The actual city centre of Kōbe lies between Osaka Bay and the Rokkō mountain ridge. What could be better than checking out the whole region from way up high? That’s exactly what we did today.

First, we took the funicular up Rokkō. From there, we hopped on a bus to an observation deck on Mount Maya. The panoramic view from up there over the greater Kōbe and Ōsaka area is just mind-blowing and hard to put into words. Only then do you really realise what massive metropolises these cities actually are.

After a quick detour to Maya-san Tenjō-ji, we took a cable car and another funicular back down into the city. After sunset, we snapped a few nice shots of Meriken Park and the Earthquake Museum.