August 21, 2016
After taking a spontaneous day-long trip on local trains from Kyoto to Hiroshima and spending a couple of days there, exploring the city, visiting its famous landmarks, and making an excursion to Miyajima to see the famous torii and climb Mt. Misen, I decided to head back home. On my way, though, I figured I should spend some time in Kōbe, since I would be stopping there to transfer trains anyway, I might as well, right? So off I went.
神戸 Kōbe
I went back the same way came, on local trains, that is, but this time it didn’t take quite as long, since I didn’t have to go all the way to Kyoto. I got to Kōbe and found a bustling city, with a wide open plaza in front of the station. I found my hostel, Hostel Nakamura, was quite nearby, checked in, and headed right back out to wander around a little.
(Remember to click on an image to get a better look!)
I found a busy commercial district, neon-lit and teeming, like most similar areas in Japan. I had my eyes out for Kōbe beef dining options, but I found that most signs advertising Kōbe beef—and there were many—had pretty high prices for my budget, at least $55 a person. And they all seemed like fancy places, too. I was looking pretty raggedy at the moment—unshaven face, sunburned, and wearing the smelly and T-shirt and shorts of a budget traveler who had been basically backpacking around in the sun for a few days—so I didn’t feel comfortable walking, alone, into some fancy steak restaurant and blowing up the vibe. I was hungry, though, and pretty tired, so I took the easy route and settled for some Makku, McDonald’s, making my first beef in Kōbe a Big Mac, lol! (In know! I’m the worst kind of tourist!)
After wandering around a bit more and not really knowing what to do with myself, I decided to call it a night, grabbed a couple of beers from a konbini, and went back to my hostel, where the host had told me early I could go out onto the rooftop if I wanted. I took my beers up there. It was a small utilitarian space like a ship’s crows nest up there, nothing fancy, but there were a couple of seating pads. So I sat up there with my beers and some tunes, contemplating the universe and surrounded by tall skinny buildings. There are some advantages to solo traveling, I thought. You can go anywhere, at any time, and do anything you want without having to worry about what other people want to do, but every now and then, that inevitable loneliness creeps in and you wonder what you’re doing all alone drinking beer on a rooftop with no one to share the moment with.
北野町 Kitano-chō
Anyway, the next day I got up, and with pep in my step I stepped out into another beautiful day in Japan. It was going to be another hot one, but the sky was as blue as blue can be. I had heard that there was a neighborhood in Kōbe full of old European-style houses from the Taishō period, so I went looking for that. It turns out it was uphill. All the way up hill to where the city runs into the mountains. I walked uphill along a wide, straight boulevard, lined with seemingly perfect buildings. There was something about Kōbe. It was crisp and clean and had great lines and angles, and the gentle slope down from the forested mountains through the gleaming city to glistening blue sea below made Kōbe really POP! It didn’t have that vibe of tropical decay that some other seaside cities had, it had a “shimmering city by the sea” vibe. I have to say that I think Kōbe may be the most attractive city in Japan. It’s just so pleasing to the eye.
As I made my way closer to Kitano-chō, as its called, the streets became narrower and more curvy, and contained any number of adorable little cafes and cute little boutiques and perfect little houses, some carefully overgrown with clinging vines. Kitano-chō itself was full of majestic European mansions built some hundred or more years ago, and the whole area embodies that romanticized belle epoque Western aesthetic that permeates some Miyazaki films and lots of anime, as well as cafes all across Japan where sophisticated young ladies sip coffee from delicate cup and saucer sets in europeanesque wood-paneled rooms wearing those ubiquitous summer straw hats with a broad black ribbon tied in a bow around the crown. The Weathercock House is the centerpiece to this district, a towering mansion with a Germanic vibe sitting at the top of the slope, with a rooster-shaped weather vane perched high upon its tallest tower. You and can take an inexpensive tour of the house, exploring not only its elegant interior but also getting a grand view of the city and the sea below, a spectacular sight!
There wasn’t much else to do up there but stroll, and shop, and take pictures of cool buildings, but I lingered around up there for a while, probably had some ice cream or something, before heading back downhill for a while, continuously dazzled by all the neat buildings and pretty street scenes.
ワント・バーガー Wanto Burger
Then I got hungry, and I knew I had to find some Kōbe beef, preferably for much less than $55. I found a place featuring Kōbe beef burgers! It was called Wanto Burger. It was a hip little joint with a shotgun bar that played rock ‘n’ roll music and had a creepy giant catfish in a tiny fish tank behind the bar (kinda sad, actually). Their menu contained a variety of creative burger recipes featuring, of course, Kōbe beef, as well as wagyū (regular Japanese beef). The prices were up there, but still reasonable. This was definitely NOT McDonald’s. I went for the namesake burger, the Wanto Burger, a monster of a burger with a Kōbe beef patty AND sliced strips of wagyū! Also on it was bacon, boiled egg slices, slivers of crisped garlic, brown mustard, and steak sauce! It was awesome! And after pairing it with a couple of “mexi-cokes” (tequila and cola), I pretty much stumbled out of there in a haze of gustatory pleasure and satisfaction. Wanto Burger! Go there!
Walking around the neighborhood, I passed by the building again, remembering that I hadn’t taken a photo of the place. I took the photo, then noticed that a couple of the staff were out front skateboarding (they were wearing their Wanto Burger T-shirts), and they noticed me taking the photo and seemed a little confused. I looked at them and offered up an “oishikatta!” (“it was delicious”) as an explanation, and they seemed quite pleased with that.
After that, I got beer at a konbini and walked around, seemingly the only foreigner in town, and definitely the only person walking around with a beer in his hand. I believe it was a Tuesday. I could imagine all the local obasans (aunties) saying, What’s with these foreigners? Why do they walk around drinking in the middle of the day? That’s not right!
南京町 Nanking-machi
At one point in my drunken meanderings I looked up and realized I was in Chinatown! I didn’t know Kōbe even had a chinatown, but they did, and it was vibrant and bursting with life. It’s called Nanking-machi, or Nanking Town, after the city in China, and it rivaled Yokohama‘s or even San Francisco’s chinatowns as far as colorfulness and activity. It was quite a sight! I walked back and forth in there for a while before carrying on downhill, toward the harbor.
メリケンパーク Meriken Park
I arrived at the harbor, at a place called Meriken Park, and it was HOT out. Blistering hot! I used my fan to shield my already burnt forehead from the sun. I decided to go up into the Kōbe Port Tower, an iconic part of the Kōbe harbor skyline, and up there I found a rotating cafe where I sat for a couple of coffees and relaxed while I watched the city and the sea turn around and around. Up there I became certain that Kōbe was the most beautiful city in Japan. I could have sat up there forever. And the view was immense. I could even see Osaka’s Abeno Harukas building in the distance!
Finally, I descended from the Port Tower and continued wandering. I was pretty tired at that point, though, so I knew I was wandering back toward the station where I would catch a quick express train back to Kyoto. I took one last look at the busy streets of Kōbe, wishing I had more to do, more reason to just hang around longer, but I didn’t really, so I turned and went into the station, ending my spontaneous four-day trip to Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Kōbe. This was one of my favorite trips. It might have been nice to be able to share it with someone, but then, maybe, it just wouldn’t have been the same.
終わり
This concludes my three-part Hiroshima-Miyajima-Kōbe adventure. Stay tuned for one last big hoorah as I take a trip to tropical Okinawa!!
Dave's Japan 
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