A weekend in Kobe, documented here.  Again, almost all of this is on foot – with the notable exception of the Shin-Kobe Ropeway, which ascends to the Nunobiki Herb Gardens above Shin-Kobe Station.  I also took the subway two stations home after tromping down the mountain on foot, as I was exhausted.

The herb gardens are quite nice, and they offer cooking classes and other such activities for those interested.  i would imagine the view from up there is amazing at night, and it’s also probably gorgeous when they get some snow.  The really cool thing, though, is that the Nunobiki Waterfall is literally only a few hundred meters above the Shinkansen station – Kobe city is right up against the wilds of the Rokko Mountains.  I also rather enjoyed the fact that when I arrived at the waterfall, there was a jazz combo playing at the little cafe (I rather got the impression that the singer was the owner).  Japan never loses the ability to surprise me.

Today’s shots are just a few I grabbed of the area around Hirano, an old neighborhood at the foot of the mountains a kilometer or so west of the waterfall.  There’s a very cool old shrine there (Gion, affiliated with the famous one in Kyoto) that was having their matsuri today, as well as a Zen temple called Shoukofuji.  My main reason for being in the area was to visit Minatoyama Onsen, and obviously no pics there, so it was a light day for the camera.