Part of the great Kansai metropolis, Kōbe is an attractive port city west of Osaka, squeezed between the Rokkō mountain range and the coast, with it’s own shinkansen station.

Its port was among the first to be opened to foreign trade in the 19th century, meaning it had a sizeable foreign population with a number of Western-style buildings and neighbourhoods.

In 1995, Kōbe was hit by the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which killed over 5000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of buildings. The city has been completely rebuilt.

Nankinmachi is Kōbe’s popular Chinatown, while the Shin-Kobe Ropeway lifts visitors up the southern slopes of the Rokkō mountain chain for views out over the city and coast.

Just west of Kōbe, the Akashi Kaikyō Ōhashi is one of the world's longest suspension bridges at almost 4km. Opened in 1998, this engineering marvel connects to Awaji Island and eventually on to Shikoku.