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| You will receive a free quarterly E-mail Newsletter! |
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Ryokan & Restaurants
in Hyogo which are English-friendly. |
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| Guided Tours Available by volunteers in Hyogo
Translation Service is also available. |
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| from the collection of Kobe
City Museum |
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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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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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: |
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