On March 31, 2006, I visited Kobe for the second time. The first time was when I visited Kobe on my first trip to Japan in 2004.
The first stop I made was to the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge. The bridge connects the main island of Honshu (where all the major cities of Japan are located) with the island of Shikoku.
From the base of the bridge.
Approach to the bridge.
The "science centre of the bridge" with a cross-section of the cables used in the bridge.
The suspension bridge towers is as high as Tokyo Tower.
The commemorative plaque.
It was still pretty cold in March.
The underside of the bridge.
One of the nice features is that you could go up the bridge and walk on the platform below the road deck and see views of Osaka Bay.
Entrance to the bridge.
Entering the underside walkways of the bridge.
There was an indoor "observation deck" under the bridge where you could look down at the Akashi Strait as well as across Osaka Bay.
Not recommended for those scared of heights!
Out towards Osaka Bay.
Looking back towards the shore.
Right next to the bridge was the Sun Yat Sen Memorial House. Apparently he stayed there when he visited Kobe. Since it was nearby I went to check it out. Nothing interesting, just a historical monument.
Next I went to Kobe's Chinatown. It is called Nankin-machi (南京町), because during that time, people from China were referred to as "people from Nanking (today's Nanjing)".
The entrance to Chinatown.
This is one of the the saddest Chinese BBQ stand I have ever seen.
It was quite crowded as there were lineups to buy mini-sized sample portions of Chinese food. Seems like some kind of food theme park.
After that I took a walk to the waterfront of Kobe.
The Port of Kobe Tower in the background.
The remnants of the 1995 Kobe Earthquake are preserved here as well.
Next I went to the free observation deck on the 24th floor of Kobe's City Hall.
Looking towards the harbour. The island in the background is actually reclaimed land. Hence, an artificial island.
Zooming in on the spaghetti of bridges, roads and railways heading towards the artificial island.
Looking towards the city centre. Kind of reminds me of Hong Kong because of the high building density, the narrow strip of flat land, and the mountains in the back.
Zooming into Sannomiya, the main train station of Kobe and the centre of commerce of Kobe.
Towards the west.
Finally, the last stop were the Old Foreign Settlements of Kobe. In the past Kobe was one of three cities permitted by the government to trade with foreigners (the others being Yokohama and Nagasaki) so the foreigners of the day built up residences resembling houses in their homelands.
Now it has become a trendy and high end area.
The former British consulate.
2 comments:
I read your previous post as well, but I'll just put in the comments here so I don't have to do it twice. Great pics as always, great bridge, I want to go on it someday, great pics of the city and skyscrapers. It looks so futuristic.
What kind of things are they eating at chinatown? Chinese food I presume, but how does it compare to real chinese food from China?
I ate at a chinese restaurant in Osaka once (horrible), but it wasn't really dim sum sort of stuff so I don't know.
Very nice pictures. Don't diss their Chinatown, I am pretty sure it has its own "flavour", hehe.
Mmm, I wonder how you took some of those pictures on the suspension bridge. Did you wander off to the prohibited area? =)
DaYvid
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