Last weekend was a long weekend (it was the Emperor’s birthday on Sunday, so Monday was a “substitute holiday”). So, I went down to Kobe to visit my roommate from the Tokyo orientation back in July. I took the Shinkansen – the bullet train – to get down there. It was great – really easy to get around, plenty of legroom, and the thing moves so fast. The only problem is that its really expensive. About a hundred dollars each way. Yikes.
At the JET orientations, when they say, “every situation is different” they really mean it. The Kobe JETs have it very different from Yamanashi JETs. I’m a bit jealous. First off, Kobe is a real city, with people and shopping and movie theaters and buildings – not like Kofu. Almost all the Kobe JETs live in one apartment complex on the outskirts of the city – only a twenty-five minute train ride from downtown. Considering that the nearest “city” to me (Kofu) is a fifty minute train ride, that’s pretty great. Plus, all the JETs live right near each other! I’m a bit jealous.
Kobe itself is an interesting city. In 1995, a monster 7.9 earthquake flattened the downtown area. Five thousand people were killed and almost all the buildings destroyed. Today, there’s no sign that there ever was an earthquake (except for a very depressing “Earthquake Museum”). The entire city was pretty much immediately and totally rebuilt. Because of the earthquake, there are no real historic sites in Kobe (they were smashed), so they city doesn’t hold much as a tourist destination. It is, however, a really vibrant place. When the city was rebuilt, it seems the most important priority was shops and restaurants. The city is absolutely full of them. Especially around Christmas time (with all the sales) the place was bustling – so busy – almost New York level. Also, a lot of young people have moved into the city since the disaster, so there’s an active nightlife too.
All in all, Kobe isn’t that interesting as a cultural destination, but it seems like a fun and convenient place to live. And a cool place to go party, if you don’t mind spending two hundred dollars for a round trip ticket.
1 comment:
Hey man, ogenki desu ka! Glad to know you're having fun! If you want some entertainment check out this great TV series called "The Golden Tribe/Karei Naru Ichizoku". There are english fan subbed versions on veoh.com. The story is set in 1960's Kobe and is about the internal struggle between father and son in the Japanese conglomerate.
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