Kobe is known all over the world for its quality beef, but in Japan it is known as one port city that got to enjoy a lot of foreign influence at an earlier time than many other places in Japan.
Many foreign settlers and lived on this hill in Kobe. About 200 houses were built in this area. The houses mainly survived the war unharmed and can be enjoyed as they were around the turn of the century (except for the numerous souvenir shops and food stalls that line the street around here, making the area a bit touristy).
HP: http://www.kobeijinkan.com/ (Japanese only)
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/spot/cityscap/kitanocho.html (English)
You have to pay to get into the houses, but there are 9-house, 5-house, 4-house, and 3-house sets of tickets which get you in at a reduced price. The sets include different houses.
The area has a different feel to it than the rest of Kobe, and is enjoyed by Japanese tourists and foreign tourists alike. Japanese tourists come because it seems like idyllic streets of foreign lands.
The famous “Uroko no Ie,” a striking house with scale-like shingles. The first floor is a tea-room.
This wind-cock is a unique addition to the Kobe sky-line.
Even the Starbucks is tricked-out in Kitano-cho style.
