[Dr.AD]

Prologue:

I love travels. All types of travels. Even business travels. And now sitting at home in the lockdown, sans any travel possibilities whatsoever, my mind is ruminating on past travels. This travelogue is about one such travel done in November 2018.

I used to do a good amount of work-related travel before this unfortunate covid crisis. I did several business trips to Japan back in 2018-19, and I loved each one of those. I traveled across Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and then went even into some smaller towns where my business meetings took me (Himeji, an hour’s train ride from Kobe, being one of those beautiful small towns where once I spent a week). Although these were business travels, each trip had some sightseeing or some small personal time away from work, whenever possible. Through these experiences, I fell in love with Japan.

Japan is a lovely country. People are friendly and polite (in fact, Japan is the pinnacle of politeness), the food is lovely (I am a vegetarian, and that meant I could eat very little in Japan. But whatever I could eat was unique, tasty and like everything else in Japan, prepared to perfection), and the country offers a wide variety of landscapes and natural beauty. And to top that all, the country always impressed me by its engineering prowess, the progress in automation and technology, the amazing feats of urban developments and constructions, and in general the system in which the whole country works so precisely and punctually, like a professional orchestra!

Back in November 2018, I spent one week in Kobe area and one week in Tokyo, on a business trip. Usual workdays in Japan are extremely hectic. However, in-between these hectic workweeks, I got one Saturday free in Kobe. And I spent that Saturday just randomly exploring the Kobe Port Area. This travelogue is about that one day’s experience.

About Kobe: Kobe is one of the major cities in Japan and is also a major port. Kobe is a thriving industrial area that hosts many of Japan’s industrial headquarters and heavy-duty industry. It is a major tourist destination as well. Among other things, it is also famous for Kobe Beef, which for me, being a vegetarian, was of no interest.

So why am I writing about an industrial hub in Japan here on team-bhp? Well, there are many strong connections of Kobe with the automobile world. One of the major connections is this: Kobe hosts one of the two headquarters of Kawasaki! (The other headquarter is in Tokyo). And the whole town has a prominent presence of Kawasaki in some form or the other. Thus, while this is an unusual travelogue (for me, that is) that does not have any pictures of cars, it does have plenty of bikes, trains and aircraft (Kawasaki not only makes bikes which we of course know, but also makes trains – including the famous bullet trains, aircraft and other aviation equipment, and is also a major infrastructure company in Japan). So please stay with me and read on…

Since this was a business trip, I was solo and further, I was not carrying any camera with me. This “day out in Kobe” was sort of an impromptu time off I got by some luck, and the day’s activities were quite unplanned and impromptu too. That meant all I had was my mobile phone with me, and all photos in this travelogue are shot with my mobile phone camera. Thus, in summary, this is a random solo wandering on a free Saturday, with nothing but a mobile phone in hand.

[Dr.AD]

Meriken Park and Kobe Port Area:

One of the major tourist destinations in Kobe is the Port Area. Of course, as the name suggests, this area is one of the major (and one of the busiest) ports in Japan. But besides that, it has several tourist attractions. It hosts one of the major landmarks in Kobe - the Kobe Port Tower. This is a sightseeing tower that offers great views of the surrounding city and port areas from the top. Further, right next to this Port Tower, is a wonderful museum called 'Kobe Maritime Museum". And then, connected to this Maritime Museum, under the same roof, is the famous "Kawasaki World" which is a vast facility showcasing several Kawasaki bikes, aircraft, trains, and several artifacts about the rich history of Kawasaki and its contribution to the development of Japan.

This Kobe Port Area also has a tourist port, from where several tourist ferries, boats, and luxury cruises depart throughout the day. And surrounding all these is a beautiful open park area with some hotels and restaurants.

I spent the entire day in just this single area. In fact, one can spend an entire day just in the Kawasaki World museum. The museum and the displays are that interesting.

Let me give you an overview of this area though some pictures, before we enter the museums!

View of the Kobe Port area through the train window, as I started a train ride from my hotel (in Japan, you always take a train wherever you go):



Large ships in the port, reminding us that this is indeed a major commercial port and not merely a tourist area:



As I exited at "Sannomiya Train Station", the major train station in Kobe where several train lines meet, these autumn colors greeted me:



After a pleasant walk for about a couple of km, enjoying the lovely weather and the picturesque landscapes in Kobe City, I reached the Port Tower area:



The most identifiable landmarks in Kobe. The red tower is the Kobe Port Tower. And that building with the meshed structure on the top is the Kobe Maritime Museum and the Kawasaki World together:



This is what that unique building hosts:



There is a nice open park (named Meriken Park) with these statues and some memorabilia:



I spent some time walking around the Meriken Park in the lovely morning weather:



The huge "BE KOBE" letters is another major landmark in this area:



One of the most photographed locations in Kobe:



This area has some awesome luxury hotels. This Oriental Hotel is one such hotel, with a luxury cruise liner parked next to it:



After spending some time walking around Meriken Park and enjoying the views, I decided to enter the museums, and I spent next few hours exploring the museums.

