Kobe 1-Day Itinerary

Kobe is very well known for its Kobe beef. Advertisements for restaurants serving the meat is everywhere in the city. We began our day checking that off on our bucket list.

We went to Steakland, which is a restaurant near to Sannomiya Station and started lining up at 10:30am. Lunch hour doesn't begin until 11:00am but there is always a long queue so we joined the 10 or so people who were already waiting.

At 11:00am an employee led us to the elevator to go up to the second-floor restaurant. To my surprise, most of the seats were already filled and there was another queue at the entrance. We wrote down our names and waited for another 10 minutes before we were seated.

Kobe beef teppanyaki style

We sat in seats surrounding a teppanyaki grill and the chef brought out the raw meat and grilled it in front of us. I have had high quality Kobe beef before that melted like butter in the mouth. This wasn't quite to that level but the taste was good and the meat was tender. It was good value for the lunch hour price.

Steakland lunch set. Not pictured: salad and coffee

Upon leaving the restaurant we were met with crowds of people waiting from the elevator to the front door. It was quite chaotic and we were glad that we queued even before it opened to avoid waiting like this in the cramped space.

After a satisfying lunch, we made our way towards Mount Rokko. We took a Hankyu train to Rokko Station, then the city bus 16 towards the Rokko Cable Car Station. The cable car ride was about 10 minutes long and brought us to Sanjo station where the observation deck was.

Rokko Cable Car

View from observation deck

It was a rather cloudy day so we couldn't see the cityscape very clearly. Next we rode the Rokko mountaintop bus to Kobe Shiritsu Rokkosan Farm. There were many farm animals from pigs to cows to horses. As well, the sheep grazed freely on the grassy hills. It was a good relaxing spot away from the city and some people brought blankets with them to lie down on the grass.

Rokkosan farm

Sheep grazing

We took the  bus back to Rokko Station and took the train to Motomachi Station where Kobe's Chinatown is. It is not that big but it is one of the bigger ones in Japan. There were food stalls in addition to many restaurants. We tried some food from the stalls and honestly it wasn't very good Chinese food.

Kobe Chinatown

The last stop of the day was to Harbourland. We took the train to Kobe Station then walked to the port to see the night view. I found it prettier at night all lit up than in the daytime.

Kobe Port Tower and Maritime Museum

This is quite a lot to pack into a day because transportation to and from Mount Rokko can be slow if you miss one of the infrequent buses. Otherwise, the spots in the city are easy to get to via train or subway.
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Update: I recently went back to Mount Rokko to see the famous million dollar view of Japan. We went to the Garden Terrace and it was very cold and windy in the early January weather but the view was worth it.

Night view from Mount Rokko

We went to a cafe at Garden Terrace and it featured tables all facing windows looking out on the view. It's a great place to keep warm and see the view if you're going in wintertime.

Cafe at Garden Terrace

We got a dessert and almond cream drink at the cafe and it was pretty good! Please note that the last bus from Garden Terrace to the cable car is at 8:45pm and the last cable car down is at 9:10pm. I was surprised that a place famous for its night view had public transport that finished so early.

Dessert at the cafe

Castle in the Sky and Kinosaki Onsen

Being a fan of Studio Ghibli, I have wanted to visit the Takeda Castle Ruins since I learned of it when I first came to Japan. It is said to be a Castle in the Sky like the Ghibli movie called Laputa and is also sometimes called the Machu Picchu of Japan. I have not yet been to Machu Picchu in Peru but the version in Japan is definitely much smaller in area and the hike is easier.

Lone bench at the Takeda Castle Ruins

After some research online, it was recommended that we go between sunrise to 8am. After 8am, the fog will have mostly dissipated and the castle among the clouds effect will be gone. On a Sunday morning, we set off at 5am and drove for about 1.5 hours to Asago (??). You can also take the train to JR Takeda Station (???). You can visit Asago's website here for more information on the castle's history and how to get there.

We followed the Google Maps route and it led us to a parking lot where traffic controllers told us that the lot was closed until 8am and directed us to another parking lot. At the next parking lot there was a sign with a map and we followed it to walk to the base of the mountain where Hyomaijinja is (????). We chose the sign that said 30-40 minute Mountain Trail (actually it had a typo and was spelled Mauntain Trail) that was visible on the left after you ascend the flight of stone stairs up to the shrine. If you do not want to hike, you can take a Zentan bus up for 500 yen. Check the schedule here.

The hike was steeper than I thought and although it was a cool morning, we were all sweating by the time we reached the top after many flights of stairs on the trail. Admission to the castle ruins cost 500 yen. We reached the top around 7:30am and the view was definitely worth the steep hike. The dense fog hung over the castle ruins allowing parts of the lush green rice fields at the bottom to peep through. 7:30am in the morning may seem early but if you were going to make your way out there, you should try your best to come before the fog goes away.

The castle in the sky photos used to promote the Takeda Castle Ruins were probably taken from a helicopter or on a mountain on the opposite side because this trail leads you to the castle ruins itself so you cannot see it in its entirety enveloped by clouds. However, it was still very pretty and serene. Despite the word "ruins" in the name, the place was tidy and well kept with rope to prevent tourists from stepping out of bounds into dangerous zones. There were no visible remnants of the castle left except some stone bases. The hike down the mountain was much, much easier and quite enjoyable.

Kinosaki Onsen area

After a day of early morning hiking, we drove for another hour to Kinosaki Onsen (????), a quaint onsen town with seven different onsens. Honestly, we chose one at random and tried out Ichino-yu (600 yen per person). The water was very hot and there was a semi-outdoor section which was less hot.

Crab Soba

We found lunch at a restaurant by the river and I tried some crab soba because crab is supposedly famous in this part of Hyogo Prefecture. In all, it was a productive day with a good balance of exercising and relaxing.