , title-bg=orangered , title-color=white , collapsible=yes , collapse=yes , map= {{BS, , , Lines are of Hanshin unless noted, } {{BS5, , hBHF, , , tBHF, , , {{STN, Osaka/{{STN, Kitashinchi} {{BS5, , hSTR, exKBHFa, tKACC ...

run from Kobe to

Umeda Station is a railway station in Kita-ku in the northern commercial center of Osaka, Japan. It is the busiest station in western Japan, serving 2,343,727 passengers daily in 2005. Umeda Station is served by the following railways: * Hankyu Railway ( K ...

in Osaka.

Sanyō Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway operating company based in western Hyōgo Prefecture. It runs local and express rail service between Himeji and Kobe, and also connects directly with Hanshin Main Line to Osaka. Although the Hanshin Electric Rai ...

trains from Himeji reach Sannomiya via the Kobe Rapid Railway.

Subway

In addition, Kobe Municipal Subway provides access to the

at Shin-Kobe Station.

Other rail lines

Other rail lines in Kobe include

Kōbe Electric Railway , often called , is a Japanese private railway company in Kobe and surrounding cities. It is a subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Lines *Shintetsu Arima Line, Arima Line (Minatogawa Station, Minatogawa - Arima Onsen Station, Arima Onsen) * ...

which runs north to Sanda and Arima Onsen. Hokushin Kyūkō Railway connects Shin-Kobe Station to Tanigami Station on the Kobe Electric Railway.

Kobe New Transit is the third-sector semipublic company that runs Port Island Line ("Port Liner") and Rokkō Island Line ("Rokkō Liner") automated guideway transit (AGT) systems in Kobe, Japan. When opened in 1981, the Port Liner was the world's first fully aut ...

runs two lines, the

Port Island Line The , commonly known as is an urban automated guideway transit (AGT) system in Kobe, Japan, operated by Kobe New Transit. Opened in 1981, the Port Liner was the world's first driverless urban transit system, a few years ahead of the VAL syste ...

from Sannomiya to Kobe Airport and the Rokko Island Line from JR Sumiyoshi Station to Rokko Island.

Ropeway

Over

, the city has two

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...

lines and three

aerial lift An aerial lift, also known as a cable car or ropeway, is a means of cable transport in which ''cabins'', ''cars'', ''gondolas'', or open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of one or more cables. Aerial lift systems are frequently employe ...

s as well, namely Maya Cablecar, Rokkō Cable Line, Rokkō Arima Ropeway, Maya Ropeway, and Shin-Kobe Ropeway.

Road

Kobe is a transportation hub for a number of expressways, including the Meishin Expressway (

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

– Kobe) and the Hanshin Expressway (Osaka – Kobe). Other expressways include the Sanyō Expressway (Kobe – Yamaguchi) and the Chūgoku Expressway (Osaka – Yamaguchi). The Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway runs from Kobe to

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

via Awaji Island and includes the

, the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Port

Sub Area Activity Hanshin is one of the Japan Maritime-Self Defense Force facility which provide monitoring across

and Harima-nada Sea.

Education

The city of Kobe directly administers 169 elementary and 81 middle schools, with enrollments of approximately 80,200 and 36,000 students, respectively.City of Kobe
– "Number of municipal schools and students" (Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2007. If the city's four private elementary schools and fourteen private middle schools are included, these figures jump to a total 82,000 elementary school students and 42,300 junior high students enrolled for the 2006 school year. Kobe also directly controls six of the city's twenty-five full-time public high schools including Fukiai High School and Rokkō Island High School. The remainder are administered by the Hyogo Prefectural Board of Education. In addition, twenty-five high schools are run privately within the city. The total enrollment for high schools in 2006 was 43,400. Kobe is home to eighteen public and private universities, including

, Kobe Institute of Computing and

Konan University is a university on the slopes of Mount Rokkō in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan. A private university with approximately 10,000 students, it offers a wide variety of programs to Japanese students, as well as an international exchange program th ...

, and eight junior colleges. Students enrolled for 2006 reached 67,000 and 4,100, respectively. Kobe is also home to 17 Japanese language schools for international students, including the international training group Lexis Japan.

International school An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body an ...

s serve both long-term foreign residents and expatriates living in Kobe and the Kansai region. The schools offer instruction in English, German, Chinese, and

. There are three English-language international schools:

Canadian Academy Canadian Academy (CA; カナディアン・アカデミー ''Kanadian Akademii''), founded in 1913, is an independent pre-K – grade 12 international school in Kobe, Japan. The day and boarding school consists of an elementary school, middle schoo ...

Marist Brothers International School Marist Brothers International School (MBIS), founded in 1951, is an international Montessori - Grade 12 school located in Kobe, Japan. The school is accredited by the US-based Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Marist has an en ...

, and St. Michael's International School.

Culture

Kobe is most famous for its

(which is raised in the surrounding Hyōgo Prefecture) and Arima Onsen (hot springs). Notable buildings include the Ikuta Shrine as well as the

Kobe Port Tower The is a landmark in the port city of Kobe, Japan. The sightseeing tower was completed in 1963 and was temporarily closed from late 2009 to 28 April 2010 for renovation. It is located in the Central District, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. H ...

. Nearby mountains such as

and

overlook the city. The city is widely associated with cosmopolitanism and fashion, encapsulated in the Japanese saying, "If you can't go to Paris, go to Kobe."Hassan, Sally. (April 9, 1989). "Where Japan Opened a Door To the West". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', retrieved fro
New York Times website
on February 7, 2007. The biannual fashion event Kobe Fashion Week, featuring the

Kobe Collection The is a fashion event that has been held in Kobe, Japan and other cities during spring and autumn every year since 2002; over 30 brands have participated. It is characteristically a public relations event for consumers, and a chance for youn ...

, is held in Kobe. The jazz festival "Kobe Jazz Street" has been held every October at jazz clubs and hotels since 1981. It also hosts both a Festival, as well as a statue of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, the unveiling of which was heralded by the presence of former

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Sta ...

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi (; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a former Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is ...

. Kobe is the site of Japan's first golf course, Kobe Golf Club, established by Arthur Hesketh Groom in 1903,Golf Club Atlas
– "Gliding Past Fuji – C.H. Alison in Japan". Retrieved February 7, 2007. and Japan's first

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

Kobe Mosque , also known as , was founded in October, 1935 in Kobe and is Japan's first masjid. Its construction was funded by donations collected by the Islamic Committee of Kobe from 1928 until its opening in 1935.Agakhan third was a major contributor and ...

, built in 1935. The city hosts the

Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club The Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club is Japan's oldest sports club, founded September 23, 1870 by Alexander Cameron Sim. The Club moved to a newly manufactured building at the end of 1870 and held its first-ever regatta on December 24, of that same y ...

, founded in 1870 by

Alexander Cameron Sim Alexander Cameron Sim (28 August 1840 – 28 November 1900) was a British-born pharmacist and entrepreneur active in Japan during the Meiji period. He was also the founder of the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club. Biography Sim was born in Aberlo ...

,Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club
– "a distinguished history". Retrieved February 7, 2007. and a prominent foreign cemetery. A number of Western-style residences – – from the 19th century still stand in Kitano and elsewhere in Kobe. Museums include the Kobe City Museum and Museum of Literature. The dialect spoken in Kobe is called ''Kobe-ben'', a sub-dialect of Kansai dialect.

Sports

Kobe hosted the 1985 Summer Universiade,the 1991 Men's Asian Basketball Championship, which was the qualifier for the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament. Kobe was one of the host cities of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosting matches at Noevir Stadium Kobe (then known as Wing Stadium Kobe), which was renovated to increase its capacity to 40,000 for the event. Kobe was one of the host cities for the official 2006 Women's Volleyball World Championship. Kobe also hosted the World Darts Federation World Cup in October 2017. The event was held in the Exhibition Hall in Port Island with over 50 countries competing.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Kobe's sister cities are: *

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, Spain (1993) * Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (1985) * Incheon, South Korea (2010) *

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, Liguria, Italy (1963) *

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France (1961) * Riga, Latvia (1974) *

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil (1969) *

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, WA, United States (1957) * Tianjin, China (1973)

Friendship and cooperation cities

Kobe also cooperates with: * Daegu, South Korea (2010) *

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, PA, United States (1986) A memorandum of understanding on the possible establishment of sister city relations in the future was concluded in 2019 with Ahmedabad,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India.

Sister ports

Kobe's sister ports are: *

Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the worl ...

, Netherlands (1967) * Port of Seattle, United States (1967) *

Port of Tianjin The Port of Tianjin (''Tianjin Gang'', ), formerly known as the Port of Tanggu, is the largest port in Northern China and the main maritime gateway to Beijing. The name "Tianjin Xingang" (), which strictly speaking refers only to the main seaport ...

, China

Gallery

File:Anyoin03 1024.jpg, An'yō-in. Its

karesansui The or Japanese rock garden, often called a zen garden, is a distinctive style of Japanese garden. It creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and us ...

is one of Japan's

Places of Scenic Beauty is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of JapanIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural ...

. File:140517 Kobe Municipal Arboretum Japan02bs.jpg,

Kobe Municipal Arboretum The , also known as the Kobe City Forest Botanical Garden, is a 142.6-hectare botanical garden and arboretum located near Mount Maya at 4-1 Nakaichiri-yama, Shimotanigami, Yamada-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe, Japan. It is operated by the city and open d ...

File:Kobe port tower11s3200.jpg,

File:Mosaic04s3200.jpg,

File:Kobe Nankinmachi at night.jpg,

, Motomachi File:Giant panda01 960.jpg,

Kobe Oji Zoo , or simply Kobe Zoo or , is a municipal zoo in Kobe, Japan. Attractions ;:Giant pandas since 2000. ; : An indoor educational center featuring skeletal specimens and a reading room. ; : tigers, lions, leopards, snow leopards, and jaguars. ...

as home of the

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

and

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle ...

s File:171125 Kobe Municipal Foreign Cemetery Kobe Japan01s.jpg, Foreigners' cemetery on the slopes of Futatabiyama File:Notre Dame Kobe Japan01-r.jpg, Notre Dame Kobe Wedding Hall File:170811 Rokko-Arima Ropeway Kobe Japan00n.jpg, Arima Onsen located north of Kobe

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Kobe City official website

New York Public Library Digital Gallery
– late 19th-century photographs of Kobe * * * * {{Authority control Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan Cities destroyed by earthquakes Cities in Hyōgo Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan