Kobe City Profile
Kobe is a medium-sized city situated near mountains and water that was devastated by a major earthquake in February 1995.
Population
1,450,000
Location
Southwest of Osaka
Weather
Humid, hot summers, little snow in winter, milder temperatures than other Japanese cities
Transportation
You can take the shinkansen (bullet train) to Kobe from any major city. From the shinkansen station, a subway or bus will get you downtown. If the shinkansen is beyond your budget, you can also ride on the slower Japanese Railway (JR), Hankyu, or Hanshin trains.
Places of Interest
Kobe City Museum, Kitano, Mt. Rokko
Expat Hangouts
Kobe has a large ex-pat community, so you won't have to go too far to find your own favorite hangouts. For starters, try Acrophobia, which has good food and reasonably priced drinks, or Rub-a-Dub-Dub if reggae music is what you're looking for. For quieter leisure, there is a second-hand English bookstore in Kobe; Wantage Books is just a few blocks from Shin-Kobe station.
