Spring 2024 - In Search of Cherry Blossoms: Kobe

Looking down on the port of Kobe from Rokko Mountains.
The MS Riveira is shown tied up at the cruise ship terminal.

Kobe

On March 29, 2024, the MS Riviera tied up at the cruise ship terminal in Kobe, Japan. The previous day had been a 'sea day', so everyone was hungover and the ship's crew needed a break so they could tabulate the liquor profits. They would stay in this port for 36 hours.  There would be plenty of time to get a feel for Kobe and its neighbour Osaka, which was only a 40-minute drive from where the ship was parked.  

Kobe became an important port city at the end of the 19th Century. During the Edo Period when Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate kept Japan isolated from the rest of the world, only Nagasaki could trade with the West. When the Edo Period ended and Emperor Meiji took over in 1869, he recognized that Japan needed to modernize and industrialize. And during his 50-year reign, Meiji transformed the country. Kobe became a very important transshipment hub during the Meiji Period and many foreigners and foreign enterprises set up shop in Kobe. Today, Procter and Gamble, Nestle, IBM and Hewlett Packard all have large offices in Kobe. In addition there are about 40,000 expats living in Kobe today.

Kobe is a lot like Vancouver, it is located next to other municipalities, along a narrow strip of land between the sea and the mountains. In the case of Kobe, the mountains are the Rokko Range which reaches a height of 900 meters above sea level. 

Gym, his dear companion and a few other adventurers,  elected to take a tour that started with a ride on the Rokko Cable Car. This antique rail system is a fun way to get to the top of the mountains. The Rokko rail line, a true funicular, opened in 1932. When you embark at the bottom, an identical but different coloured car is starting its descent from the top. As you climb up the slope, you are seated facing backwards and pass the other car half-way up the mountain. 

Once the railcar reaches the top, you have arrived in Rokko National Park. Gym et al left the rail station and found themselves on a platform that provided some fantastic views of Kobe and the Inland Sea. The air was clear and fresh at that elevation. At that point, the tour was given 30 minutes of free time to explore the touristy area built around the train station and then everyone jumped on a bus to go back into the city. On the way down, they passed the second homes of many well-to-do Japanese and more than one swanky boutique hotel. It reminded Gym of Canmore, Alberta.

Next on the agenda that day, was a sake tasting. Hakatsuru Brewing Company, a Kobe sake brewer, provided the venue. Located in an industrial area close to the sea, Hakatsuru runs a small museum and a sake tasting room. Gym et al went through the museum which contains several dioramas depicting the old way of making sake,  then they got to taste three sake samples. Two tasted like sake should but the third shot was sake infused with lemon. It was delicious! Gym and several others bought a bottle or two.

That night was spent tied up in Kobe. Then the next morning, Gym and Mrs. G, joined  a group headed to Osaka Castle. This castle plays prominently in the book Shogun, as the home of Toranaga's arch enemy, Ishido.  In reality, the Toyotomi clan built the castle and lost it to the real Shogun, Tokugawa, in 1615. Gym and his dear wife climbed hundreds of stairs to the top of the keep because that is what they do. Others in their group, elected to take the elevator.

As the Riviera left Kobe that night, an excellent Japanese drum band bid the ship adieu. They steamed out into the Pacific towards Mount Fuji, on the last leg of the cruise.

Note: Expo 2025 is in Osaka. Book hotels now.

The Rokko Cable Car

You are seated facing backwards as the
car climbs up the mountain.

One of the sake making dioramas in Hakatsuru's museum

Hakatsuru Brewing Company - Hakatsuru
means white crane.

Delicious lemon infused sake

Approach to Osaka Castle passes the wide moat

The Octopus Stone is part of the castle battlements,
it is 5.5x11.7 meters and weighs 120 tons

Inside the castle walls, looking at the keep
across a stunning Japanese Garden

Mrs. G conquers to summit of the Osaka
Castle keep

Shachi adorn the top of the roof of
a Japanese castle. They are made of gold
and were placed to protect the keep from
fire. They were also a display of the wealth
of the lord of the castle.

   

Kobe

Looking down on port of Kobe from Rokko Mountain. MS Riveira
is shown tied up at the cruise ship terminal.

On March 29, 2024, the MS Riviera tied up at the cruse ship terminal in Kobe, Japan. The previous day had been a 'sea day', so everyone was hungover and the ship's crew needed a break so they could tabulate the liquor profits. They would stay in this port for 36 hours, so there would be plenty of time to get a feel for Kobe and its neighbour Osaka, which was only a 40-minute drive from where the ship was parked.  

Kobe became an important port city at the end of the 19th Century. During the Edo Period when Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate kept Japan isolated from the rest of the world, only Nagasaki could trade with the West. When the Edo Period ended and Emperor Meiji took over in 1869, he recognized that Japan needed to modernize and industrialize. And during his 50-year reign, Meiji transformed the country. Kobe became a very important transshipment hub during the Meiji Period and many foreigners and foreign enterprises set up shop in Kobe. Today, Procter and Gamble, Nestle, IBM and Hewlett Packard all have large offices in Kobe. In addition there are about 40,000 expats living in Kobe today.

Kobe is a lot like Vancouver, it is located next to other municipalities, along a narrow strip of land between the sea and the mountains. In the case of Kobe, the mountains are the Rokko Range which reach a height of 900 meters above sea level. Gym and Mrs. Gym elected to ride the Rock Cable Car up to the top to view Kobe from above and see what it was like up there in what is Rokko National Park. The