“Kobe, located in the southern part of Hyogo Prefecture and facing Osaka Bay on the Seto Inland Sea, is the capital of Hyogo Prefecture. This famous Japanese trading port has a history of more than 1,000 years. In 1981, the world’s first man-made island was completed here, and features such as the world’s longest suspension bridge, along with 21st-century urban design, define the city’s character.”

Leaving Arima behind, we opened up a new stop on the map and arrived in Kobe. Famous Kobe beef is arguably the most iconic variety of Japanese wagyu and is regarded as a top-tier ingredient in Japanese cuisine.

First Impressions of Kobe

It took only half an hour to reach Kobe-Sannomiya Station. There is a taxi stand right inside the station, so we took a cab straight to the hotel.

This time we stayed at Hotel La Suite Kobe Harborland, which also has a European-style design. We stored our luggage first since the room was not ready yet. Our plan was to head to Kobe Animal Kingdom first.

Animal Kingdom is on a man-made island, a bit of a distance from central Kobe. Taking a taxi there meant crossing a large bridge.

Kobe Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom is a highly interactive zoo. Aside from some of the more dangerous wild animals, many of the others roam around freely and can be petted.

A close-up look at upside-down bats.

Many of the interactive activities need to be reserved when you first enter.

The indoor section is a huge tropical rainforest greenhouse.

Animals were everywhere, whether you looked up or down.

The gift shop was also incredibly fun to browse—everything was adorable!

There were several restaurants inside the park. The Western restaurant had a huge line, while the Japanese restaurant was almost empty. Naturally, we chose Japanese food! We were not expecting much, but every dish turned out to be pretty tasty.

After eating and drinking our fill, we kept exploring and made our way to the outdoor section. Whether at the aquarium in Osaka or at Kobe Animal Kingdom, the animals here were all very active. That was unlike several zoos we have visited in the U.S., where the animals all seemed lazy. So are zoo animals in Japan also somehow “chosen workers”?!

We even watched the entire process of three wolves fighting—tense and thrilling.

The fully outdoor area has some farm sections where you can feed animals, ride horses, and more.

Petting baby kangaroos.

There were also sika deer.

Buying Yet Another Suitcase

After leaving Animal Kingdom, we took a taxi for one of our fixed Japan itinerary items: buying a suitcase. This shop in Kobe had a great selection with just about everything you could want. After striking out in Ikebukuro and Sapporo last year, we finally managed to buy one without any stress this time.

Downtown isn’t very big, and the restaurants are all within walking distance. As we walked around, Kobe gave me a feeling very similar to Sapporo.

Eating Kobe Beef!

We booked dinner at “神戸プレジール 本店” for Kobe beef. Since we had already eaten yakiniku in Kyoto, this time we chose a steamed meat set, which we hadn’t tried before. Besides steamed meat, the restaurant also has teppanyaki, and it seems they may serve yakiniku too.

We ordered a drink for our child, but during playtime it got knocked over and spilled all over my pants.

The small side dishes tasted good, but nothing especially memorable.

The steamed vegetables came first. It felt like they had just been quickly steamed and served, and some pieces weren’t fully cooked. We forced ourselves to eat them with the dipping sauce, but I think this part could be improved.

Kobe beef! My advice to anyone coming to Japan for wagyu: if, like us, you’re getting older and can’t handle overly rich food, go for the cheapest cut. The more expensive it is, the fattier it tends to be.

Kobe beef is produced in very limited quantities, so even in Kobe itself, make sure to choose a restaurant with an authorized “Kobe Beef” certification sign.

A staff member handled the cooking and serving the whole time. The beef came with bean sprouts and onions, and we dipped it in raw egg—delicious! The portion was generous. After three rounds, finishing the last one felt just right; any more and it would have been too rich.

For the final lighter course, we chose ochazuke, which was nice and refreshing.

Checking Into a Kobe Hotel

This time we chose Hotel La Suite Kobe Harborland, an all-suite hotel. The room was very large and a great fit for families. The room I booked had one king-size bed plus a tatami room, where our child slept.

The hotel room key was an old-fashioned keycard/key style, which our child loved.

The bathtub was a large round one like this.

In the tatami room, our child’s bed had already been made.

The room had a fantastic view right by the water, with Kobe Port Tower clearly visible.

One small downside was that one spot on the carpet in the room was very dirty, the kind of stain that looked impossible to remove. Other than that, the hotel felt a bit dated, but overall we were quite satisfied.

Breakfast was delivered to the room. You could choose either Japanese or Western style, and we went with Japanese. For the main staple, you could choose porridge or rice. There was also a separate pancake set for the child. Breakfast was pretty good—I finished all of mine.

Right when you enter, the hotel has this very grand and luxurious style.

About the Author

This article is reprinted from a WeChat public account run by a reader from the WeChat group, 懒人 33 的吃喝玩乐. The account features original, well-written articles, so feel free to follow it if you’re interested.