KOBE
495
the attractions of Rokkosan are excellent golf links. Kobe stretches for some five miles along the strip of land between the hills and the water, and is rapidly extending in the direction of Osaka, which is connected with it by the Hanshin Electric Railway and the Hanshin Kyuko (express) Electric Railway. What was at one time known as the foreign settlement at Kobe is well laid out; the streets are broad and clean, and lighted with electricity. The Bund, which ran along the sea side of the Foreign Settlement, has been extended and will soon be covered with Harbour administration offices. Within the last few years the Japanese have bought many of the Settlement lots and have erected large offices of five or six stories, which have greatly improved the city. The railway terminus is at the other end of Kobe, where it meets Hyogo, and there are extensive carriage works adjoining the station, but the foreign section of the city is best reached from Sannomiya Station. There are several Clubs-the Kobe Club (including members of all nationalities), the Masonic Club, the Indian Club, the Club Concordia (German), and the Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club (international). At Mirune 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 the Settlement, but the latter has a fine new structure almost complete in Nakayamate-dori. An English Episcopal Church, All Saints, was opened in 1898 on the hill behind, and there are several native Protestant churches. There are several foreign hotels in the city, the principal being the Oriental, the Tor, Lyman's and Pleasanton. The first- named is now owned by the Toyo Kisen Kaisha, the Japanese shipping com- pany, and compares favourably with any hotel in the Far East. 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 Kobe City at the end of 1922 was 751,352. Of this number 4,611 were foreigners, the chief nationalities represented being:-Chinese, 3,134; British, 453; American, 278; German, 168; Russian, 96; Portuguese, 78; Indian, 178; French, 53; and Dutch, 38. The earthquake in Yokohama has caused a large temporary addition to the foreign population since September, 1923.
The Temple of Nofukuji, which possesses a large bronze Buddha, is situated in the old town of Hyogo and 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. The bed of the old river Minatogawa was reclaimed in 1910. The upper part of the reclaimed area is now known_as Minatogawa Park, where there is a City Hall, behind which is a large market. The lower part of the river-bed is a centre for public entertainments, such as theatres, cinematographs, etc. The shrine dedicated to Kusunoki Masashige, who fell on this spot in 1336 during the unsuccessful wars for the restoration of the Mikado's power, stands between Kobe Station and the Okurayama Park, where there is, also, a large City Library. In the park stands a bronze statue of the late Prince Ito, who was one of the most influential and powerful statesmen of Japan in the Meiji period. The Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yard situated at Hyogo is one of the largest in Japan. The Mitsubishi Co., also, have a dockyard at the Western extremity of the port. The Government in 1906 sanctioned a scheme for the improvement of the harbour involv- ing an expenditure of 32,000,000 yen. Large reclamations were undertaken at Onohama, and commodious wharves and other facilities for the working of cargo are provided.
Kobe's excellent railway communications, both north and south, have naturally tended to centralise trade at this port.
The following table of values in Yen shows the total trade of the port from 1912 to 1922-
1912......
Imports Exports
302,199,803 150,475,871 1918..... 346,608,977 170,470,039 | 1919..
Imports Exports 784,310,224 539,350,392 1,015,141,760 443,249,116 1,127,476,835 518,987,252
1913..
1914.
281.959,911 167,522,636 1920..
1915........
269,216,398 197,597,830 | 1921.
1916.. 1917....
374,099,070 325,671,735 1922.
....
768,209,362 229,144,369 856,356,675 279,821,530
530,929,041 479,770,388 | 1923 (half-year) 508,851,434 139,445,628
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