An Easy Guide to Kobe, Japan

Perfectly marbled Kobe Beef.

Kobe is a land famous for its beef. At least, that is all I knew about Kobe before I went last week. The Boy had a paper accepted in a conference there and I tagged along for support. I was extremely excited because I haven't been back to Japan since I was eight years old. I went to Tokyo and my only two clear memories are of a giant Sega game center and the complete and utter shock I felt upon seeing tons of naked women in a hot spring. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to adding a bit more depth to my vision of the country.

I always make an effort to research a place a little before I go, just to get a feel for what I absolutely need to see/do/eat. Since Kobe is such a huge city and quite well known, I thought that there would be a ton of helpful information available. I was half right. There is a lot of information available about Kobe but little of it is useful. Most of what I read was really, really vague or way too specific without relevant details. 

I will be honest, I was expecting a city like Hong Kong where you can be dropped pretty much anywhere and find your way around. Everything is in English and everything is pretty self-explanatory and straightforward. Plus, there is a pretty high chance that you will run into someone who speaks English. Kobe is not Hong Kong. As soon as you leave a very small section of Sannomiya (the main commercial center), then you are surrounded by Japanese. This is great for experiencing the culture and really feeling like you are in a foreign land but not so great for trying to maneuver around the city. I will say that once you start figuring out the system, it isn't so bad but those first initial hours can be pretty frustrating. 

With that in mind, I am hoping to write a more detailed guide to Kobe. All of this is based on what I did. If you don't do what I did, good luck and feel free to message me or comment with your experiences.

Also, I am only putting a couple of pictures on here so if you want to see more from the trip, head over to Unsettled TCK Gallery

You should definitely try to find a tourism center and pick up a Kobe Guide Book. This is provided by the Tourist Promotion League and is an extremely helpful book.

Transportation to Kobe

I flew in to Osaka Kansai International Airport KIX. This appears to be the only international airport near Kobe in spite of the fact that there is another international airport called Osaka International Airport ITM. KIX was created to alleviate crowding at ITM and ITM seems only to serve domestic flights now... So say the Wikipedia gods. 

Anyway, after flying into KIX and going through the super slow immigration before changing money at the super slow Travelex, I bought a ticket at the transportation booth which is conveniently located right next to the tourism desk which is next to the Travelex. Ignore everything else you read about the metro or the high speed ferry, take the bus. It cost 1900 yen for one way and 3000 yen for a round trip. The bus is the number 6 and it is literally right outside the exit from where the transportation booth is. It takes you right to Sannomiya which is, as I wrote above, the commercial center of Kobe and where my hotel was. 

This trip took about an hour and ten minutes and was incredibly comfortable and efficient. They appear to leave every fifteen to twenty minutes and you are never waiting long. They also leave on time which is great.

The reason why I told you to ignore the metro/train option is something that I heard from multiple Kobe locals: trains are often delayed by people who commit suicide. Two things troubled me about this. One, the fact that suicide is a common cause for delay and two, this news was delivered to me as a straightforward fact of life. So if you want to make sure you don't miss your flight, take the reliable bus because people tend to want to throw themselves in front of trains. 

This next part is pretty important. Now that you know how to get to Sannomiya, you need to know how to get back to the bus to get to the airport. When you are dropped off in the Kobe, it will be at a bus stop right in front of SOGO. This is NOT where you go when you need to leave. The bus stop for going to the airport is located diagonally across the street from SOGO (catty-corner, as the Boy says). 

Make sure you are in line for the right bus to Kansai International Airport.

This is right in front of the bus stop going to the airport. To the far left of this photo is SOGO where the drop off stop is.

If you didn't buy a round trip ticket, which I didn't, you have to go to this little booth and purchase them.

The booth where you buy tickets to return to Kansai International Airport.

Transportation in Kobe

I could not for the life of me figure out the metro system in Kobe when I first arrived. The reason for this is that Kobe has like four or five different types of trains. There are the JR, the Hankyu, the Hanshin, Shinkansen, etc. It is really confusing. The basics are that you need to figure out where you want to go and on which train line your destination is. Once you have figured this out by looking at either the confusing maps on the walls above the ticket booths or your own metro map, you put in money depending on the distance. Two stops were 120 yen and then they go up from there. Really make sure you are in the correct train station in Sannomiya since if you buy tickets from one that is not directly connected with the line that takes you to your destination, then it will cost you more.

Sorry I can't be more helpful here but you can always try to ask for help!

Unsettled TCK Gallery 

Hotel

I stayed at the Hotel Monterey Amalie. I booked this hotel through Hotels.com and I mention this because Hotels.com gives the wrong address. The Monterey group has two hotels in the center of Sannomiya: Hotel Monterey Kobe and Hotel Monterey Amalie. Hotels.com gives Amalie the address for Kobe. Luckily I looked this up and tracked down the Japanese name for Amalie and so was able to give this to the cab driver. Amalie is within walking distance (about a 10 to 15 minute walk) of the airport bus stop but that first night I was quite disoriented and exhausted and just wanted to get to my bed as fast as possible. 

The front of Hotel Monterey Amalie.

Here is the actual address for Amalie:

2-2-28 Nakayamate-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0004, Japan
PHONE +81-78-334-1711 or 078-334-1711

This is the Japanese name for Hotel Monterey Amalie.

If you end up in Kobe, I HIGHLY recommend Amalie. My room was clean, comfortable and surprisingly large for Japan. The location was fantastic since it overlooks a temple and is in easy walking distance to a million restaurants and to the airport bus area. The staff was also incredibly helpful and the price was one of the cheapest that I found in Kobe. 

Kobe Beef

Now to one of the highlights of Kobe: its beef. Honestly, I had incredibly high expectations. My expectations were so high that I was already braced for the inevitable disappointment that I felt sure this food would bring. For those who haven't heard of Kobe beef it is reputed to be one of the, if not the, top beef in the world. This is where all the talk about massaging cows and feeding them sake, etc. comes from. I've had some pretty great steak in my life and I figured that this would be some sort of variant of Fillet Mignon. 

I can't tell you how wrong I was. This beef completely exceeded my expectations. I have NEVER tasted anything even remotely close to how phenomenal this beef tastes. The sirloin especially just melts, literally melts in your mouth. The moment you pop that bad boy in there, your taste buds are going to be overwhelmed with the most succulent meat which is enhanced by the subtle and delicious taste of fat. Forget about the gross chewy fat that you cut off of mediocre steak. This fat is buttery, savory, rich and I am beginning to salivate just thinking about it.

If you go to Sannomiya area, which I really think you should, you will likely be completely overwhelmed with the sheer amount of restaurants there are. This made it especially difficult to choose a restaurant that would serve me a Kobe beef worth waiting for. I definitely didn't want to spend all my money but I also didn't want to settle for something cheap and sub par.

I ended up enlisting a Japanese friend of mine who asked all of her work colleagues. The consensus was: Mouriya 

I went to the Sannomiya branch and here are some photo directions.

Mouriya Steak House is that rust colored building on the right.

Here is a better picture of Mouriya. Very narrow!

The street and Mouriya restaurant are across from Tokyu Hands department store. If you keep walking up Ikuta Road away from the Mouriya restaurant, then you will hit Hotel Amalie and the temple it overlooks.

For my first Kobe beef meal, I opted for dinner. If you are looking for a cheaper way to experience this, go for the lunch option. I ended up trying both and I will explain the merits of each.

If you really want a WOW experience, go for the dinner option. It is more expensive but trust me, you are getting your money's worth. It was around $100 for a meal that included a drink, a salad, a soup, an appetizer, and a high-grade 150 gram sirloin cut of Kobe beef as well as grilled vegetables. If you choose the dinner option, sit at the grill. There is something pretty awesome about watching the chef expertly cut and cook everything. Not to mention the fact that he actually times everything so that your food is never cold.

