Port Island This island is the biggest manmade island in the world. The computer-controlled Port Liner links this island with Sannomiya Station. There is a convention center, a fashion building where apparel makers are consolidated, an amusement park, a science museum, and various other facilities. At the time of the great earthquake, its foundation liquefied, but it has now undergone reinforcement and further development is under way. ●From Sannomiya Station by Port Liner to Minato-jima at Nakacho Minato-jima Chuo-ku Kobe-shi

Merican Park

This modern park was made by filling the American Wharf which was constructed in 1868. It contains the Kobe City Marine Museum, which resembles a yacht with a big white sail. You can see all of Kobe from the Port Tower, 108 meters high. The night view is really breathtaking.

●A 10-minute walk from JR Hanshin Motomachi Station, located at Hatoba-cho Chuo-ku Kobe-shi

Arima Onsen (Spa) This is the oldest-known spa in Japan and appears in Nihon Shoki (History of Japan) written in the 7th century. The great warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi loved to visit this spa. Two different kinds of water spring from the spa which make it, it is said, effective against any type of disease. The best cure is to bathe in the two waters simultaneously and then drink the famous Arima carbon water afterward. At the popular Arima Onsen Kaikan bath house, you can bathe for the price of a public bath. ●40 minutes by bus from Sannomiya Station

Chinatown On the other side of the Romon main gate is "China" where you will find Chinese restaurants, grocery stores, and drug stores filled with popular "Made in China" goods. Chinatown is always bustling with people, and the smell of tasty bean-jam and minced-meat fillings pervades the air. ●A 5-minute walk from the JR Hanshin Motomachi Station