Kobe is a fashionable town, a jazzy town, a socially diverse town, among many other adjectives that could be attributed to it. Just as during the night, during the day it bustles. At first I didn't like it; I was trying desperately to find a guitar shop and searched the area for three to four hours to no avail. I was pissed at Sannomiya and Kobe, just as I am at a lot of places until I get to know them better. Now that I have managed to navigate the many streets and areas of metropolitan Kobe (and found a guitar shop) I can safely say it's a town I love.
The regular ingredients for a large Japanese city center are there: several train stations, three or four major department stores, innumerable karaoke buildings, bowling alleys, foreign cuisine restaurants (even a whole China Town district, which I might get into later), small boutiques, cafes, tourist attractions, whatever. In spite of having so much, though, you still never get the idea that you're in a place like Tokyo or Osaka, giving it a less busy, homier feeling. Toward Motmachi station, the train tracks are built over a long (over a mile or so) tunnel-like path that's lined with shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. Across from this street, on the other side away from Motomachi, is another equally long, wider, covered shopping street that's only for bicycles and pedestrians. The wider street features designer/brand names stores while the narrower one that runs under the train tracks of the JR (Japan Railways) train line through Motomachi has smaller, mostly clothing stores. Outside from this straight shot from Sannomiya Station through Motomachi to Kobe Station (situated in a rather dull location for bearing the city's namesake) is a whole world of places I have yet to explore, which is why I'll explain what's in these shopping streets in this entry.
The smaller, narrower shopping street definitely offers a unique experience in Kobe. This is because this path is situated beneath the train tracks of the JR railway line from Sannomiya through Kobe station. While walking in this narrow path you can often hear the rumbling of passing trains overhead. The beginning part is almost entirely made of clothing stores. As you go further, however, it becomes more and more like a flea market, with elderly people selling old electronic and home appliances, used records, video games, books, magazines, and loads and loads of pornography, a lot of it on retro VHS. The amount of customers that come toward this end of the spectrum on the narrow shopping street become less and less and less and less young, spare a few adventurous young couples that make their way through. It might be embarrassing for people to go there considering what's sold there (you can even buy used slot machines and Pachinko machines).
The larger and wider street, which I explained previously, features more official vendors for merchandise. It's a place with a large amount of pedestrian traffic and a defining feature of the Kobe area. Along with offering shops it offers shelter from stormy weather while traveling to various parts of the Sannomiya/Motomachi area. This street, too, runs to the JR Kobe station in the same way that the smaller path street does. Connecting alongside these streets are several large department stores such as "Center Plaza". These department stores have clothing stores and other places suited for typical tastes but also feature floors of shops for the hobby-enthusiast "otaku"s (a word that literally means "home" but refers "maniacs" in Japanese society obsessed with Japanese animation, video games, etc).
With the differences in stores along these shopping streets and in the department stores there are many different crowds of people who frequent them. This gives Kobe an eclectic range of tastes in what it offers for the interests of its people. Whether they are fashionable, hip, introverted and obsessed, adventurous or whatever, there's something in Kobe for everyone and it often wears this fact on its sleeve. The areas I described however are only a small part what Kobe has to offer, likely a lot more than I'll have time to see during my time here.
No comments:
Post a Comment