Kobe 1868

I attended a fascinating talk about the history of Kobe this evening.  Everyone knows about Kobe beef and the terrible earthquake of 1995 but Kobe has quite a history.

Golf was introduced to Japan in 1903 by members of the Scottish community living in the foreign settlement in Kobe, they built the very first course (9 holes) in Japan here on Rokko mountain the blue at the top of the map.

Kobe is home to the worlds biggest non military computer.

It was the site of the first Japanese marathon. Although the actual distance is questioned.

In 1868 the first Japanese diplomatic incident occurred which resulted in overseas diplomats witnessing seppaku for the first time.

The jet ski is trade marked to Kawasaki, probably one of the most well-known Japanese companies, founded and still based in Kobe.

Like I said, fascinating...

For those interested I live near the blue mountains, top- middle. Now very built-up.