Kobe By Night
Kobe by the sea is famous outside of Japan almost exclusively for its beef. But inside the country, it’s known for much more. It’s home to some of the most fashion conscious people in Japan, and as a result there are literally miles of shops vying for their yen. Great news for Katy (and terrible news for our scant savings) is that everything is covered from boutiques offering the latest haute collections, to sprawling 100 yen shops (into which our intrepid photographer has disappeared for several hours in the last couple of days). With so much shopping to be done, there’s an equal number of restaurants to fuel the mania. Plus, the hours are pretty irregular: really, Kobe doesn’t come alive until after the sun comes goes down. Which is precisely when we decided to get snapping…
Our time in Hyogo prefecture was made possible by:
Hotel La Suite, Harborland, a beautiful broad, that oozes class. Looking out over the harbour, this hotel sacrifices having hundreds of guests in favour of spoiling a few beyond their expectations. There’s a level of service here – perfumed rooms, lights fading up when you walk in – that isn’t easily matched. Plus, as you can see from some of our pictures, the views from the balconies aren’t bad either.
Itoh Dining, which gave us the opportunity to try the hallowed Kobe beef, and taught us about all the oddities that come with the trade. It was all made better by the owner and chef Keisuke Itoh, a cheeky scamp who might only be 38, but has already opened four restaurants around the country. Being relentless professionals, it’s only fair we go to his establishment in Kyoto as well, to make sure the quality is carried across the brand…
The Hopinn Hotel in the east of the prefecture, which is close enough to the train station to give us some extra time in bed, but not so close that the trains keep us awake all night. It’s a shame all business hotels can’t be so. With lightning fast internet connection and giant rooms, though, this is much more than the usual place for suits to lay their heads.
海沿いにある神戸、国外では神戸牛の名前で有名だが、国内では神戸にはお肉以外にも有名なものがたくさんあるようだ。
神戸はおしゃれな人が多くいる街としても知られているようで、多くのお店が通り沿いに軒を連ねている。それはお買いもの大好きなケイティには朗報で(が、私達の乏しい経済状況には辛い現実だが・・・)最新のオートクチュールのブティックから、100円ショップまで(そこはこのプロジェクトの“カメラマン”が何時間も行方不明になった場所である)本当に多くのお店が並んでいる。
そして神戸にはその数に負けない程多くのレストランがある。
そしてディナータイムに華を添えるのはこの夜景だ・・・。
兵庫県の滞在でお世話になった皆様
ホテル ラ・スイート神戸ハーバーランドさん。港を見下ろす美しいホテル。お客様の期待を越える施設とサービス。素敵な香り漂うお部屋、自動の室内照明など、ここにいるとすっかり甘やかされてしまいます。そして今日のブログにある美しい写真のいくつかはここのバルコニーから撮影したものです。素敵なひと時を本当にありがとうございました。
神戸牛について学ぶ貴重な機会をいただいた伊藤ダイニングさん、本当にありがとうございました。そしてこの機会を与えていただき、実現させて下さった伊藤社長、本当にお世話になりました。まだ38歳の若さにも関わらず、すでに4つものレストランを経営されている伊藤社長。伊藤ダイニングさんが本当に素晴らしいレストランである事を証明するために、私達は“任務”として京都のレストランにも行かせていただく事にします(笑)
お世話になり本当にありがとうございました。
ホテル「ホップイン」アミングさん。お世話になりありがとうございました。駅前とういう最高のロケーションにあるため、いつもより長く寝る事ができました。でもこんなにも駅から近いのに、こんなにも静かで、インターネットの環境も完璧。そして他のホテルではスイートルーム?というほどにゆっくりとしたお部屋のスペース。なんで他のホテルはここから学ぶ事ができないんだろうかと、真剣に思う程完璧なホテルでした。本当にありがとうございました!
5 Comments
Mickey Honda
November 7, 2011Exquisite Beef, exciting China Town and million-dollar nighttime view are 3 most famous and popular tourist resources in Kobe.
You had everything!
Your intuition as professional traveller is running high!
Jennifer
November 8, 2011beautiful. beautiful. beautiful.
Mara
November 8, 2011I love Kobe, too. A convenient way to tour the city is to hop on the City Loop Bus, which allows you discover all its interesting spots by hopping on and off these buses the whole day. Amusing, even if you can’t understand the japanese lady speaker!
zichi
November 12, 2011I’m happy you enjoyed Kobe which is were I lived for 9 years with my Japanese wife. We have also lived in the Japan Alps for 9 years, and Tokyo, but Kobe is our favorite place, and great place for foreigners.
Oen
November 25, 2011I love Kobe and plan to visit again. It is not a big city, yet many interesting places like Kitano-cho, Nankinmachi, the harbor, Mount Rokko, and many more though most are newly built after the great earthquake and post WWII.