Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of

Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...

, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

. It is located in the

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 metropol ...

, which makes up the southern side of the main island of

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

, 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. I ...

. It is part of the

Keihanshin is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population () of 19,302,746 ov ...

metropolitan area along with

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. The Kobe city centre is located about west of Osaka and southwest of Kyoto. The earliest written records regarding the region come from the , which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by

Empress Jingū was a Legend, legendary Japanese empress who ruled as a regent following her Emperor Chūai, husband's death in 200 AD. Both the and the (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Jingū's alleged lifetime. Legen ...

in AD 201.Ikuta Shrine official website
– "History of Ikuta Shrine" (Japanese)Kobe City Info
– "History". Retrieved February 2, 2007. For most of its history, the area was never a single political entity, even during the

Tokugawa period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, when the port was controlled directly by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. 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 mi ...

'', 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 West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has retained its cosmopolitan character ever since with a rich architectural heritage dating back to the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

. While the 1995

Great Hanshin earthquake The Great Hanshin Earthquake (, ) occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region of Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 o ...

diminished some of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth-busiest container port.American Association of Port Authorities
– "World Port Rankings 2006". Retrieved April 15, 2008. Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS,

Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headquartered in Minato, To ...

, and Kobe Steel, while over 100 international corporations have their Asian or Japanese headquarters in the city, including

Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company, Trade name, doing business as Lilly, is an American multinational Medication, pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 count ...

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

Boehringer Ingelheim C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. is the parent company of the Boehringer Ingelheim group, which was founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer (1861–1939) in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany. As of 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world's List of la ...

, and

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

."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 Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in the Kansai re ...

, the home of Kobe University, and the site of one of Japan's most famous

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

resorts, Arima Onsen.

History

Origins

Tools found in western Kobe demonstrate the area was populated at least from the

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

.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 , which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by

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 Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is " Tangible Cultural Properties designated by law in modern Japan as having extremely high value." Specifically, it refers to buildings, arts, and crafts designated as especially valuable from ...

(built in 716).

Nara and Heian periods

During the

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

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 los ...

were dispatched. The city was briefly the

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

in 1180, when Taira no Kiyomori 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 was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period of Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto, the Fujiwara, and the Tachibana. The clan is divided into four major groups, named ...

fortress in Hyōgo-ku and the nearby Ikuta Shrine became the sites of the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

battle of Ichi-no-Tani The was fought between the attacking Minamoto clan and the defending Taira clan at Suma, to the west of present-day Kobe, Japan, on 20 March 1184. It sat on a very narrow strip of shore, between mountains on the north, and the sea to the sou ...

between the Taira and

Minamoto clan was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobili ...

s. The Minamoto prevailed, forcing Taira remnants to flee to Shikoku. File:Taira no Kiyomori Portrait by Fujiwara Tamenobu and Takenobu.png, Taira no Kiyomori File:Yukimi-no-gosho.jpg, Marker indicating the former location of Fukuhara-kyō File:Genpei kassen.jpg,

Battle of Ichi-no-Tani The was fought between the attacking Minamoto clan and the defending Taira clan at Suma, to the west of present-day Kobe, Japan, on 20 March 1184. It sat on a very narrow strip of shore, between mountains on the north, and the sea to the sou ...

(

)

Kamakura period

As the port grew during the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, 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 (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 , or , was a Japanese military commander and samurai of the Kamakura period remembered as the ideal loyal samurai. Kusunoki fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in the Genkō War to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and restore power in Japan to the ...

( Battle of Minatogawa) File:Minatogawa-jinja shinmon.jpg, Minatogawa Shrine

Edo period

Later, during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, 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, while the center was controlled directly by the

. It was not until the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

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 The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. 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 occurred, where several western soldiers sustained wounds from gunfire 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 (Japan), foreign settlement located about 3.5 kilometers east of the Port of Kobe, in the future Chūō-ku, Kobe, Chūō-ku of Kobe, Japan. Established based on the Ansei 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 (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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Kobe was lightly bombed in the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942, along with

and a few other cities. Eventually, it was bombed again with incendiary bombs by B-29 Superfortress bombers on March 16 and 17, 1945, causing the death of 8,841 residents and the destruction of 21% of Kobe's urban area. This incident inspired the well-known

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

film ''

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese Anime, animated war film written and directed by Isao Takahata, and produced by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical Grave of the Fireflies (short story), short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka ...