[Dr.AD]

Kobe Maritime Museum:

After walking around in the park for some time, I entered this:



The main lobby of the Maritime Museum. This is a scale model of HMS Rodney. There are several ship models surrounding HMS Rodney. The museum has some sections where photography is allowed, and some sections where it was prohibited, as that board says:



"The HMS Rodney was a 90 gun warship of the Royal Navy built in 1833. She was the last un-armoured warship in full commission. This large model on display in the foyer of the Kobe Maritime Museum depicts her as she was when built. However, when she visited Kobe at the time of the opening of the Treaty Port she had already been converted to propeller driven by steam" - from the museum website.



The 90 guns on HMS Rodney:



Close-up of the guns. The scale model had a great amount of details, and the guns look almost real:



Some other scale models surrounding HMS Rodney:























Finally, a parting shot of HMS Rodney:



The maritime museum had several other scale models including those of many modern ships. However, photography was prohibited in those areas. Photography was allowed in the main lobby area around HMS Rodney.

Next section is the most exciting part of this museum complex - the Kawasaki World!

[Dr.AD]

Kawasaki Good Times World:

This is a museum displaying all things Kawasaki. I learnt a lot of things about Kawasaki here that I did not know before. I knew Kawasaki as one of the major motorcycle companies in the world. However, I did not know that Kawasaki built bullet trains and aircraft too, and in fact, it is also a major infrastructure company that has built a lot of infrastructure in Japan. They built the first bullet train in Japan. They built several roads and bridges in Japan as early as in 1920s. They built the first aircraft in Japan after World War II. In fact, the Port of Kobe was itself built by Kawasaki, by reclaiming the land from the sea under very challenging circumstances. When you are in Kobe, you can not miss the presence of Kawasaki in various shapes and forms at all places. This museum had scale models, artifacts, and memorabilia depicting the entire contribution of Kawasaki to Japan's industrial and economical developments.

Of course, the main attraction in this museum is the Kawasaki bikes. Since bikes are of special interest to us here at team-bhp, I have kept an entire separate post (next post) for the bikes. And for bikes, those were not the scale models, but actual real bikes on display there. That certainly deserves a separate post.

However, before we go to the bikes, in this post, let me show you some of the other interesting things from the the Kawasaki World.

Entry to the Kawasaki World:



Right at the entry, there is a huge curved screen showing a film about Kawasaki and its contribution to the development of Japan. The opening shot from the film had this aircraft coming straight at you - an aircraft made by Kawasaki!



Several displays showcasing the history of Kawasaki through each decade. Very rich history showcased all the way from 1900's to 2010's:



Kawasaki built this famous bridge in Tokyo in 1928. As I mentioned, I did not know that Kawasaki built bridges too, something which I learnt here:



Kawasaki was building trains as early as in 1930s:



A scale model of a Kawasaki helicopter:



And of course, they made Jet Skis too. This is the "actual model" (not scale model) of the first ever Jet Ski built by Kawasaki:



The specifications of this first Jet Ski, built in 1975:



Kawasaki's first motorcycle, made in 1961:



Some more examples of "Japan's Firsts" built by Kawasaki:



And then there was this "actual model" (not a scale model), of a military helicopter built by Kawasaki:



This was built in partnership with Boeing.



This helicopter, a "KV-107 II" shown in action in this picture:



This KV-107 II was derived from Boeing 107, in collaboration with Boeing. Hence the name "Kawasaki Boeing 107"



Moving on from helicopters to Jet Skis:



They even had a flight simulator there:



Some views from the cockpit as we landed in Kobe airport in the simulator:

[Dr.AD]

Bikes in the Kawasaki World:

Now we come to the best part of the Kawasaki World experience - the bikes! The bike section is quite big with almost the entire history of Kawasaki bikes on display, through actual bikes as well as posters and memorabilia giving information about historical significance of those bikes. And these were actual bikes on display - not the scale models! And some of the superbikes displayed here are the actual bikes used in major races!

Let's start the tour with something that is synonymous with an ultimate high performance superbike- the Ninja H2R!

