Charlee Chayatanan's Blog: Charlee's Travels in Japan: KOBE

March 18, 2010

7th Day of Travel – KOBE

Waking up early today, Ben and I made our way towards KOBE. It was a quick 28 minute trip from KYOTO to KOBE via NOZOMI. Looking for the hotel, I found out that it was quite a distance from the SHIN-KOBE station. Thus, we took a cab to the hotel.

Once we arrived to the hotel, the people at the hotel were surprised and said that we were far too early. Understanding that, we asked to leave our luggage. (Note: Smart way to leave luggage is to leave it with the front desk. Not only did they keep it safe for us, but they also moved everything to our room when we were able to check in.) Then we decided to start our day in KOBE.

After getting the luggage situation sorted out, we went to SANNOMIYA station. This is probably the most famous station in KOBE. We then took a train to get to SHINNIGATA, but ended up getting lost. What should have taken us about 15 – 20 minutes took us 1.2 hours.

The goal of the trip was to get to see TETSUJIN 28, which after the long round about way we were able too! It was more impressive than the last time I was here, they took the gate down that surrounded the feet! Getting a few good shots, we decided to get on with the exploring.

Next was Harborland. This is a free entry theme park, but you have to pay for the rides and games. We decided to take the subway again. (Note to travelers: in KOBE they have an all day pass for bus and subway! You can buy it at most subway stations and at this time only cost ￥1,000.) Going around quickly and looking at all the rides and games, I noticed a Japanese war flag. Wondering if it was to a nuclear sub, we went to go investigate.

It was! A Japanese Nuclear Submarine was parked right in front of us! Amazing! After taking a few photos, I told Ben that I wanted to get something to eat. Noticing a sign that said “KOBE Beef”, we decided to eat there.

The meal was DELICIOUS! It was not even high quality KOBE beef, but it was still good. Finishing up was a little sad… but we had to move on. We decided to walk through an outdoor mall to our next area. Next. came KOBE Tower. Unfortunately, it was under maintenance. Therefore, we decided to move on to China Town.

During this time, it began to rain. Luckily, it was just a shower that was passing by and we were able to get to an underground shopping arcade. We made our way to China Town, through the shopping arcade. Getting lost again, we asked for directions and found out that we were right next to it. Embarrassing….

China Town was cool as well, although it was a lot smaller than I thought it would have been. Ben tried some Chinese noodles and said that it was the best Chinese food he had in a while. To quote: “Well worth the 10 hour flight to eat this!”

When Ben finished eating, I wanted to go to a cogwheel car and ride on it diagonally up a mountain. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the JR station that was closest to it, we found out that it was already closed for the day. It was only about 17:00 hours… Yes, things close early in JAPAN, especially KOBE and KYOTO!

So, we decided to just go back to SANNOMIYA Station and walk around. On our way back Ben spotted a poster on the wall with an couple of ANIME characters on it. He asked me what it said.

The post said TAKAHASHI RURIKO Expo at DAIMARU. Well, I have to say I’m a fan of both RANMA ½ and INUYASHA. Therefore, we made our way towards DAIMARU mall. The cost wasn’t that bad, some ￥300 – 400. It was really neat to see too.

We weren’t allowed to take photos, so there are only a couple here. It didn’t matter though, because it was worth seeing. The expo went through her life story, and the creation of all the different MANGA.

Starting with URUSEI YATSURA, you would walk through a series of rooms with memorabilia and 11x17 sized art pages. It went onto MAISON IKKOKU, where they actually had a scaled model of the inn and a life size model of the entryway. That was really sweet.

Next, came RANMA ½. I have to say this was my favorite part. Now, there was no models or anything, but there was a new episode playing in a mini theater. I was able to see the whole episode. AWESOME!!!

Following that, came the INUYASHA section which was huge! I believe it is because a new season of the show is coming out. If you don’t watch the ANIME, then let me just say the ending was horrible. It didn’t really give any closure. Well, now they are going to make up for it with another season.

Finally, there was a section with all the other MANGA that she wrote; like Mermaids Scar and One Pound Gospel. As you were leaving the expose, there was a section with fan art in it, and there are a lot of talented people out there! I really wished I could have taken photos! Oh, well… guess you will just have to come to KOBE!

Although the expo is a limited time, that is just too bad. At least I was able to see it! It made me really want to watch RANMA ½ again. Sigh…. Need to go find it! Soon…. SOON!!!

When we finished up here, Ben wanted to have something traditional. So, we went around and looked for something that was traditional to JAPANESE food. We found SUSHI! It was alright, but looked better than it tasted… When we finished up with dinner, we were both craving ANIME. I recalled seeing an ANIMATE (a chain ANIME store in KANSAI region).

Making our way to ANIMATE, we got separated. We made it all the way to the building/mall that it was in, but after entering we got split up. I made it to the store alright, but Ben was nowhere to be seen. The weird thing was that the store was closed when I got there.

Ben never made it to the store. He got lost when we were separated and decided to head back towards the entrance. Apparently, he didn’t see where the ANIMATE store was. Luckily, I found the store closed and decided to go back to the entrance to see if Ben was there, which he was.