Directory_and_Chronicle_1941 — Page 181

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

KOBE

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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 num- erous paths which afford good walks. Two modern hotels offer good accom- modation. 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 nationalities), the Masonic Club, the India Club, the Club Concordia (German), and the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club (international). The Shioya Country Club (inter- national) 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 com- munity.

Over 30,000 vessels totalling over 50 million tons enter the port every year, and the foreign trade amounts to Yen 2,200,000,000 annually. It has a population of 1,000,000 including 9,000 foreign residents.

The Temple of Nofukuji, 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 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 large market. The lower part of the river-bed is a centre for public enter- tainments, such as

cinematographs, etc. The shrine dedicated to Kusunoki Masashige, the Imperialists, who fell on this spot in 1336 during the unsuc- cessful wars for the restoration of the Imperial power, stands between Kobe Station and Okurayama Park, where there is also a large City Library. This shrine has recently acquired national prominence as a leading shrine among those of the state religion. In the park stands a bronze statute of the late Prince Ito, who was one of the most influential and powerful statesmen of Japan in the Meiji period.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1941 — Page 181

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