Directory_and_Chronicle_1940 — Page 321

KOBE

Kobe, finely situated on Osaka Bay and now the fifth largest city in Japan, was originally, until its opening to foreign trade in the year 1868, a small fishing village near the once important town of Hyogo. The new port was known at first under the latter name, but in 1892 the two towns were united under the name of Kobe City and are now indistinguishable, while subsequent additions have considerably extended the municipal boundaries. Water supply, electric lighting and tramways are municipal services, and there are numerous lines of motor buses run by the city and by private companies. Taxis

Taxis are plentiful and cheap Extensive harbour works have been carried out, and there are now available for foreign-going steamers five large concrete piers, with quays on either side, owned by the government, together with a number of smaller piers, some by private concerns, all of these being connected with the main Tokyo-Shi- monoseki line of railway. Two more large piers, one with a slip in the centre, are now nearing completion, while large new piers have been built for the domestic trade in Hyogo Bay. There is also an extensive anchorage, protected by breakwaters. In Kobe are the Kawasaki and Mitsubishi shipyards, both equipped with all modern facilities. In addition to the above, Kobe possesses steelworks, locomotive and carriage works, the Dunlop Rubber Company's works, a plate and sheet mill, the Nippon Keori Company's Head Offices, four mills of the Kanegafuchi cotton spinning company, sugar and flour mills and also match, chemical and other factories. The city faces the landlocked bay, and at a distance of a mile and upwards from the sea front there rises a chain of steep and picturesque hills, at the foot of which are the residential districts. To the nortli-east, on a range, of hills known as Rokko-zan, 2,500 to 3,000 ft. above sea-level, is a summer resort, popular among Japanese and Europeans. The links of the Kobe Golf Club, which owe their inception to the enterprise of a small number of former British residents, are a great attraction to the resort. Rokkozan is reached by a cable-car, a ropeway and three motor roads and possesses numerous paths which afford good walks Two modern hotels offer good accommodation. Kobe stretches for some ten miles along the strip of land between the hills and the water and is rapidly extending on both sides, particularly in the direction of Osaka, with which it is connected by rail and by three electric tramways, as well as by a broad, well-constructed motor-road. A number of large modern buildings have added much to the appearance of the city during recent years. Kobe has three main railway stations--Sannomiya, Kobe and Hyogo, of which the first-named is the most important for foreign residents-all three being on the main Tokyo- Shimonoseki through line. There are several clubs-the Kobe Club (including members of all nationalitics), the Masonic Club, the India Club, the Club Concordia (German), and the Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club (inter- national), The Shioya Country Club (international) is the community centre of the recently developed foreigners' suburb of Shioya, twenty minutes by train westward along the coast from Kobe, it is well equipped for all games. At Mirume the K.R.A.C. have tennis courts and a large swimming-pool. There is an English Church (All Saints), a Union Church (Protestant), a French Roman Catholic Church, a Mosque and also a number of Japanese Churches of various denominations. Kobe possesses two good foreign style hotels, the Tor, on the hill, and the Oriental, on the Bund,. and an up-to-date International Hospital run by the foreign community.

The population of the city of Kobe is given as 989,100 (October, 1938) Kobe possesses the largest number of foreign residents of any city in Japan.

The Temple of Nofukuji, which

which possesses a large Bronze Buddha 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