Kobe
About Kobe
Kobe is the capital of Hyogo Prefecture and is one of Japan's major ports along with the ports of Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Hakata, and Tokyo. It is in the Kansai region of Japan, in Hyogo Prefecture to the south-west of Osaka. It was one of the first cities to open for trade with the West, as of 1868.
Kobe is located to the south west of the Honshu Island of Japan. Its total land area is 551.4 square kilometers. The Rokko Mountain Range divides the city into two distinct segments. The southern segment, a narrow stretch of land is about 30 km wide and 2-4 km long. This area houses the majority population of Kobe and is highly urbanized. The hilly mountainous region has for long been restricted to residential use and the new trend is towards building eco friendly residential complexes and small townships in these areas.
Demography
As of September 2006, the total population count of Kobe stands at about 1,528,948 with the population density estimated to be 2766 per square kilometer. The population of the urbanized areas of Kobe is about 1 million and the density in these parts is thus as high as 6000 per square kilometer while the rural area surrounding Kobe has a population density of about 1200 per square kilometer.
The population of the city of Kobe is a heterogeneous admixture of the native Japanese, other Asians namely the Chinese, Europeans and Americans. Areas such as Nankinmachi, Kitano-cho and Rokko Island have a high concentration of foreigners who have settled in Kobe. The estimated number of settlers is approximately 45,000, most of them having migrated to Kobe from 115 different countries. This has led to the intermingling of diverse cultures and the growth of a thoroughly cosmopolitan culture in the city of Kobe and its surroundings areas
Economy and Culture
Industries such as steel, shipbuilding and machinery are concentrated in the southern part of Kobe facing the Seto Inland Sea, along with many factories and research institutes operated by major Japanese companies and a slew of 21st century-style global niche top companies.
Moreover, based on the support of Kobe's port town culture and of consumers with sophisticated sensibilities, a number of fashion industries specializing in such products as confectionary, shoes, apparel, pearls, etc., have developed and in some cases form the bases of multinational enterprises.
The international port city of Kobe is famed as the gateway through which such Western cultural innovations as golf and movies were first introduced to Japan, as well as for dispatching many products of Japanese culture including karaoke and animation to the rest of the world.
Weather
The city of Kobe especially is a tourist attraction and commands pleasant climatic conditions throughout the year. The weather of Kobe is quite agreeable round the year. The average temperature round the year is a pleasant 15.5°C. The city experiences its highest temperature in August when the average reaches 27.8°C this month may also see a few thunderstorms due to the city's proximity to the sea. On an average, the high and the low temperatures of Kobe vary between 18.9°C and 12.7°C.
Spring is the best season to visit the city. April especially decks the city up in cherry blossoms and carries an average temperature of 13.9°C. Those interested in visiting the city over Christmas need to equip themselves with woolens and winter garments as temperature in December- January dip as low as 5.5°C to 7.7°C. Fog and humidity too are relatively high in the months of June and July.
Administrative Divisions
Kobe has 9 wards (ku):
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