Day 12: Kobe

Despite being a day where we left at 8:30am, we didn't actually do all that much today. That is because we spent one and a half hour each way driving to Kobe. We started with meeting a number of members of the Kobe Japan - Australia Society who were all fantastic English speakers - a few had been the Australia as Japanese teachers and they were excellent to talk to. One had lived for a time in Ballarat, another in Geelong (and supported the Cats, which was a shame.) We went on a forty minute cruise around Kobe Harbour before climbing the tower to get a view of the city as a whole. Unfortunately, my panorama did not work out, so I have a lot of photos that don't quite fit together.

A random statue of Elvis Presley in Kobe streets

The view across the harbour

Kobe Bridge

The entrance to the Harbour

A few of the view from the Kobe Port Tower

The tower - from the bottom

Our next stop was a Shinto Shrine. A group of us managed to get lost in the grounds which was really funny, whilst discussing Australian culture and teaching the Japanese students we were with Australian slang. The shrine itself was gorgeous, recently painted and looking brand new. You were able to ring some very loud bells as part of the ritual to pray, which surprised me because they seemed to be interrupting people's concentration.

First gate to the Temple

Second gate to the Temple

Main Gate

View into the Shrine - rope to the bell on the right

For lunch we visited China town. It was so strange to see a very different eastern culture and at the same time, it was a little ironic to travel so far to visit a Chinatown. I had Kobe beef for lunch, which was really nice. We then said goodbye to our new Japanese friends and visited The Great Awaji-Hanshin Earthquake Memorial. This Memorial contained the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, which was created in light of the 1995 Earthquake of 6.8 Magnitude which killed 6,434 people and left approximately 300,000 homeless.

This was an incredibly moving experience. The original measurement for the earthquake provided was 5.8, which was on a different scale than that which measures earthquakes today, so I spent my time trying to understand how this kind of destruction could occur when six years earlier the Newcastle Earthquake occurred and was of similar magnitude. I was later informed they are measured on different scales at the Awaji-Hanshin Earthquake was almost a 7 on the same scale.

The images and video footage were intensely moving - telling personal experiences of loss of family members under rubble or due to fires that broke out in the city. Two things were most striking about the museum - firstly: the footage of the highway which was tipped onto its side like it was nothing; secondly, the drain grate that used to be rectangular, now deformed into a wave like shape with a 2 inch magnitude. The sheer power of this earthquake was unbelievable.

The reason for most of this destruction was a lack of earthquake proof building design. As such, this institute was designed to develop ways to combat the impacts of earthquakes, including deep earth foundations for ground liquefaction, re-enforcement to reduce building sway and base isolation techniques. We had all of these technologies demonstrated to us, as well as being able to see the impact distance and depth of an earthquake epicentre has upon damage. 

After our visit was complete, we quickly got changed into business attire to enjoy an evening with Ms Catherine Taylor, Australian Consul-General, Osaka, at her home. It was a beautiful house, with Australian wood flooring and we had a wonderful time with her family, staff and a number of business associates who are heavily involved in Australia-Japan relationships. It was sad to leave and after a long drive home we were all very tired. Tomorrow we have a free morning before we leaving Kyoto for Hiroshima. This tour is truly flying by.