Kobe is OK, but it tends to be over praised. The city is pleasant, but the best quote I’ve heard to describe it is: ”This place must have been beautiful before all the people arrived.” It sits along a long strip of land between mountains and the sea. The sea is fine, but not particularly pretty and rarely blue. There’s a large beach at Suma, but it’s not the cleanest. The mountain is very nice and worth a trip to the top to see the view and look at the waterfall and gardens.
East of the city centre is a very high income residential area, but the whole place is pretty rich. The city center is very small, has a few major brands in the back streets if you care to look, and just two big department stores. For those interested in such things, Daimaru’s store is excellent, but Sogo is pretty old (food floor excepted which is well worth a visit even for tourists). Kobe also has one of the largest ‘shotengai’ (covered shopping street) in the country, but there’s not a lot in it that’s interesting TBH.
Outside the centre, if you go to Minatogawa there is a very old, narrow set of streets that few tourists find, but which are very Japanese in character—highly recommended, but remember you’ll standout. These are market streets so morning visits are best. For lovers of Japanese kitsch, there is also the winery in the north west of the city, or even a visit to the Glico factory, makers of Pocky chocolate sticks.
Kobe has food like anywhere else in Japan. For the best Japanese stuff, you’ll need to pay a lot, but it also has a thriving Indian community and some of the best Indian food in Japan. There’s plenty of local standard restaurants in the big drinking and nightlife area behind the main station.
Many Japanese love Kobe. The locals usually never go anywhere else, and those that have never been see it as something of a Japanese utopia. Often, the explanations for both are a bit thin though. In reality, it’s not as fashionable as everyone suggests, and there’s far less to see or do than in Osaka or Tokyo, Kyoto, Yokohama or even Hiroshima, Fukuoka or Sendai. I’d compared Kobe to Nagoya in many respects, but even Nagoya is more unique. OTOH, it’s the nearest large city to Himeji which has one of the best authentic castles in the country and a must on any tourist’s list.
Kobe also likes to describe itself as an ‘international’ city. There is some truth in this. It used to be the only place in the country where overseas embassies were allowed (i.e. well away from Tokyo), and currently has a couple of world class research parks. It is also home to the HQs of Nestle Japan and P&G Japan. But, away from the high rents of the east side, Kobe is pretty parochial and not particularly friendly to foreigners compared to many cities I’ve lived in. There are still bars in the centre where they’ll take one look at your face before hussling you out the door. Train rides can be uncomfortable too (in rush hour, women should use the ‘women only’ carriages—and Kobe is the only place that feels the need to have a women only carriage throughout the day). Subway cars can also be a bit pongy, and you may see men peeing in the areas between carriages on their way home late at night—I’ve seen this quite a few times.
But these problems are getting gradually better. Smile, keep your temper, and simply ignore the idiots just like you would anywhere, and you’ll have no problems. Speak Japanese and you’ll get on even better.
Kobe is worth a visit, but don’t expect quite as much as some might have you believe.
