12 Amazing Facts You Did Not Know About Kobe, Japan

Kobe, the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, is located on the north shore of Osaka Bay. The city boasts of a population of 1.5 million and is also considered as the sixth largest city in Japan.

Settled amidst unique landscapes like mountains and the ocean, Kobe is renowned for a traveler’s delight.

Amazing Facts About Kobe

Kobe was founded in 1889 and did not exist till then. It eventually became one of the designated cities only in 1956!

The port of the city holds importance in Japan, since the 1970s. It is the busiest port in the Kanai region and also the fourth-busiest container port in Japan.

Kobe with its neighboring cites Osaka and Kyoto form the centres of the Keihanshin Industrial Zone. It is the second largest industrial cluster in Japan. It is also the most populous area after Tokyo.

Major destruction was caused on January 17, 1995 as the city was struck by the Great Hanshin earthquake. More than 200,000 people were left homeless and more than 6,000 people were killed.

The city is proud of its recovery from the earthquake. It also hosts a light festival called the Kobe Luminarie, every December.

The city is the origin of Kobe Beef, an expensive and rare delicacy. The meat comes from a regional Wagyu black cattle breed named Tajima.

Ever heard the phrase, 'If you can’t go to Paris, go to Kobe’? It’s a popular Japanese saying as this city is known as a fashion mecca and hosts fashion weeks in the city.

The city is also known as the center of Jazz music in Japan. A jazz festival named ‘Kobe Jazz Street’ is hosted in Kobe every October.

Kobe is the city where the first golf course of Japan was built. The Kobe Golf Club started in 1903.

The city also boasts of Japan’s first mosque, Kobe Muslim Mosque. It was built in 1935 by the Turkish and Indian residents.

The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge that connects Kobe to Awaji Island, is considered as the longest suspension bridge. It has been designed to withstand earthquakes and tsunamis.

The Karoke equipment was first devised in Kobe by a musician named Daisuke Inoue. In 1971, the musician started it but never actually took patent for it.