Kobe is a place I used to visit really often, and I have all sorts of memories here. But coming back after a long while, it has developed a bit. There’s a new aquarium too. Places like this need the occasional visit to update my mental map with the latest info.

Sobameshi

I didn’t know this either, but apparently sobameshi, a dish where you eat soba like rice? Something like that, is a local specialty… I’m not fully convinced, but… okay, I guess… I would have bought some if I’d had the time, but Kobe wasn’t the main event of this trip, so I skipped it.

Kobe Portopia Hotel

When you get off the Shinkansen, there’s a bus to the hotel. It goes via Sannomiya, so you can shuttle between downtown Kobe, the hotel and the Shinkansen station, which was convenient. The Portopia’s facilities feel a bit dated, but the food has a good reputation, and above all it was cheap, so I picked it. The Osaka Expo was on around this time, so the prices of hotels connected to Osaka had gone through the roof. That’s how, after much searching, I ended up with the Portopia…

Inside

From what I vaguely heard, a lot of medical seminars are held here? Something like that… There’s a medical school nearby too… Anyway, it had the feel of an old hotel.

In front of Sannomiya Station

When it comes to the center of Kobe, it’s Sannomiya. Usually one day is enough to cover most of the sights, like Chinatown, Mosaic and the Ijinkan, and everything is close once you get off at Sannomiya. That said, an aquarium opened recently, and going all the way there and back makes for a tight day… Kobe is developing too…

A back street in Sannomiya

Restaurants lined up in a row.

This kind of atmosphere

It feels like the back alleys of Shimbashi or Ginza.

A Sannomiya street

Wide and clean. Was it always like this? I found myself wondering…

Kamukura is here too…

It used to be only in Dotonbori, but now it feels like it’s become Osaka’s soul food.

TOOTH TOOTH on the corner

A company called TOOTH TOOTH runs several affiliated shops in Kobe. Places like this are usually pretty good.

An okonomiyaki place

Cacao Sampaka

That’s Sannomiya for you…

A beer bar

There are seriously too many good date spots here.

Isuzu Bakery

Isuzu is a famous bakery in Kobe, with plenty of branches all over. I think you can just go to whichever one is closest.

Kobe streets

Head up inward and you come to Cuarto.

There’s a shop called Chonmage. A Kochi specialty, apparently…

A cafe on the way

What a stylish town…

A bistro on the way

I just took a photo because the atmosphere looked nice. Honestly, a place like this would probably be good too… but on a short trip like this, you have to stick to the places you picked out in advance…

Pinocchio

This is that famous? pizza place from Haruki Murakami’s essay, and it’s still going strong. The coexistence of tradition and modernity, you might say…

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