'' and the

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

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 weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s from Kobe Port. This effectively prevented any U.S. warships from entering the port, because U.S. policy is to never disclose whether any given warship is carrying nuclear weapons. This

nonproliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons to additional countries, particularly those not recognized as nuclear-weapon states by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the ''Non-Proliferation T ...

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 The is a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan. History Operated by , it opened in 1962. Portions of the Hanshin Expressway about east of Fukae Station collapsed during the Kobe earthquake on 17 January 1995 ...

, an elevated freeway that dramatically toppled over. In Japan, this earthquake is known as the

(or the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake). To commemorate Kobe's recovery from it, 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 later dropped to fourth in Japan and, as of 2025, was the 72nd- busiest container port worldwide, as ranked by Lloyds. 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 A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

in 1945 File:Admiralty Chart No 2265 Kobe Ko, Published 1966.jpg, Port of Kobe in 1966 File:Hanshin-Awaji earthquake 1995 337.jpg, Damage in Sannomiya 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 lies to its west. Other adjacent cities include Takarazuka and

Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 1985 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218,948 households and a population density ...

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 big wheel, 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, gondola ...

sits in nearby Harborland, a notable tourist

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...

. Two artificial islands,

Port Island is an artificial island in Chūō-ku, Kōbe, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan. It was constructed between 1966-1980 (Phase 1) and 1987-2009 (Phase 2) at the Port of Kobe, and officially opened with an trade fair, exposition called "Portopia '81." It now ho ...

and

Rokkō Island is a Artificial island, man-made island in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan. Located in the southeast region of the Port of Kobe, the island has a rectangular shape and covers . The island's central region features a residential area, sepa ...

, have been constructed to give the city room to expand. Away from the seaside at the heart of Kobe lie the Motomachi and Sannomiya districts, as well as Kobe's

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

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

Sannomiya Station Kobe-Sannomiya Station (), or simply Sannomiya Station (), is a major interchange station located in the Sannomiya area in the heart of Kobe, Japan. This station is the main transport hub of Kobe. Lines Sannomiya is served by the following ...

, 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. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond lon ...

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 autumn, 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 Akashi 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. The area is well known for its rugged landscape and hiking trails. The

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

resort town of

Arima Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of the ...

also lies within Kita-ku. # Tarumi-ku: Tarumi-ku is a mostly residential area. The second-longest suspension bridge in the world, the

Akashi Kaikyō Bridge The is a suspension bridge that links the city of Kobe on the Japanese island of Honshu and 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. Sannomiya, Motomachi and Harborland make up the main entertainment areas in Kobe. Chūō-ku includes the city hall and Hyōgo prefectural government offices.

and Kobe Airport lie in the southern part of this ward. # Nada-ku: The site of Oji Zoo and Kobe University, Nada is known for its sake. Along with Fushimi in

, it accounts for 45% of Japan's sake production. # Higashinada-ku: 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:Meriken-boat.jpg, View of MOSAIC and Meriken Park from ferry at dusk (2022) File:Kobe unterwegs in Kobe 3.jpg, Meriken Park (2018) File:151003 Port of Kobe Japan01s3.jpg, Skyline of Kobe from Kobe Bridge (2015) File:Twilight view of Kobe, from a point near Shin-Kobe station.jpg, View of Sannomiya 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 A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

(2018) File:Kobe Meriken Park area at night 2016-06-14.jpg, Kobe

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 File:Views from Venus Bridge in Kobe 001.jpg, alt=, Sunset from Mt. Suwa (Suwayama) observation deck File:Views from Venus Bridge in Kobe 003.jpg, Chūō-ku, seen by night from Mt. Suwa observation deck File:Views from Venus Bridge in Kobe 002.jpg, Panorama of Kobe from Mt. Suwa observation deck

Climate

Kobe has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''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 August 5, 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on February 27, 1981.

Demographics

As of September 2007, Kobe had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 1,530,295 making up 658,876

household A household consists of one 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 im ...

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

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

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, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

(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 total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

was ¥6.3 trillion, which amounts to thirty-four percent of the GDP for

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 average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the year was approximately ¥2.7 million. Broken down by sector, about one percent of those employed work in the

primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in d ...

