22 Facts About Kobe

1.

Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city after Kawasaki, the third-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Hyogo Prefecture.

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2.

Kobe did not exist in its current form until its founding in 1889.

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3.

Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan and nuclear-free zone port city.

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4.

Later, during the Edo period, the eastern parts of present-day Kobe came under the jurisdiction of the Amagasaki Domain and the western parts under that of the Akashi Domain, while the center was controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate.

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5.

Port of Kobe was Japan's busiest port and one of Asia's top ports until the Great Hanshin earthquake.

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6.

Kobe has since dropped to fourth in Japan and 49th-busiest container port worldwide.

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7.

The main transport hub is Sannomiya Station, with the eponymous Kobe Station located to the west and the Shinkansen Shin-Kobe Station to the north.

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8.

Kobe has a humid subtropical climate with hot summers and cool to cold winters.

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9.

Port of Kobe is both an important port and manufacturing center within the Hanshin Industrial Region.

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10.

Kobe is the busiest container port in the region, surpassing even Osaka, and the fourth-busiest in Japan.

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11.

Japanese companies which have their headquarters in Kobe include ASICS, a shoe manufacturer; Daiei, a department store chain; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co.

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12.

Kobe is the site of a number of research institutes, such as the RIKEN Kobe Institute Center for developmental biology and medical imaging techniques, and Advanced Institute for Computational Science, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) Advanced ICT Research Institute, the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, and the Asian Disaster Reduction Center.

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13.

The Consulate-General of Panama in Kobe is located on the eighth floor of the Moriyama Building in Chuo-ku, Kobe.

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14.

Itami Airport, in nearby Itami, serves mainly domestic flights throughout Japan, Kobe Airport, built on a reclaimed island south of Port Island, offers mainly domestic flights, while Kansai International Airport in Osaka mainly serves international flights in the area.

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15.

Sannomiya Station is the main commuter hub in Kobe, serving as the transfer point for the three major intercity rail lines.

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16.

Kobe is a transportation hub for a number of expressways, including the Meishin Expressway and the Hanshin Expressway (Osaka – Kobe).

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17.

Kobe is home to 17 Japanese language schools for international students, including the international training group Lexis Japan.

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18.

Kobe is most famous for its Kobe beef and Arima Onsen (hot springs).

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19.

Kobe hosted the 1985 Summer Universiade, the 1991 Men's Asian Basketball Championship, which was the qualifier for the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament.

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20.

Kobe was one of the host cities of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosting matches at Noevir Stadium Kobe, which was renovated to increase its capacity to 40, 000 for the event.

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21.

Kobe was one of the host cities for the official 2006 Women's Volleyball World Championship.

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22.

Kobe hosted the World Darts Federation World Cup in October 2017.

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