Directory_and_Chronicle_1912 — Page 749

KOBE-HYOGO

Kobe was until 1892 the foreign port of the adjoining town of Hyogo and was opened to foreign trade in 1868, but in 1899 the two towns were incorporated under the title of Kobe City, when the City Municipal Law was put into force. 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, but to extend the facilities for loading and discharging an extensive scheme of harbour improvement was begun in 1907 and is proceeding. The two towns face the land-locked 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 3,000 feet, and the steep sides of which are partly covered with pines. On one of these hills, Rokkosan, are a number of foreign residences, the place having become a favourite summer resort.

The summit of this hill has been well prepared for the purpose, several miles of excellent paths making walking on the hills easy and enjoyable. Among the attractions of Rokkosan are excellent golf links. Kobe and Hyogo stretch for some five miles along the strip of land between the hills and the water, and the former is rapidly extending in the direction of Osaka, which is connected with Kobe by the Hanshin Electric Railway. What was at one time known as the foreign quarter at Kobe is well laid out; the streets are broad and clean, and lighted with gas. The Bund has a fine stone embankment and extends the whole length of the foreign business quarter. The foreign houses are neatly built, and the Sannomiya railway station, within three minutes' walk of the Bund, 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. There are four Clubs-the Kobe Club (British, but including members of all nationalities), the Club Concordia (German), the Masonic Club, and the Oriental Club (Indian). At Mirume the K. R. & A. C', have a fine boathouse and large lawn for all kinds of sports. The Union Protestant Church and a French Roman Catholic Church are in what was formerly known as the Concession. An English Episcopal Church, All Saints, was opened in 1898 on the Hill behind, and there are several native Protestant churches in Kobe town. There are three foreign hotels in the town-the Oriental, the Tor, and the Grand, while the Mikado (near Kobe railway station), is in foreign style, but under Japanese management. Two foreign daily papers, the Japan Chronicle and the Kobe Herald, and one weekly, the Japan Weekly Chronicle, are published in Kobe. There are also two native papers. The population of the city of Kobe exceeds 300,000. There are about 3,000 foreigners residing in Kobe, but of this number nearly two-thirds are Chinese. When a census was taken in 1901, the British numbered 602, Germans 188, Americans 179, French 67, and the Portuguese 70.

The Temple of Nofukuji, which possesses a large bronze Buddha, and which is situated in the old town of Hyogo, 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 tem- ple, which claims some attention from its historic associations. On the Kobe side of the old river known as the Minato-gawa also stands a temple dedicated to Kusunoki Masashige, so famous in Japanese history for loyalty and valour, who died on the spot în 1336, during the unsuccessful wars for the restoration of the Mikado's power. The Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yard situated at Hyogo is one of the largest in Japan. In 1908 in addition to executing repairs to 697 vessels, the yard turned out 13 new vessels having an aggregate tonnage of 19,646. The new graving dock will accommodate vessels of some 5,000 tons. The Mitsui Bishi Co. also have a dockyard at the Western extremity of the port. This dockyard has an area of 200,000 square yards, and a seafront of 1,850 square yards. Engines, boilers, electric machinery, &c., are manufac tured here, and the yard is capable of building ships of 10,000 tons. In November, 1908,