At Shin-Nishinomiya Yacht Harbor

"Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Numerous yachts are docked at the Shin-Nishinomiya Yacht Harbor 

located between Kobe and Osaka along the Osaka Bay. 

I’ve never being sailing on a yacht. 

I imagine what it would be like in the interaction of fair wind and water under the blue sky. 

Sailing would be healing, exhilarating, and frightening, too.

I feel nostalgia for the sea. 

There would be more to it than the fact that I was born and raised in a harbor city Kobe.  

Whether it is to sail, to swim, or to watch the sea,  we are going back to the place from where we came.

In a sense, we are all salty boy or girl.  

The percentage of salt in human body fluids is said to provide evidence that life first started in the sea.  

(In human body fluids, salt percentage is 0.9 percent, while in the present sea 3.1-3.9 percent

which became thicker in the course of the history.)

When the setting sun started painting the sky rose, I thought about this summer.
My days had been revolving around my three little grandchildren
who kept me not only entertained with their innocent behaviors but also busy.
During the Obon holiday, I could catch my breath and got a second wind to sail onward.

Remember 

your life sailing consists of further exploring, dreaming, and discovering.

"Shin Nishinomiya Yacht Harbor is one of the largest yacht harbors in western Japan. For visitors with yachts, the harbor holds some visitor shipping spaces. There are rental yachts for visitors missing their yacht lifestyle, and yachting classes for beginners." I like to stop by for walking the boardwalk and/or resting at a cafe with a relaxing view of the harbor when I visit my son living in Nishinomiya City. 

Visit Through My Lens

Thank you, Mersad, for hosting.

Kobe Harborland illuminations and reflections

Kobe Harborland brightens up the long, bleak winter night of Kobe

with illuminations and shadow pictures till March 31st, 2015.

Twilight is my favorite time all the year round when it is not too dark and the world is enveloped in the mellow air tinted with purplish hue.

This is a red brick building on the Harbor-walk in one corner of the Harborland. It was built in 1898 and had been used as a warehouse to store cargoes from around the world. When the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Kobe and northern Awaji Island in 1995, the port facilities were paralyzed mainly by liquefaction but this brick building survived. Now it is renovated into Italian restaurant, Old Spaghetti Factory, and other fancy stores.

At night the brick buildings are illuminated and shadow pictures are displayed on the boardwalk.

The symbol of City of Kobe on the Rokko Mountains

Yatagarasu (mythical raven who aided Emperor Jimmu on his eastern expedition)...

The old Kobe Harbor Signal Tower is at the edge of the Harbor-Walk. The 46.3-meter-high tower had guided ships to and from the harbor from 1921 to March, 1990, as the top signal tower in  Asia.  Two years later, it was moved to the current location from the No. 4 pier. It flies flags representing Kobe and praying for a safe voyage.



Let's cross the traffic road to the more brilliant opposite side where Mosaic is located.

The opposite side of Mosaic over the bay is the Meriken Park.  It is home to the Meriken pier, some of the city's iconic contemporary architectures including red Kobe Port Tower, Kobe Maritime Museum, and Oriental Hotel.  

Meriken Port Oriental Hotel

Meriken Park seen from Takahama Pier

Takahama Pier seen from Meriken Pier

A giant Ferris Wheel is one of the landmarks of the Kobe harbor along with the other impressive architectures.

It welcomes and sees you off when you are at the nearby station.

I turned back before entering the station building.

This post is linked to Friday My Town Shoot Out

and

Weekend Reflections.

Old mercantile buildings on the Kaigan-dori Street, Kobe

Large old mercantile buildings on Kobe Kaigan-dori Street of Route 2 
Effect of "impressive art"

Sometime in late 1800's or early 1900's, image via here

神戸旧居留地, Former Foreign Settlement of Kobe, was established as a place where foreigners (not all the foreigners but Europeans and Americans at first) could live and trade when the Port of Kobe opened according to the Ansei Treaties of Amity and Commerce (1858) concluded with the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Netherlands, and France, after long national isolation.

The settlement was designed by British civil engineers. 126 blocks in the district were sold to Western foreigners at auction. (The remaining building number is the block number.) The district spreads at the seaside between the east "Flower Road" and the west "Meriken Road".   The current traffic road was a sandy beach back then.

After the foreign settlement was returned back to Japanese government in 1899, Japanese businessmen also used this district and it became the business center of Kobe.

 With the start of World War II, most of the foreigners went back to their countries.  In 1945, about 70 percent of the buildings in this settlement were destroyed by air raids.

After the war, modern buildings were built while the remaining original buildings got older.  Until 1980’s, the district was simply old office streets with aged buildings, but in the late 1980’s civil movement to preserve the district got active, and besides, under the leadership of Daimaru Department Store, the mentality of the building owners changed to be conscious about “town-scape”, preserving dotted historical buildings to make a comprehensive nice and beautiful area.

In 1992, the district was designated as one of the top 100 beautiful city-scape in Japan. It is said to be one of the successful examples about the collaboration of civil movement and commercial capital.

After 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake which collapsed more than 20 old buildings in this district, Kobe City government got involved actively in the restoration. The streets are protected not only through preservation but also with the understanding of how the landscape could be developed through the construction of new buildings. 

 Collapsed No. 15 Building, old American Consulate (1880), image via here

Reconstructed No. 15 Building, image via here

The building above, which was originally built in 1880 to house American Consulate, is the only building left from the Old Settlement days and is designated as an Important Cultural Property. It was destroyed completely during the 1995 earthquake, but was subsequently rebuilt using as much of the original materials as possible. It is used as a restaurant on the first floor and a cafe upstairs. I like it when historical assets are reused actively for practical various uses not only as museums. 

Let's see some of the European style buildings on the Kaigan-dori Street.  Shosen-Mitsui Building built in 1922 would be the most impressive and magnificent building. It is one of the most representative retro architectures with meticulous relief carving, beautiful vertical lines like carved pillars, and stately masonry at the lower part. With reinforcement and partly renovation, it is used by Daimaru to display furniture and interior goods in a large scale. 

Front entrance of Shosen-Mitsui Building

other entrance

Next to the  Shosen-Mitsui Building (right) is Kaigan Building (left).   It is a modern fifteen-story building including four-story classic building at the lower part.

This block used to be occupied by Kobe Branch of Mitsui-Bussan Co.  The original building collapsed in 1995 Hanshin Earthquake and was reconstructed as an office building of which 1-4 floor was reconstructed in original style, using the original materials found in debris as much as possible.  

Original door

Tofu and Yuba Restaurant



Across the street from Kaigan Building is former Kobe Branch of Nihon Yusen Co.  After the first American Consulate moved to the other place, the building of former Nihon-Yusen Co. was built in 1918.  It survived the earthquake because of the improved earthquake-resistance finished one year before.  Grand Back for big and tall men carries on business there currently.

I wonder if this is Frank Lloyd Wright door?

Right across the Kaigan-dori Street from the Grand Back is Meriken Pier.  

Walking around this district reminds me of the history of this city. This is the place where foreigners tried to make their dream come true by trade and commerce after sailing across the Pacific to the far-east Japan.  And besides, this city's history is a symbol of phoenix rising up.  After the devastation of the war and another devastation by the earthquake fifty years later, Kobe City resurrected like a phoenix and is constantly evolving.

Two-tired Hanshin Expressway, Kaigan-dori Street, Former Foreign Settlement seen from Meriken Pier

Related post: The New Year lights at the Former Foreign Settlement of Kobe

Sources: 神戸外国人居留地　　神戸の居留地めぐり