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64
Miss Alice P. Adams
Miss M. E. Wainwright
TOTTORI
AMERICAN BOARD MISSION
OSAKA-KOBE-HYOGO
Rev. S. C. Bartlett. Jr., and wife. Miss M. F. Denton
TOYOHASHI
CANADIAN CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCTN,
Rev. J. Macqueen and Mrs. Baldwin,
12, Nishi Hat-cho
Rev. A. and Mrs. Lea, do.
TSUYAMA
AMERICAN BOARD MISSION
Rev. S. S. and Mrs. White
KOBE-HYOGO
Kobe was until 1892 the foreign port of the adjoining town of Hyogo and was opened to foreign trade in 1868; in October, 1892, Hyogo was also declared by the Japanese Government to form part of the open port. The port is finely situated on the Idzumi-nada, at the gate of the far-famed Inland Sea. The harbour is good and affords safe anchorage for vessels of almost any size. The two towns face the landlocked water covered with white sails, while behind, at a distance of about a mile, rises a range of picturesque and lofty hills, some of which attain an altitude of about 2.500 feet, and the steep sides of which are partly covered with pines. Kobe and Hyogo stretch for some three miles along this strip of land between the hills and the water. The Foreign Concession at Kobe is well laid out; the streets are broad and clean, and lighted with gas. There is a Municipal Council consisting of the Governor, the Foreign Consuls, and three elected members of the community. The Bund has a fine stone embankment and extends the whole length of Kobe. The foreign houses are neatly built, and the Sannomiya railway station, within three minutes' walk of the Concession, has a very English look. The railway terminus is at the other end of Kobe, where it meets Hyogo, and there are extensive carriage works adjoining the station. The foreign concession at Kobe is the "model settlement” of Japan. There are two good Clubs and a spacious recreation ground at the East end of the settlement. The Union Protestant Church and a French Roman Catholic Church are in the Concession, and there is also a native Protestant Church in Kobe town. The foundation stone of a new Anglican Church, All Souls, was laid on the 21st June, 1897. The two principal Hotels are the Oriental and the Occidental Hotel. foreign daily papers, the logo Neirs, the Kobe Herald, and the Kobe Chronicle, are published in Kobe, and there are one or two native papers. The population of Kobe- Hyogo in December, 1895, was 161,406, including women and children. There were over 2.000 foreign residents in Kobe in 1896, of whom more than half were Chinese. The British numbered 515, the Germans 141, and the Americans 126.
Three
The old town of Hyogo is only divided from Kobe by the river Minato, which is spanned by a substantial stone bridge. Hyogo contains few features of interest, and the streets and shops are inferior to those of Kobe, its population being much smaller and nearly stationary. The Temple of Shinkoji, which possesses a large bronze Buddha, is worth a visit; and there is a monument to the Japanese hero Kiyomori. erected in 1286, in a grove of trees in the vicinity of the temple, which claims some attention from its historic associations. On the Kobe side of the Minato-gawa also stands a temple dedicated to Kusunski Masashige, so famous in Japanese history for loyalty and valour, who died on the spot in 1336 during the unsuccessful wars for the Restoration of the Mikado's power. In connection with the Imperial Shipbuilding Yard at Hyogo is a Patent Slip, which will accommodate vessels up to 2,000 tons. total length is 900 feet; length above water, 300 feet; breadth, 38 feet; declivity, 1 in 20. The slip is worked by hydraulic power.
Its
Kobe's excellent railway communications both north. and south have naturally tended to centralise trade at this fast rising port.
In 1897 the values of the different classes of Imports were :-
Cotton, Raw
...
...
$35,256,594 Rice and other Grain...
18,645,917
Cotton Yarn
Cotton Piece Goods.....
Kerosine Oil...
3,735,020 Steam Vessels ...
2,017.621
4,184,080 Sugar
6,732,506
Machinery, Watches, Arms, &c. Metals and Manufactures of Oil Cakes
3,371,979 Wool and Woollen Manufactures 5,626,859 9,648,795 Sundries...
10,387,295
8,561,532
2,210,473 Total Imports Foreign Goods $110,678,671