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As suits an international city, the Kobe City Museum is devoted to the themes of “International Cultural Exchange” and “Contact Between and Changes in Eastern and Western Cultures.” It has been accommodated in a former bank building with Dorian columns from the nineteen-thirties. The museum opened in 1982 after the merger of two museums that still determine the nature of the present facilities’ collection: the Municipal Archaeological Art Museum and the Municipal Nanban Art Museum. Thus the Kobe City Museum is strong in archaeology (it owns the fantastic series of bronze bells that in 1964 were unearthed in Sakuragaoka in the Nada Ward of Kobe) and in Nanban art (several famous screens and paintings on exotic topics).

[Kobe City Museum]

To this the museum has added a permanent exhibition that showcases the history of the city. This starts on the second floor with the theme of “Cultural Exchange with Asia.” Here you will find copies of the above mentioned bronze bells, as well as a model of the Goshikizuka Tumulus, a 4th c. keyhole-shaped tomb lying near the coast and probably belonging to a clan leader who controlled sea traffic in this area. Next under the theme “Growth of Regional Culture,” pottery and Onigawara roof tiles with demon faces are shown, demonstrating the activity of kilns in the area; and there are displays about Hyogo Port, which played an important role in contacts with China and Korea, as well as in trade in the Seto Inland Sea area.

During the “Age of Seclusion” in the Edo period - the next theme, for which you have to go down to the first floor - there was still some foreign influence, such as the Rangaku or Dutch Learning movement shows. Foreign technology also entered in the form of telescopes, glassware and clocks. From January 1868, after the start of the modern period, Kobe Port was opened to foreign trade and became host to an important foreign settlement, to which the Ijinkan houses in the city still bear living proof. Under the theme “Enlightenment and Modernization of Japan,” the exhibition finally focuses on the European’s lifestyle in Japan by showing the interior of a Western house. The new industries brought by the Westerners, such as printing, furniture making, and shipbuilding, are also highlighted.

[Kobe City Museum]

The art collection of the museum consists of nearly 34,000 objects. Unfortunately, these are only displayed at limited times and the visitor who wants to see the famous bronze bells usually has to do with the above-mentioned copies. The bronze bells were unearthed by chance in 1964, during earth works in Sakuragaoka of the Nada ward of the city. The cache contained 14 dotaku bells and several spearheads (doka). The whole set, which dates from the 2nd c. CE, has been declared a National Treasure.

The Nanban art works are above all interesting for their mix of Western and Japanese elements. There is a screen called Equestrian Kings of Europe made on the basis of illustrations that decorated a map brought from Holland. There is also a screen showing a world map, again based on a map brought from Europe; and there are late 16th c. screens showing Western ships by Kano Naizen. Famous are also portraits of Saint Francis Xavier, who brought Christianity to Japan in 1549, and Oda Nobunaga, the 16th c. military commander who helped unify Japan and who himself was fond of “Nanban” products. Then there are works by Shiba Kokan (1747-1818) who learned Western painting techniques, and started painting in oils; he also created Japan’s first copper etchings. Finally there is an oil-painting portrait of a European Woman by Hiraga Gennai (1728-1779), a leading theorist of Western-style painting.

Although the greatest treasures are only displayed during special shows, the permanent exhibition is certainly worthwhile and has the advantage of being labeled in English, which in museums of this type is only rarely the case. A disadvantage is that there is no separation in entrance fees between the permanent historical exhibition and the various special shows the museum hosts (meaning that one has to pay the higher fee even if one is only interested in the permanent collection).

Tel: 078-391-0035
Address: 24 Kyo-machi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0034
Hours: 10:00-17:00  CL Mon (next day if NH), NY, BE
Access: 10-min walk S from Sannomiya (JR, Hankyu, Hanshin and Municipal Subway Lines) or Motomachi St (JR and Hanshin Lines)
Official website