Our chef started with these slivers of garlic that he deep fried to a crisp. This was done during the soup, salad, and appetizer phase. Then he moved onto the beef. I honestly recommend sirloin over tenderloin. I tried tenderloin the next day and it just didn't melt the same way the thinner cuts of sirloin did. Plus the sirloin was more fantastically marbled. And it was cheaper for a larger portion.

Find more pictures of this delicious meal at Unsettled TCK Gallery

Definitely order some plum wine with your meal, it was incredibly delicious. Also, for flavoring for the beef: while it doesn't need any, dipping a tiny corner into just a little salt and then adding some wasabi makes the flavor explode. It must be some sort of alchemy but the hint of salt enhances everything and the wasabi accents the beef nicely. You could also eat the garlic flakes with the beef but I just munched on those in between beef bites since they tended to overpower the meaty flavor.

Here are some photos of my meal: Kobe Food

So that was the dinner experience. I went to the same place the next day for lunch and it was more than half off the dinner price. However, I didn't find the meat as good. It was still amazing and if I hadn't had the dinner then I probably wouldn't have noticed but you can tell whatever they serve for lunch just isn't the top grade. Also, there was less preparation with the meal. The garlic was already fried and the chef just spooned them onto the plate. There were just little interactions that were missing from the dinner experience. If this doesn't matter to you, then go for the lunch and I guarantee that you will still be blown away. But if you are going all the way to Kobe, you might as well live it up.

*You need to make reservations for dinner, but not for lunch. 

Stuff to do

 If this is your first time in Kobe then I think you should stay around the Sannomiya area. The number of restaurants and shops as well as the easy access to transportation really make it worthwhile. 

Since you are in Japan, you should go to at least one temple. The one across from Hotel Monterey Amalie is quite lovely and free. When you go to any of the chapels you will notice a long rope attached to a bell at the top. You will also notice a little slotted box. These are all a part of the prayer that you are supposed to do. I have attached a picture that I took of what you are supposed to do. In between the two claps and the final bow, you make your wish or say your prayer.

Temple Photos 

In addition to making a prayer, you could also try some fortune telling fun stuff. If you don't know Japanese, then definitely go to the temple near Amalie since they have fortunes in English. If you have a bad fortune then you can tie it up with all the other bad fortunes and wish for a better one. 

Other sights in Kobe include Harborland and Mosaic. Harborland is basically a waterfront boardwalk that lights up at night and has a bunch of cruise ships. Also on the waterfront is a great outdoor shopping center called Mosaic. Mosaic also has a fun Ferris wheel that you can ride which shows some great views of the city at the top. To get to Harborland you have to take JR Railway to Kobe station and get out. This is only two stops away from Sannomiya (the JR station) and it is 120 yen. From there you can follow signs to get to Harborland and Mosaic.

Photos from Harborland 

On my last day in Kobe I ended up exploring Kitano, which is one of the foreign quarters of the city. You can walk to this area from Sannomiya. Just head towards the bridge where the JR station is and away from SOGO. You should find signs saying Kitano but if you don't you can also just walk up Kitanozaka Street.

You will know that you are getting close to the area because there are a ton of old consulates from different countries. Also in this area is a pretty neat temple that give you some pretty great views of the city. If you can't make it up Mount Rokko or Mount Maya, then I thought it worked well as a substitute. Look for photos of these sights on Unsettled TCK Gallery. Beware the spiders though. They are EVERYWHERE and they look particularly vile...

These spiders really love the Kitano area in Kobe!

Finally, eat some pastries. Kobe is really famous for having great bakeries and you need to take advantage of this. I had one of these tarts and it just blew me away with how ridiculously tasty it was.

There are a ton of other things to do in Kobe but since there are just the ones I did, I can't really offer any more. If anyone reading this wants to add more detailed information, feel free to do so in the comments!

I hope that this was helpful. If you have any questions, head to the comments section or go up to the Talk to Me and send over a message. 

If you ever get the opportunity, definitely head to Kobe. It is a fun city and full of stuff to do!

Final plug to look at some pretty photos.