No Lack of Mouth-Watering Food Options in Kobe, Japan
Day 60, 2024 Grand World Voyage
Sunday, March 3, 2024; Kobe, Japan.
When you think of Kobe, your thoughts might immediately go to Kobe beef. According to strict rules set by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association, only beef from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle raised near Kobe qualify. Until 2012, it wasn’t exported (although beef from exported cattle may be sold as Kobe-style beef).
We didn’t dine on melt-in-your-mouth Kobe beef (due to its perfectly marbled texture) during our overnight here. I enjoyed – and wrote about — a wonderful Kobe lunch here in 2018. It was a great experience, but at $100 and more per person, I didn’t feel the need to repeat.
Instead, I shared a small order of Xiao Long Bao, or soup dumplings, with my sister Elaine while walking through the crowded streets of Kobe’s Chinatown. It cost me ¥300 — or $2 – for four, and they were delicious. Eloise chose a Peking duck wrap from among the choices of many different dumplings, steamed pork buns, dan dan noodles, ramen and sweets. Or even Baskin Robbins Ice Cream through a vending machine.
After several days of tours, we enjoyed exploring on our own. A shuttle bus from the cruise terminal building saved us from walking perhaps only a mile to the foot of Nankin-machi (Kobe’s Chinatown) and the doors of the Daimaru department store. Shopping arcades surrounded the area.
By shortly after noon, we could barely pass through the streets of Chinatown, so we headed to the nearby Meriken Park on reclaimed land jutting out into the bay. The area includes a maritime museum, hotel, tower, statues and sculptures, the ubiquitous city name sign and even a stand-alone Starbucks.
Also here is the Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park. In 1995, the Great Hanshin Earthquake left more than 6,000 dead and irreparably damaged nearly 400,000 buildings. Much of the damage occurred near the port. The park has many displays detailing the recovery, but also preserves some of the damaged infrastructure.
Some of our friends on tours in Kyoto yesterday returned by bullet train, which we all thought sounded very cool. But with the early sunset, their return was in the dark. We considered taking the shinkansen bullet train today for a 13-minute journey to Osaka from Kobe for the experience, but realized we should have studied a bit earlier into the types of tickets and required stations. I didn’t mind missing the opportunity, as I’m scheduled for a bullet-train excursion to Hangzhou from Shanghai later this week.
Not to be outdone by the fireboat welcome to Kobe, the Kobe Hardi Wind Ensemble entertained us from a windy terminal balcony as we sailed away, accompanied by the release of green, pink and white balloons. A Japanese coast guard cutter wished us Bon Voyage from its LED sign.
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Several people commented on my previous blog asking to see a photo of the washcloth I bought in Tokyo. I had observed many Japanese women in public washrooms pulling small washcloths from their bags to dry their hands after washing, as no paper towels were generally offered. I have enjoyed having this small cloth in my purse, and carrying it may become a habit even at home.
