Kobe

Sitting on a hillside overlooking the sea, Kobe is a beautiful city... and one of my favorites in Japan. This harbor-side city is nestled between the sea and Rokko mountain range. It's relatively small, so very walkable and easy to get around.

Kobe really didn't have very many site-seeing destinations within the city. It's known for it's shopping, cafes/restaurants/bars, & of course... BEEF! So that's what we did... walked around, shopped, and ate.

Kobe Harborland, a huge shopping and entertainment district along the waterfront of Kobe's port area.

Visiting a shrine and temple in downtown Kobe.

Famous Kobe beef restaurant.

One of our Kobe beef steaks.

Each our steak course meals were $125! Excellent taste and overall wonderful meal... but very expensive! Glad we tried it, but don't need to do it again. :)

So what is Kobe beef? This is the description on the menu from the restaurant, "Kobe beef is the brand name of beef from a cow that succeeded blood of Tajima cow, a Japanese Black Cattle. It has lived for a long time in northern part of Hyogo Prefecture from generation to generation and the BMS value (fat hybridization) is ranking 6 or more. The beef does not look with a lot of marbles, but the taste is elegant and not fatty at all: and the fine fibers of meat are good for health. We recommend this beef positively because this is much more tasty compared with other beef in Japan."

Basically, it's a prized Japanese delicacy. It's tender, flavorful and well marbled with fat. Very delicious!

So that pretty much sums our our Obon holiday - Takamatsu, Himeji Castle, & Kobe. :)