Japan 2018: Day 08 - Hiroshima to Kobe

So we have officially completed the first week of our holiday and I'm beginning to think that we'll be needing a holiday to get over this holiday. After waking around 0800h, we got ready for the day, packed all of our gear up and vacated our temporary apartment in Hiroshima.

We made the usual pilgrimage to Hiroshima Station (though this time in the rain), which seemed to be the starting point of all of our journeys. Today's journey would involve us taking the Shinkansen northeast to Kobe.

A dreary view of Hiroshima Station as we head off to Kobe.

I realised that I didn't have any photos of the Meipuru-pu (buses) that we have been taking around Hiroshima.

A sleek Shinkansen parked at Hiroshima Station.

The distance from Hiroshima to Kobe is 309 kilometres and the time taken to cover that distance (with three stops along the way) was 80 minutes.

Todays route took us northeast to Kobe.

Everything up until that point was as smooth as clockwork, then we arrived at Shin-Kobe Station. To date we have had no issues with tracking down our AirBnB apartments using printed copies of the correspondence which includes sometimes a map, sometimes pictures of the journey along the way, sometimes even a video of the journey from the station to the apartment. In this instance, there were directions; however, the starting point was very confusing, and it took us more than an hour to find the apartment, when it should have taken us 15 minutes. Let's just say that there was an argument or two between the travellers, but in the end we got there.

After dropping off our bags, we set about exploring Kobe, firstly heading very briefly to Kobe Harbourland, a shopping complex, to get our bearings. We then walked to Meriken Park to check out the Kobe Port Tower.

Kobe Station.

Walking towards Harbourland.

The Mosaic Big Ferris Wheel.

The view towards the Kobe Port Tower.

The Kobe Port Tower is 108 metres tall and is one of the main features in Kobe. It has a number of different observation decks and was designed to look similar to a Tsuzumi which is a Japanese Drum. It was built in 1963, and closed briefly for renovations between 2009 and 2010. The view from the top was great, and the windows clear and non-reflective allowing easy photography. The cost to go up the Kobe Port Tower was 800 Yen each (around AUD$10). Here's some views:

When we got back down we walked through Meriken Park, firstly checking out the 'Be Kobe' sign; however, as former LA Lakers Basketballer Kobe Bryant's biggest fan, I think that Kyle took it to mean something different than intended.

We then headed to the Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park. The part commemorates the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake disaster. On January 17, 1995 at 05:46h a giant magnitude 6.9 scale earthquake struck under the northern end of Awaji Island approximately 20 kilometres from Kobe. The tremors lasted for around 20 seconds and wreaked havoc. Approximately 6,400 people lost their lives as a result; about 4,600 of them from Kobe. The damage was extensive; 400,000 buildings irrevocably damaged, more than 300 fires raged throughout the city, major highways and important transport routes decimated and the Port area significantly damaged reducing Kobe's output. The total cost of the disaster was estimated at around US$200 Billion. However, despite the significant damage, Kobe was very quick to recover. Here's some pictures of the event.

The memorial was pretty interesting and there is actually a small area adjacent the water's edge where they have preserved the damage. There is lots of information and an audio-visual presentation describing the tragedy.

Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park.

Some of the original damage preserved for all to see.

Part of the Memorial which contains information, photos and an audio-visual presentation.

Following this, we headed back to Harbourland for dinner and ate at a restaurant called Kobe Dotomachi Doria, where we ate Doria. Doria is basically a rice gratin, where the rice is topped with various ingredients such as seafood, covered in cheese and a sauce, then grilled. It was super tasty.