October

OK, I have a backlog of three weekends worth of touristy adventures to get through (not including the current weekend), so here goes:

October 13-14: Akashi Planetarium

A 3 minute walk north of Hitomarumae Station on the Sanyo line (or 15 minutes east of Akashi station), this is an astronomy education centre housed in a building that looks as though it should be gracing the cover of a 50s science fiction novel. The planetarium features exhibits on the stars and planets, as well as the signs of the Zodiac and the history of timekeeping. Why the history of timekeeping? Because Akashi Planetarium stands exactly at 135 degrees east longitude, and is used to determine Japanese Standard Time. We would have gotten more out of the exhibits if we understood Japanese, but they were interesting nonetheless.

The Imax-style skyshow itself would have been more enlightening if we understood the language, but we followed as best we could. The narrator highlighted and discussed several planets and constellations visible in the northern hemisphere night sky, and at one point played a short cartoon depicting the tale of one of the Greek mythical figures for which many of the constellations are named (I forget which one), underscoring how far human astronomical knowledge has come from the days when the significance of constellations was taken seriously. After a short while I tuned out the drone of the narration, and simply allowed myself to become lost in all those stars and planets. It was very peaceful and relaxing.

The building also sports an observation tower, giving a 360 degree view of this particular corner of Hyogo—including fantastic views of Awaji Island and the bridge. You can take an elevator to the top, or you can act like you’ve got a pair and climb the spiral staircase, tracing the history of life on Earth as you go. Click here for a slideshow.

October 20-21: Sumaura Kooen/Suma Aqualife Park

When I first espied Sumaura Kooen on my first day in Kobe, I thought to myself "I'm so climbing that!" The hill (actually called Hachibuse-yama) is an outlier of the Rokko Mountains, and at 248m it dominates the skyline of the adjacent Suma and Tarumi areas. While there is the option of taking a cable-car up to the summit, we opted for one of the thickly-wooded trails that wind their way to the top, having purchased hiking boots in Perth for just this kind of activity. The hill features various ancient shrines and commands amazing views of Kobe city (and beyond) to the east, and the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge to the west. In Perth I used to spend hours on end wandering the tracks that run through Kings Park; in Sumaura I think I've found a replacement.

How to get there: take the Sanyo line to Sumaura Station. A cheaper option would be to take the JR line to Suma, then walk 15 mins. west.

Slideshows:
Climbing Sumaura
View from the summit
Sumaura area

The following day we returned to Suma to visit its well-known aquarium. (Plus we had coupons for discount entry.) This was my first visit to an aquarium since I went to Underwater World when I was about eleven or twelve years old. Suma has many advantages over the aforementioned: it is far more reasonably-priced, its giant fish/shark/ray tank makes for one breathtaking entrance-statement, and nobody has yet slipped Suma's dolphins any happy pills, so you can still see them performing regularly. The tropical fish are amazing, and thanks to Emma's nifty camerawork (and image manipulation work) we've hopefully managed to capture that for you.

How to get there: From JR Suma Station, walk 15 mins east. In warmer months I suggest walking there along Suma Beach, which is apparently a very popular spot with the citizens of Kobe and is highly reminiscent of the beach in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (albeit minus Harold Perrineau firing pistols into the water for no apparent reason whatsoever). Take the beach route back to the station as well if you're returning in the late afternoon: it's worth it to see the sun setting over the shoulder of Hachibuse-yama. Click here for slideshow.

October 27-28: Oji Zoo

I learned something new this weekend. In fact: I learned three new things. First, while pink flamingos might be charming in a kitschy kind of way as lawn ornaments, a pen of live birds has to be one the foulest smelling things on Earth. Second, I was wrong about the first point: the foulest smelling thing on Earth has to be Japanese brown bear urine. Third, Amazonian pythons doubtless seem intimidating when encountered in the wild, but when you coop them up in a glass cage, they just look really, really bored.

Come to think of it: the same could be said for most of the animals we saw that day. That could explain why the European timberwolf, which is really just a dog in the “state of nature,” was playfully following children from window to window. On the other hand, it might have been hungry.

Click here for the slideshow.

Oji Zoo is about a 10 minute walk north of Nada Station on the JR line.