A section displaying the iconic Ninja H2R:



Ninja H2R in all its glory:



Another shot of the Ninja H2R:



Next to H2R, the display area of Ninja H2:



And here it is, the Ninja H2, 2015:



Next the "Z1 900 Super Four". The superbike from 1972!



Here it is. The actual Z1 900 Super Four, 1972:



The KR500, 1982:



Several historical bikes on display here:



And the 125 B8, 1964:



The 125 B8M, 1963:



The "Avenger A7", 1968:



The A7RS, 1969:



This is the famous H2 (Mach IV), 1974, with air-cooled, 2-stroke engine producing 74PS:



A placard mentioning the specs and the historical significance of this H2 (Mach IV):



The ultimate superbike of 1972, the H2R 1972:



GPz 400, 1983:



KZ1000S 1982:



KZ1000R, 1982:



ZXR 750, 1993:



ZX R-7, 1993:



Coming to the modern era now, Ninja ZX-10R, 2015:



KX450F 2014. The placard next to the bike said: "This motocross bike was ridden by Ryan Villopoto, bringing Kawasaki four consecutive AMA Supercross titles from 2011 to 2014. This is the very machine Ryan Villopot rode in the 2014 season.":



GPz 400R, 1984:



ZXR 400R, 1990:



Ninja 400, 2018:



A cool bike simulator where one could pretend to ride on a track. I had some fun riding on this simulator:



And finally, a Ninja 250 to wrap up the of bikes displays:

[Dr.AD]

Trains in Kawasaki World:

As I learnt there, Kawasaki made trains too, and has played an instrumental role in developing Japan's massive train network. In fact, Kawasaki built the first bullet train in Japan. The museum had several scale models of trains, several artifacts and posters about the history of trains in Japan, and even a real, actual first car of the original bullet train!

There were several scale models of trains:



Some with intricate details such as the seating arrangements:



And then something very spacial. The actual first car (nose section) of the very first bullet train built in 1964:



The placard explaining the significance of this Series 0 Shinkansen (Bullet Train). The maximum speed was 210 km/h back in 1964 - quite high even by today's standards (although today's Shinkansen runs at more than 300km/h):



The interiors of this 1964 Series 0 Shinkansen:



The driver's cabin:



The driver's seat with the gear lever and the controls in front:



The co-driver's seat:



The lovely analogue speedometer. The max marking is till 260 km/h, whereas the actual max speed was 210 km/h:



The central control panel with another speedometer mounted on top. The analogue dials and the old fashioned switchgear looked fabulous. I spent a good amount of time admiring the beauty of these controls:



The gear lever. Two pictures juxtaposed to show the gear positions. There were 10 gears in total:



After spending some time exploring and admiring this original Series 0 1964 Bullet Train, I moved on to the next attraction - an amazingly detailed model train setup.

The "Model Train Area":



It was quite an elaborate setup, with detailed models of the Kobe area, a couple of train stations, and multiple train models too. The trains were actually running continuously, the lights and signals were working, and the whole setup had an amazingly detailed, realistic feel:



The list of train models running there. Click on the image to read the details:



One of the model trains running through the detailed setup:



Look at the details of the houses, cars and trees, and do not miss the Kawasaki sign on the building - very realistic again as there are several Kawasaki factories, workshops, and commercial buildings around in that area:



A very detailed train station, with even a detailed parking area and bus stop:



Details of the port area. They even had modeled the bullet train cars being loaded/unloaded in the port:



A very realistic model of the Kobe Port Tower area, with accurate details:



Kawasaki World Museum too was modeled accurately:



Again, a very accurate model even of the surrounding hills. This "anchor" symbol you see on the hills is actually there on the hills of Kobe. This "anchor" is the symbol depicting Kobe Port, and the hills near Kobe have this massive icon that is visible from distance. This is sort of an identity of Kobe Port. I missed to take photos of the real anchor icon on the hills, but this model shows that quite accurately:



A view of the trains running. Looks very real. Notice the details on the tracks and the surroundings:



And finally, a view of the model train station:



What an accurate and detailed model train setup! I was really impressed, and like a child, I spent a lot of time watching the trains move around at good speeds through the model train area, and admiring all the details there. If I had more time at hand, I would have easily spent a few hours watching all that magic!


And finally to wrap this up, a poster showing Kawasaki's influence and contribution to the world there. They make everything from trains to aircraft, and build ports and bridges. What an amazing legacy and what a phenomenal engineering achievement:



Just before I stepped out of this museum, I did not forget to check out this lovely restaurant there. This had a nice and welcoming ambiance, with great views of the surroundings:

[Dr.AD]

Kobe Port Tower

After spending a few hours in the Kawasaki World, I came back in the open park and the Port Tower area. I spent some time walking around and enjoying the views, and then also went up to the top section of the Port Tower to enjoy the views from the top.

