You will receive a free quarterly E-mail Newsletter! Ryokan & Restaurants in Hyogo which are English-friendly. Guided Tours Available by volunteers in Hyogo Translation Service is also available. 1  2  3 from the collection of Kobe City Museum Kobe’s history is the story of its ports. The city became well known after the opening of Kobe port in the Meiji Era, but the city was prosperous long before that. The port has moved, and the name has changed over time, from Owada-no-Tomari to Hyogo-Tsu to Hyogo port, but it has always been the focus of the city. Hyogo has a naturally good port because it was on the calm Seto Inland Sea, and Wada cape and Mt.Rokko block the wind. In the Nara period (710-784), a famous priest, Gyoki, who also helped to build Todai-ji later, maintained Owada-no-Tomari. The port was important for trade with the capital, the western region and China. Kiyomori Taira, who ushered in the golden age of the Taira family, aimed at the benefit of trade with Song. He shifted the capital to Fukuhara[*1], built a man-made island, and reconstructed Owada-no-Tomari in the years after 1161. In the trade with Song, Japan imported Song copper coins, books, cloth and medicine, and exported gold, silver, sulfur and swords. Song coins were also used in Japan at the time because Japan didn’t have its own coins. Later in the Kamakura period (1192-1333), a priest of Todai-ji, Jugen, repaired it. Owada-no-Tomari came to be called Hyogo-Tsu. In 1401 during the Muromachi period (1338-1573), Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, started the trade with Ming and established the base at Hyogo-Tsu. In the Edo period (1603-1868), the Kitamae Ships[*2], or trading vessels, came to the Japan Sea, Shimonoseki, and Hyogo-Tsu. Also, delegations from Korea and the head of a Dutch mercantile house in Nagasaki stopped at the port on the way to Edo. Hyogo-Tsu had been a flourishing port. About 20,000 people lived in Hyogo-Tsu in the later Edo period. However, Kobe port was opened in 1868 for the foreign ships visiting Japan and took its place as an important trade hub. Today there are many places in Hyogo ward to remind you of the prosperity of the ancient ports. We have walked in Hyogo ward and visited some places related to this history. We also visited seven shrines and temples, each of which has one of Seven Lucky Gods[*3], since it was a practice to make a circuit of Seven Lucky Gods in the Edo period. NEXT >> The Top of This Page Hyogo Tourism Association Hyogo Prefectural Government Bldg. No.1,5-10-1 Shimoyamate-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan Postal Code:650-8567 Tel:078-361-7661 Fax:078-361-7662 e-mail: