Kobe Travel Guide

Image from JNTO

Kobe is one of my favourite places in Japan and it is considered to be one of Japan’s most attractive cities. Kobe is a cosmopolitan port city with an international vibe that attracts a lot of foreigners. Kobe make a great travel destination due to its size with most of the sights reachable on foot from the main train stations.


The highlights of Kobe include:

• Ijinkan (異人館) - Kobe’s number one attraction is Ijinkan, which is a collection of Western-style houses dating from the 19th century. A lot of these houses date back to 1868 when Kobe was opened for foreign trade. 

• Kobe Tower - The unofficial symbol of the city of Kobe offering great views of the city for (¥600). 

• Shin-Kobe Cable Car - Located near Shin Kobe station, the ropeway takes you to the top of Mt Rokko, where the views over Kobe and the bay are amazing. 

• Nunobiki Habu-koen - A 40 acre garden located on Mt Rokko. It is a herb garden and complex of gardens with restaurants and shops. The garden features over 200 varieties of herbs. Admission to the garden along with a round-trip ride on the ropeway is ¥1200. 

• Nankinmachi (Kobe Chinatown) - A great place to visit in the evening with the illuminating lights. The area has lots of restaurants and street food. Famous for its pork buns (豚饅頭). 

• Kobe Harbour Land – A fun area with lots of cool restaurants and entertainment. It features a mega mall shopping area. 

• Kobe Beef – One of the world’s most famous beef that just melts in your mouth. There are lots of different dishes to be sampled in Kobe with Kobe beef. Some of my favourites include Kobe Beef Curry and Kobe Beef Steak. 

The great thing about Kobe is you can also make some side trips to Osaka and Himeji, which are close by.

Ijinkan from JNTO

Tokyo Skytree

Tokyo Skytree opened in Tokyo today and the city’s newest landmark is set to become an everlasting symbol of Tokyo. What is the Tokyo Skytree? It is a broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Tokyo, near Asakusa, which is a major tourist area.


A few facts about Tokyo Skytree:



• Stands at 634 meters
• The tallest structure in Japan
• World’s tallest freestanding broadcast structure
• Second highest building in the world behind Burj Khalifa in Dubai

The project was led by Tobu Railway and a group of broadcasters headed by NHK. One of the main purposes of the structure is to relay television and radio broadcast signals as the current facility, Tokyo Tower at 333 meters is no longer tall enough to provide complete coverage. The aim of the project was to create a structure that “transcends time and space”, and a design that allows the tower to function as both a transmitter and observatory. The project was completed on 29 February 2012 and opened to the public today on 22 May 2012.

Tokyo Skytree features two observation decks positioned at 350 and 450 meters from the ground that offer spectacular views over Tokyo. You can find more information on the Tokyo Skytree homepage

A must see on your next visit to Tokyo is the Tokyo Skytree.

Find out more about the major tourist attractions in Tokyo

Ramen Japanese Noodles

Ramen is the most popular noodle dish in Japan. One big bowl of ramen gives you a full meal and it is quick, easy and very economical. Ramen noodles are made from wheat flour mixed with salt, water and egg.

The secret to eating ramen is that you must eat quickly before the noodles absorb the soup and lose their texture. Typically it takes about 10 minutes to order, eat and be on your way.

Everyone has their favourite style of ramen. Popular restaurants in Japan have long lines of people outside and can sell out in 1-2 hours.


There are three main types of ramen broth:

• Soy base (shoyu)
• Salt base (shio)
• Miso base

Soy based ramen is based on a chicken and vegetable stock with plenty of soy sauce added giving it a salty, savoury, light taste.

Salt based ramen is made with plenty of salt and a combination of chicken, vegetables, fish and seaweed. The soup is light and clear.

Miso based ramen was developed in Hokkaido in the north of Japan and uses a lot of miso giving it a thick, slightly sweet hearty soup.

Shoyu (soy based ramen)

The soup for the ramen is made by slowly boiling various combinations of meat, fish and vegetables for between 6 to 24 hours. The secret for really good ramen soup is a closely guarded secret by the top ramen chefs in Japan. Chefs experiment in the search of new flavours and soup bases / stock.

Typical toppings for ramen include:

• Bamboo
• Spring onions
• Boiled eggs
• Sliced pork (チャーシュー)
• Dried seaweed

Ramen is popular all over Japan and each region has its own unique speciality.

Sapporo in Hokkaido is famous for its rich miso ramen

Tokyo style ramen consists of thin curly noodles served in a soy flavoured chicken broth

Yokohama ramen consists of thick noodles served in a soy flavoured pork broth

Hakata ramen from Fukuoka in Kyushu has a rich, milky pork bone broth called tonkotsu

There is even a ramen museum and ramen town noodle theme park in Yokohama, where you can see the history of ramen in Japan, and sample ramen from around the country.

Miso ramen

Japanese Ice Bra

Japan’s hot and humid summers have led to many great ideas and inventions to try and stay cool and beat the summer heat. Last summer it was the Air Conditioned Jacket.

The latest is a bra with built in ice packs that promises to keep women cool this summer. The ice bra from underwear firm Triumph Japan dubbed the “Super Cool Bra” was unveiled on Wednesday. The bra features a pair of small fish tanks encompassing the breasts, a traditional Japanese wind chime and a mint leaf.

How does it all work?


The cups are filled with a gel that remains soft and supple even when frozen, giving the wearer a cool sensation. The mint gives a refreshing fragrance, while the sound of the wind chimes is a pleasant cooling sound during the Japanese summer.

A lot of these ideas and gadgets have come about due to the need to save energy in Japan after the recent nuclear reactor disaster and especially so during the long hot summers. The Cool Biz campaign has started again, urging people to dress down for work to stay cool and avoid the need to have the aircon on high.

Check out the video below featuring the models wearing the new ice bra

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More information available at the JVC Japan Festival website

Pictures of the event

Kodomo no Hi - Children’s Day

Kodomo no hi or Children's Day is a Japanese National Holiday during Golden Week which takes place on the 5th of May. While it is a holiday for children in general, it is primarily for boys (girls have a day of their own on the 3rd of March called (Hina Matsuri).

Children’s Day is a Japanese boy’s festival and is a day to pray for the healthy growth of boys. It is Japanese tradition for families with boys to display carp streamers (koinobori) outside their houses around this holiday. Carp are believed to symbolize successes in children’s lives, and by displaying koinobori it is hoped to bring boys of the family future success and luck. Samurai dolls called gogatsu ningyo (May Dolls) are also put on display in homes.

In my home, because we have a son we display kabuto (samurai helmet). Many people have these as a seasonal decoration displayed during Children’s Day. Kabuto is displayed to express hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong. We bought quite an expensive one in Japan, but really like having it out on display during Children’s Day. Our son loves wearing it on this special day as well.

You can see a picture of our family kabuto below

Family Kabuto (Samurai Helmet)

Some other interesting Japanese Festivals are:

• Golden Week - A period of Japanese National Holidays
• Hina Matsuri - Japanese Dolls Festival
• Tanabata - Japanese Star Festival