When I came out of the museum, it was late afternoon with clear blue skies, and this is how the museum building looked from outside in that late afternoon light:



This is the famous Kobe Port Tower. The top of the tower has a sightseeing area. There are even some restaurants and coffee shops there with great views of the surroundings:



This is the tourist port/dock there. This point had several tourist boats/ships and ferries (like this one) arriving and departing all through the day:



A late afternoon view of the area on the other side of the tourist port. Notice the large cranes away in the distance. That is the actual commercial port area:



Another lovely hotel there:



These charming buses were making round trips through the Kobe city, connecting train stations, other important points, and Kobe Port Area. I took a ride back in this bus when I went back to catch my train, and absolutely enjoyed the ride:



Another view of the activities on the other side, where one cruise ship was parked:



View of the Port Tower from the base of it, just before going in and up to the sightseeing level.



One has to buy a ticket to enter the Port Tower and go up to the sightseeing levels by taking an elevator. The sightseeing levels offer 360 degree view of the surroundings. There is even a souvenir shop and couple of coffee shops up there.


View of that Oriental Hotel area from the top of the Port Tower:



The Meriken Park as seen from the top. The black structure with grey roof is Starbucks Coffee Shop. Notice the anchor symbol - icon of the Port of Kobe - here too (this is an ubiquitous symbol in Kobe):



View of the commercial port in the distance. Notice the Kawasaki logo again on the massive buildings in the port area. Everything here is Kawasaki:



Looking straight down, I could see the tourist boats moving around the tourist dock area:



View of that lovely hotel building, from top:



Views of the surroundings from the top:



Views of the dense Kobe City landscape:



Another lovely hotel, with lovely views all around:



A "revolving coffee shop" which offers great views from all sides as the coffee shop slowly rotates to show you different views while you sip your coffee:



A view of the other side, with famous Kobe hills in the backdrop:



A lovely view of the Maritime Museum and the Kawasaki World building from top:



Another attraction in the tower. This section had glass floors through which you could see straight down at the moving traffic below. It was hard to capture this effect in a picture, but it looked quite scary in real:

[Dr.AD]

An evening walk in the park:

After I came down the Port Tower, I spent some time walking around there in the evening hour, before saying goodbye to that area and going to airport in the night to catch my flight to Tokyo. I was going to fly to Tokyo that night, where the next week full of hectic work awaited me. So this was my last chance to enjoy some free time before the hectic work week started.

There was this picturesque walkway that went around all the way from the Kawasaki World to the Port Tower, to this iconic Oriental Hotel, connecting all buildings and tourist spots there. Walking on this path was a joy, and it offered great views all around:



A close-up view of the Oriental Hotel:



The Oriental Hotel area is an architectural masterpiece. One of the structures that was part of the hotel complex:



A beautiful small building adjacent to the hotel. I am not sure what this was, but it looked nice for sure:



While I was there nearer to the port side, a closer look of the Kawasaki buildings in the commercial port area:



Another view of the Port Tower and the Kawasaki World area, in the golden evening light:



I spent some time walking around on this picturesque walkway:



Various types of tourist buses were making rounds. These open top red buses looked nice:



Finally, the only car picture in this travelogue. Toyota FJ Cruiser is one of my favorite SUVs. Could not resist taking a photo when I spotted this iconic Toyota SUV here in the parking lot:



Another architectural beauty. This structure looked great, but unfortunately, I could not figure out what this depicted as the description was written only in Japanese:



Starbucks Coffee. It was anyway coffee time and I had a great cup of coffee here:



Another view of the Starbucks on backdrop of the Port Tower:



People were lining up the take photos next to the BE KOBE letters. Another example of Japanese civic sense. Nobody was crowding there or photobombing each other even though many people wanted to take photos. They all stood patiently in a line, and only one group went there at a time to take quick photos, then moved out, and the next group came from the line. There was no board or no security person asking people to form lines. The people did this on their own. This civic sense is what I admire the most when I travel in foreign countries:



And finally, a parting shot of that grand hotel in the evening light:



With that, I ended my day out in Kobe. It was a sudden time off from busy work schedule, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a totally spontaneous, unplanned, solo exploration - the kind that I love the most! The only tool I used, and the only tool I needed, was my phone. I used my phone to research the places, to navigate around the city using Google Maps, to find train schedules and train connectivity, to find bus info, and even to find eating places. And of course, I used the phone camera for all the pictures above. It is amazing how powerful and useful the smartphones have become. You can be alone in a foreign country with no knowledge of the local language, and yet with a phone, you can manage it all.

