One Day in Kobe
As an avid rugby fan and someone who will watch any team, no matter the allegiance, my latest venture saw me travel the whole way to Kobe, in Hyogo Prefecture. This time around, I was in town to watch Japan vs Italy, in what I hoped would be a tighter game than the previous two times I had watched Japan. There was, firstly, an absolute drubbing by Ireland, which, even as an Irishman, was in no way satisfying and, secondly, an absolute, em…drubbing by Australia in Yokohama. Not surprisingly, that was even less satisfying. It gave me the opportunity, however, to explore Japan’s sixth largest city and one which is often forgotten by tourists who flock to more famous spots such as Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Hiroshima.
At only around two and a half hours from Tokyo by Shinkansen (Bullet Train), I decided I would get up at 4.30am and catch the first train from Tokyo station. Multiple smashings of the snooze button later and I made it to Kobe by around 9.30am – not a bad morning’s work already. I changed at Osaka, taking a local train for around 30 minutes to Sannomiya, from which point you can access most of the city’s main attractions by foot. However, if you want to save even more time, do what I didn’t – research – and you’ll realise you can take the bullet train the entire way to Shin-Kobe station. Oops.
My first port of call for the day was Kobe’s farmers market. It runs every Saturday morning in the city’s East Yuenichi Park and, by 9.30, I was, of course, ready for second breakfast. The disadvantage of my getting up early is that it always results in me needing to eat like Bruce Bogtrotter to stay awake. The biggest advantage to getting up early, however, is that I can eat like Bruce Bogtrotter and in a city like Kobe/Japan in general, why would you ever want a limit on your stomach? What I expected from the farmer’s market was nothing compared to the reality of what was on offer. When reading about it on the train in – again, do your research, kids – I imagined a huge and bustling market with crates of iced fish being loaded on the shoulders of fishermen; boxes of dirt-strewn vegetables, pulled out of the ground shortly before I’d woken up that morning and maybe a stand where I could get a bowl of sashimi on rice – a fitting second breakfast for Japan. What greeted me was the total opposite of what I expected. The market was quaint and quiet, where sellers were impeccably dressed and chatting softly with their customers. Vegetables appeared washed and aesthetically beautiful and I didn’t see a single fish, except for those swimming in nearby ponds. Check out some of the photos below!
Above you can see customers browsing the different stalls – most of which were based out of small trucks and vans. What struck me most about the market was that it seemed to be a very popular spot for young families, with children playing together whilst their parents were also able to socialise. It was in stark contrast to myself, the only foreigner at the market, desperately trying to prevent sticky meat sauce from running down my arm. Below is what I eventually purchased for second breakfast – sticky meat sauce included- and whilst I have no idea what it actually was, it was delicious.
I then took a ten minute walk down to the Kobe port area, at which point I realised I’d forgotten to pack sun-cream. Whilst I enjoy the sun, over an hour in any sort of Asian heat usually leaves me in flaking red bits and the temperature, even at 10.30am was already pushing 30 degrees. Nevertheless, I only really had the morning to enjoy Kobe so I pushed on towards the port and was presented with the scene below – Kobe Port Tower being the centrepiece of the marina. After walking for around 20 minutes, it felt like a good time to stop for a mid-morning snack and I visited the wonderfully titled ‘Merikenpark Resthouse.’ Despite being over 9000 miles from home, it’s amazing how many buildings in Japan tend to look like 90s Britain/Ireland. And so, in a tribute to the nostalgic seaside days of my childhood, I had a ‘mix’ ice-cream consisting of chocolate and vanilla, after the 20 Vietnamese tourists in front of me eventually got served. I sat, overlooking the port enjoying my snack, as predominately brown ice-cream, unknowingly, leaked from a hole in the cone drip by drip onto my clean, cream shorts. There is also a memorial to the Great Hanshin Earthquake(1995), where part of the harbour has been preserved in the state it was left in after one of the biggest earthquakes in Japan’s recent history. Ironically, only a number of hours after I left the Kansai area, the region experienced it’s biggest earthquake since 1995, in an event I can only describe as too close for comfort. Memorials are not the only reminders of the daily dangers of living in a region as seismically active as Japan.
Only around a ten minute walk from the Kobe port is Chinatown. This day was proving to be a win-win as I was able to enjoy two of my great passions in life – rugby and delicious Chinese food. Kobe’s Chinatown feels very authentically Chinese, with Chinese/Taiwan nationals working and cooking in most of the shops/restaurants. The only clue that you’re not, in fact, in China is the numerous vendors calling out in Japanese. Many of the street vendors offer up many types of dim sum like stuffed pork buns and various types of sweet tea and desserts. More options – mainly Cantonese based – are also available inside the restaurants, often in an all you can eat capacity. How terrible…
One of several gates marking the entrance to Chinatown and below, shoppers and diners enjoying the busy atmosphere on a hot, summer afternoon.
As it’s Chinatown, of course you can get some authentic Turkish ice-cream. Wait, what…?
A classic feature of Japanese streets are the numerous vending machines that line it’s roads and alleys, even in the middle of nowehere. The top of Mount Fuji at 3700m plus is a classic example of ‘nowhere.’ I loved how they’d taken a classic feature of Japan and added a Chinese twist to these Coca-Cola vending machines with friendly dragons and pandas beckoning thirsty shoppers in on such a hot day.
Spread throughout the city was some beautiful street art, omitting both realistic and more down-to-earth, animated styles. In certain areas, it felt like every inch of free wall space was dedicated to tasteful street art and it was refreshing to see in a traditionally conservative country, such as Japan
As the heat was cranking up and I began to seriously worry about forgetting to pack my suncream, I made my way to Vissel Kobe’s football stadium. Whilst it would go on to host famous players such as Andrea Iniesta, David Villa and Lukas Podolski, week-by-week, today it would play host to rugby. I was ecstatic to discover the roof was closed for the day and I could maybe survive without being burnt alive. I’d often heard that indoor arenas created a cauldron of noise and as I waited for the match to begin I was sitting in anticipation. As this is Japan, however, other than in the moments before and after kick-off and points-scoring moments, the stadium was eerily silent throughout the game. Nevertheless, despite Japan losing 25-22, it was a fantastic stadium in a beautiful and interesting town. With the added bonus of a world class football player like Andreas Iniesta playing for Kobe in the J-League, it should attract even more visitors.
Finally, whilst Kobe is world-renowned for it’s famous beef, what struck me most about the many beef restaurants in the city was that they often had another famous visitor clinging to their walls – Spiderman. Despite, seemingly being different chains of restaurants, the appearance of Spiderman was a constant feature throughout the city. If anybody can connect the dots and place Spiderman with Kobe beef, please let me know in the comments below!
