1.
An Outline of the Kobe Area
and its Geographic Features
1) An Outline of the Kobe Area
The Cit y of Kobe is located
a p p rox i m a t e l y i n t h e c e n t e r o f
western Honshu, on the north side
of Osaka Bay, to the east of the
Seto Inland Sea, which lies between
Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.
TOKYO
KOBE
OSAKA
Coordinates of Kobe City Hall
Longitude 135° 11’44”E
Latitude
35° 41’24”N
The southern edge of the city faces
Osaka bay and the city has a total
area of 550.80km2. It has a population
of 1.53 million (as of 1 April 2008). It
was incorporated as the City of Kobe
on 1 April, in 1889.
The city is roughly divided into two
por tions by the Rokko mountain
system. The southern side of the
m o u nt a i ns f a c e s Os a ka B ay. I t
includes the original urban district,
e st a b lis h e d w h e n t h e p o r t w as
opened, and stretches nearly 30km
east-to-west but only 2-4km north-
1 Environmental Policy of Kobe
to-south. This shape is one of the
characteristics of the city. This area
east-to-west, with many sight-seeing
and resort facilities scattered across
is still largely industrial, with much
built upon reclaimed land, and also
it. It provides a place where many
residents are able to enjoy a more
the center of the city’s commercial
activity. The man-made islands Port
natural environment. The northern
side of the system is also famous for
Island, Rokko Island, and the Kobe
Airport have been built as well. These
areas together account for only
approximately 1/3 of the city’s area
but over one million of the population
one of the nation’s oldest and most
famous hot springs, the very popular
Arima.
Kobe has a coastline of approximately
35km. At the present time, most
live there.
In contrast, to the nor thern and
western sides of Mt. Rokko are the
lower Tanjo-Taishaku mountains, an
of the Hanshin area coastline is
protected by seawalls, but at Suma
popular beaches remain. The Suma
area is one of the few sea-bathing
area of gentle hills and long been the
facilities in the Hanshin area and very
site of agricultural activity. In the
busy in summer.
1970s, a new public road network
Mountain streams beginning in the
was begun in the
Map of the City's Green Area
area, Kobe New
Urbanization areas
Town and several
industrial parks
were established.
“People and nature coexistence zone”
“Green Sanctuary”
The mountains,
which run so
close to the bay
and squeeze
t h e c i t y c e nte r
into a narrow
area, create the
v i e w s t h a t a re
characteristic
of the city. Mt.
Rokko, the
highest of the
chain, is 931.3m,
but the peak
itself is relatively
level, running
Tanjo-Taishaku mountains
Rokko mountains
1. An Outline of the Kobe Area and its Geographic Features
Mt. Rokko area form a set of short
rivers that run north-to-south through
the Kobe urban district. However, in
Mt. Rokko was almost completely
denuded of vegetation. Re-forestation
programs returned the area to its
residential areas near the mountain’
s foot, have increasingly become a
problem for the people there.
Kita and Nishi wards the rivers are
characteristically longer and more
gentle, as seen in the Kakogawa,
present , green conditions. The
greater part of wooded area in the
cit y co nsists of h u ma n pla nte d
Kobe retains a large range of nature,
with more than 3,000 species of
insects and over 2,000 species of
Akashi, and Mukogawa river systems.
Nishi ward also has many ponds and
reservoirs, reflecting the effects of
the drier Seto climate. The city has
various kinds of water resources.
Secandary forest.
Nature forest can still be found in
the beech groves near the peak
of Mt. Rokko, and in the oak and
chinquapin groves near Nishi
plants found within the city limits,
showing that much of nature still
remains in the area.
2) Climate
The City of Kobe has, since 1896
a n d w i t h t h e exc e pt i o ns of t h e
years of the Second World War
Ward’s Taisanji temple and Chuo
Ward’s Dairyuji temple. Second
grow th areas, replanted with
such trees Japanese red pine and
oakt rees, are also expanding .
and the Great Hanshin -Awaji
Earthquake, been recording climaterelated data for over 10 0 years.
Suma Beach
City of Kobe Climate Data (2006)
Temperature
Average
High
Low
Rainfall
16.9°C
37.2°C
-2.3°C
1,479.5mm
Hours of Sunlight
Average Wind Velocity
1,861.4
3.2m/s
The city has the warm climate typical
of the Seto-Inland Sea Area. Rainfall
is less than the national average with
more hours of sunny weather. The
average temperature over the last
100 years has increased by about
1.5˚C. In addition, the number of
“hot nights”(days when the lowest
temperature is 25˚C or more) in 2000s
was about five times that recorded in
1930s, reflecting the advance of city
warming.
Mt. Rokko
Animals such as wild boars and
foxes are known to live in Kobe.
Wild boars, searching for food in
An agricultural area in Kobe
Map of the City's Water System
Hokushin Water System
Tukuhara Lake
3) Nature & Greenery
The Rokko and Tanjo -Taishaku
mountain systems are within the city
limits, helping meet the need of Kobe’
s population of 1.5 million for green
areas. The city is blessed with nearly
350km2, or 64%, of the city’s area
being covered with greenery.
However, from the end of the Edo
Seishin Water System
City Rivers
Suma Beach
Period to the middle of the Meiji Era
Environmental Policy of Kobe 2