Oops! I realized I went off-topic in that last note. Therefore, before I go any more off-topic, let me end this travelogue. Thank you for reading!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[DicKy]

Great eye opener to how big Kawasaki is.

Was aware of Hyundai's hegemony in Korea and how Mitsubishi was a giant keiretsu dealing with anything under the sun.

But your travelogue just showed how big and diverse Kawasaki really is. And I believe they are not even in Japan's top 10 companies.!!!

About smartphones, true. No place is strange or intimidating as long as the basic infra is there and you have network coverage. Perhaps the biggest personal liberator after an automobile.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Great eye opener to how big Kawasaki is.

Was aware of Hyundai's hegemony in Korea and how Mitsubishi was a giant keiretsu dealing with anything under the sun.

But your travelogue just showed how big and diverse Kawasaki really is. And I believe they are not even in Japan's top 10 companies.!!!

True. Kawasaki is really big in diversity and scale of their engineering operations. Here is a good article illustrating this: https://www.cycleworld.com/sport-rider/kawasaki-heavy-industries-far-more-than-just-motorcycles/

However, as you rightly said, it still does not figure in Japan's top 10 companies. Kawasaki's revenue is surprisingly low for the diversity and the scale of their operations. I think more then their financial strength today, the reason Kawasaki brand is so popular in Japan is because of their contribution to Japan's industrial development. They built several of Japan's firsts, but maybe somehow they could not maintain their leadership positions later in those segments.

For example, among other things in the Kawasaki World (apart from bikes and trains I mentioned in this travelogue) they have a few exhibits from their industrial applications as well. This below, from example, is the actual model of Japan's first industrial robot. This again shows the pioneering nature of Kawasaki's contribution in Japan's industrial development.

[mohitchalla]

Great thread! Thanks to you, Kawasaki World is now on my to visit list. The next time you are in Japan (after the pandemic), let us meet up. I live in Tokyo. Cheers!

[Brumby]

Thank you for a detailed information about Kawasaki.

As far as I know, Kawasaki, Mitusbishi, Toyota etc... are into almost every kind of industry. e.g., Mitsubishi makes pencils to ships and everything in between, same is for Kawasaki, and others.

Koreans too have somewhat similar trend, Samsung, Hyundai and Daewoo make almost everything in Korea.

The catch, you will hardly find any Korean car or bike in Japan, and a strict no no to Japanese cars and bike in Korea.

Koreans though make lots of Japanese industrial equipment (specially marine industry) under license to cater to their clients.

Cheers.

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Another architectural beauty. This structure looked great, but unfortunately, I could not figure out what this depicted as the description was written only in Japanese:

This structure is known as "Bell of Hortensia"

This is an object established in 1989 celebrating the first Kobe Fashion Festival. Hortensia refers to Kobe's city flower, the hydrangea. The structure was created by Nakashima Propeller, a screw propeller manufacturer.

No, I can't read or write Japanese language. I just googled it

Beautiful pictures and thank you for sharing

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by mohitchalla

Great thread! Thanks to you, Kawasaki World is now on my to visit list. The next time you are in Japan (after the pandemic), let us meet up. I live in Tokyo. Cheers!

Thank you. Sure, would love to meet you in Tokyo. Tokyo is a beautiful city, and visited it a few times in 2018 and 2019. In fact, in April 2019 I was there for work, and after spending a week or so there for work, I took 4 days off for personal time. My friend and bhpian robimahanta joined me there for those 4 days, and we had an amazing fun exploring Tokyo and surroundings in those 4 days. Maybe some day I will write another travelogue on that trip.

I am really hoping I get to visit Japan soon. I am missing all my travels, and even on work front, not being able to visit our customers for so long is not good:-) Will let you know when I come to Tokyo next.

Originally Posted by Brumby

As far as I know, Kawasaki, Mitusbishi, Toyota etc... are into almost every kind of industry. e.g., Mitsubishi makes pencils to ships and everything in between, same is for Kawasaki, and others.

Koreans too have somewhat similar trend, Samsung, Hyundai and Daewoo make almost everything in Korea.

True. All these are giant corporations, and their business are much beyond the cars which we know of. These are all giants of heavy industries.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

This structure is known as "Bell of Hortensia"
No, I can't read or write Japanese language. I just googled it
Beautiful pictures and thank you for sharing

OK great. Thanks for that bit of information on this structure. Yes, when we can Google anything in this era, we do not need to read the language :-) BTW, I managed all my interactions with local people in Japan using Google Translation app. It is amazing how useful that app is when traveling in non-English speaking countries.