Lily Delianedis, Class of 2025, Arts and Sciences

This blogpost was written as part of the 2022 First-Year Writing Seminar, “The Lure of Leisure: A Global History of Modern Tourism,” taught by History graduate student Aimée Plukker. 

Located facing the Inland Sea, situated in the Rokko mountains, is Kobe, Osaka. As this pamphlet suggests, Osaka is far from isolated: it can be reached easily by rail, air or sea. From Tokyo, it is roughly a 3-hour rail ride, and many visitors visit Kobe by plane. However, about half of the foreign visitors enter via sea.

Since ancient times Kobe has been a political, economic and cultural center, writes Professor Satoshi Inoue, who specializes in port management and coastal planning. When the port of Kobe opened in 1868, Westerners immediately flooded to this place. Western culture influenced much of the community, bringing along sports such as golf, tennis and rugby, as well as cuisines.

The pamphlet, published in the 1990s, highlights “ancient” Kobe, showcasing historic gardens, temples, shrines, and bridges. The pamphlet sheds light on how Kobe was presented to visitors in the 1990s. Because Kobe is a large trading port city, and therefore attracts foreigners, many tourist “desires” have been created along the sea. One of these attractions is the Port Tower located at Naka-tottie Pier. The tower stretches 108 meters into the sky and has a four directional view overlooking the heart of the city. Another attraction near the ports is Port Island. The Island is man-made and hosted an exposition called “Portopia 81,” showcasing the culture of the island.

Those who visit Kobe will see how much the city allows for the intermingling of foreigners and locals. According to Inoue, the ports in Kobe: “serve as the gateway to Western Japan as a comprehensive port…and also their international to domestic trade.”

Source

Japan, Osaka, Kobe Pamphlet, circa 1990s, Box 11, Folder 25, Gregory E. Montes Urban History and Travel Collection, #8035, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Bibliography

Inoue, Satoshi. 2018. “Realities and Challenges of Port Alliance in Japan – Ports of Kobe and Osaka.” Research in Transportation Business & Management 26 (March): doi:10.1016/j.rtbm.2018.02.004.

Kyodo News International, Inc. 2019. “Kobe Thrives as Int’l Port City with History Made by Westerners,” March 18.