(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 tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

. The value of

manufactured goods Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

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 (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, 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 Marubeni ...

, a department store chain;

, Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co.,

Kinki Sharyo is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works, and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945, they produce rolling stock f ...

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, 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 prede ...

(ship manufacturer),

Mitsubishi Electric is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1921 as a spin-off from the electrical machinery manufacturing d ...

, Kobe Steel,

Sumitomo Rubber Industries is a global tire and rubber company based in Japan. It is part of the Sumitomo Group. The company makes a wide range of rubber based products, including automobile tires, golf balls and tennis balls. Sumitomo tire brands include Dunlop (in ce ...

, Sysmex Corporation (medical devices manufacturer) and TOA Corporation. Other companies include the

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

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

Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Pedic International, Inc., now part of Tempur Sealy International, is a manufacturer and distributor of mattresses and pillows made from viscoelastic foam. The company is headquartered on the Coldstream Research Campus in Lexington, K ...

, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

. In 2018, April,

Swift Engineering Swift Engineering is an American engineering firm that builds Autonomous robot, autonomous systems, helicopters, submarines, spacecraft, ground vehicles, robotics, and composite parts. The chairman and CEO is Hiro Matsushita, a former racecar dr ...

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 is a national scientific research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has about 3,000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, including the main site at Wakō, Saitama, Wakō, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Riken is a ...

Kobe Institute Center for

developmental biology Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of Regeneration (biology), regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and di ...

and

medical imaging Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to revea ...

techniques, and Center for Computational Science (R-CCS, home of the Fugaku supercomputer), the

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology The is Japan's primary national research institute for information and communications. It is located in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan. NICT was established as an Independent Administrative Institution in 2004 when Japan's Communications Research Labo ...

(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 list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

. 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 Consulat ...

. File:Kobe crystal tower01 2048.jpg,

headquarters on Harborland 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 Sannomiya File:UCC Ueshima Coffee Company02s3872.jpg, UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. headquarters on

Transportation

Train of Sanyo Shinkansen leaving Shin-Kobe Station

Train for Sannomiya-Hanadokeimae Station at Shin-Nagata Station

Air

Itami Airport , often referred to as , is the primary domestic airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including its major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is the airport closest to Osaka, being 11 km (7 mi) north of Osaka Station, as well as ...

, in nearby

Itami is a cities of Japan, city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83,580 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Itami is located in south-east ...

, serves primarily domestic flights throughout Japan, Kobe Airport, built on a reclaimed island south of

, also offers mostly domestic and charter flights, while

Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport (), commonly known as Kankū (; ), is the primary international airport in the Keihanshin, Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is located on ...

mainly serves international flights in the area.

Rail

The

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

Sanyō Shinkansen is a former Japanese electronics manufacturer founded in 1947 by Toshio Iue, the brother-in-law of Kōnosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial, now known as Panasonic. Iue left Matsushita Electric to start his own bus ...

stops at Shin-Kobe Station.

is the main commuter hub in Kobe, serving as the transfer point for major intercity rail services: the

JR Kobe Line JR, J. R. or Jr. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' J R'', a 1975 novel by William Gaddis * J. R. Ewing, a ''Dallas'' television character * JR Chandler, an ''All My Children'' television character * '' Jornal da Record'', a Brazilian ne ...

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 The is a railway line operated by the private railway company Hanshin Electric Railway in Japan. It connects the two cities of Osaka and Kobe, between and stations respectively. Outline The Main Line of Hanshin is the southernmost railw ...

run from Kobe to

Umeda Station is a major railway station in Kita-ku, Osaka, 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: ...

in Osaka. Sanyō Electric Railway trains from Himeji reach Sannomiya via the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway. Kōbe Electric Railway runs north to Sanda and Arima Onsen.

Kobe Municipal Subway The is a rapid transit system in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Like other large Japanese cities, Kobe's subway system is heavily complemented by suburban rail. In addition, two people mover lines also serve the Kobe area: the Port Island Line ...

provides connections to Shin-Kobe and Sannomiya stations from Kobe's western and eastern suburbs. Additionally, Kobe New Transit runs two lines serving Kobe Airport and 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 grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

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'', ''Gondola lift, gondolas'', or Chairlift, open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of one or more Wire rope, cables. Aeria ...

s as well, namely Maya Cablecar, Rokkō Cable Line,

Rokkō Arima Ropeway The is an aerial lift line in Kōbe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Hyōgo, Japan,operated by Kōbe City Urban Development. Opened in 1970, the line links Mount Rokkō and Arima Onsen hot spring. The aerial lift consisted of two lines, and . The latter, how ...

