Directory_and_Chronicle_1895 — Page 465

OSAKA-KOBE (HYOGO).

METHODIST PROTESTANT MISSION

Rev. A. R. and Mrs. Morgan, 101,

Minami Buheicho

do.

Rev. U. G. and Mrs. Murphy, 99, Rev. E. H. and Mrs. Van Dyke, 25,

Nishi Kusabukacho, Shidzuoka Miss A. E. Lawrence, 84, Minami Kaji-

yacho

Miss J. Whetstone (absent)

WYCLIFFE MISSIONS (Church of England),

Toronto, Canada

Rev. J. Cooper (absent) Mrs. Robinson (absent)

Rev. J. Macqueen and Mrs. Baldwin,

4, Shirakabecho, Itchome

Rev. H. J. and Mrs. Hamilton, 43,

Higashi-katahamachi, Itchome

53

Miss E. M. Trent, 4, Shirakabe-cho

Itchome

OKAYAMA

AMERICAN BOARD MISSION

Rev. J. II. and Mrs. Pettee Rev. S. S. and Mrs. White Miss Alice P. Adams

Miss Nina C. Stewart Miss Carrie M. Telford (absent)

MULLER, FRANK, Chu Gakko

TOTTORI

AMERICAN BOARD MISSION

Rev. Geo. M. and Mrs. Rowland Miss A. Daughaday (absent)

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. A rice-cleaning mill was started here in 1885. The foreign concession at Kobe is the "model settlement" of Japan. There is a good Club 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 two principal Hotels are the Oriental and the Club Hotel. Three foreign daily papers, the Hyogo News, 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, 1893, was 153,055. There were 764 foreign residents in Kobe in 1893, exclusive of Chinese, who numbered 1,004. The Chinese decreased rapidly after the outbreak of the war and at the present time (December, 1894) numbers 474.

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