Kôbe City 神戸市

Kôbe is an international trading and port city on Ôsaka Bay with a population of over 1.5 million and an important transhipment point for about a quarter of all Japanese exports and imports. Since the opening of the country in the mid-19th century, it has been a popular place for Europeans to live and work. Climatically, Kôbe lies in a temperate zone. Heavy bombardments in March 1945, during the Second World War – and no less devastating, the great Hanshin earthquake in January 1995.