, 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 of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

– Kobe) and the

(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 second longest suspension bridge in the world.

Maritime

The

is one of Japan's busiest container ports and also offers ferry services to Kansai International Airport, Shikoku and Kyushu. Sub Area Activity Hanshin of the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force The , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

s provides monitoring across

and Harima 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 University, Kobe Institute of Computing and Konan University, and eight

junior colleges A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

. 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 International schools are private schools that promote education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterised 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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Chinese, and

. There are three English-language international schools: Canadian Academy,

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. Nearby mountains such as

and Mount Maya overlook the city. The city is recognized as a " Design City" by UNESCO. 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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', retrieved fro
New York Times website
on February 7, 2007. The biannual fashion event Kobe Fashion Week, featuring the Kobe Collection, 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) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

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

Prime Minister of Japan The 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 state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...

. Kobe is well known in Japan as being a city for the affluent, as many high-end stores and mansions line its streets. 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 ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, Kobe Mosque, built in 1935. The city hosts the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club, founded in 1870 by Alexander Cameron Sim,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 city headquarters the

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

Dragongate Dragongate Japan Pro-Wrestling, often referred to simply as Dragongate or Dragon Gate (, ''Doragongēto''), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded and headquartered in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Hyōgo, Japan. Most of the promotion ...

, established in 2004 as an offshoot of

Último Dragón , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler signed to Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate, where he acts as an in-ring talent, trainer and senior advisor. In addition to having trained in Japan, ...

's original Toryumon system. The dialect spoken in Kobe is called ''Kobe-ben'', a sub-dialect of

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as su ...

Sports

Kobe hosted the

1985 Summer Universiade The 1985 Summer Universiade, also known as the XIII Summer Universiade, took place in Kobe, Japan. Mascot The mascot of the Kobe Universiade, "Unitan", designed by Osamu Tezuka, is a red-crested white Crane (bird), crane, symbolic of Japan and ...

as well as 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 The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, hosting matches at

Noevir Stadium Kobe The , a.k.a. , is a football stadium in Misaki Park, Hyogo-ku, Kobe, Japan. The stadium has a capacity of 30,132. This stadium, which features a retractable roof, is the home ground of J1 League club Vissel Kobe and the rugby union Japan Rugby L ...

(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

Sister cities Kobe's

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

are: *

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain (1993) *

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia (1985) *

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

, South Korea (2010) *

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, Italy (1963) *

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

, France (1961) *

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia (1974) *

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil (1969) *

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, WA, United States (1957) *

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

, China (1973) *

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, United Kingdom (2022) Friendship and cooperation cities Kobe also cooperates with: *

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

, South Korea (2010) *

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, Pakistan (2000) *

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

, Rwanda (2016) *

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 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 Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

, India. Sister ports The

'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 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 List of bus ...

, Netherlands (1967) *

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a public agency that is in King County, Washington. It oversees the seaport of Seattle as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to ...

, United States (1967) *

Port of Tianjin The Port of Tianjin (''Tianjin Gang'', zh, s=天津港, p=tiānjīn gǎng}), 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" ( zh, s=天津新港, ...

, China

Gallery

File:Anyoin03 1024.jpg, An'yō-in. Its karesansui 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, Kita-ku, Kobe, Japan. It is operated by the cit ...

File:Kobe port tower11s3200.jpg, Kobe Port Tower File:Mosaic04s3200.jpg, Harborland File:Be kobe sign.jpg, "Be Kobe" sign near Harborland File:Kobe Nankinmachi at night.jpg, Nankin-machi, Motomachi File:Giant panda01 960.jpg,

Kobe Oji Zoo , or simply Kobe Zoo or , is a municipal zoo in Kobe, Japan. Attractions * – The zoo has kept giant pandas in its collection since 2000. * – An indoor educational center featuring skeletal specimens and a reading room. * – This area ...

as home of the

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

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 muzz ...

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 File:171125 Futatabi Park Kobe Japan02s.jpg, Futatabi Park located

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 in Hyōgo Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan