Meriken Park

Meriken Park is a spacious harbour-front park jutting out into Kobe's port, and together with the neighbouring Kobe Port Tower it forms the visual heart of the city's celebrated waterfront. The unusual name comes from the American consulate that once stood nearby, 'Meriken' being an old Japanese rendering of 'American', a reminder of Kobe's long history as an international port. Today the park is an open, breezy expanse of plazas, lawns and promenades that draws visitors day and night for its landmarks, its views and its relaxed seaside atmosphere.

The park is home to several of Kobe's signature sights. Rising at its edge is the bright-red Kobe Port Tower, the drum-shaped observation tower that symbolises the city, while beside it stands the Kobe Maritime Museum, instantly recognisable for its sweeping white space-frame roof designed to evoke the sails and waves of the sea; inside, the museum traces the history of Kobe's port and shipping, and it also houses the Kawasaki Good Times World exhibit celebrating the local industrial giant. Together the tower and the museum's roof make one of the most photographed compositions in Kobe.

In recent years the park has gained a new star attraction in the giant 'BE KOBE' monument, a set of large white letters standing on the waterfront that has become the city's most popular photo spot, especially at sunset and after dark when it is illuminated against the harbour. Around it, wide brick plazas and stepped seating face the water, inviting visitors to sit and watch the boats, the Ferris wheel of Harborland across the basin, and the changing light on the sea.

Meriken Park also carries a solemn and important memory. Along one edge lies the Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park, where a section of the original quayside has been deliberately left exactly as it was after the devastating Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 1995, its lamp posts leaning and its concrete buckled and collapsed. Preserved as a permanent record, it is a moving and educational reminder of the disaster that struck the city, of the lives lost, and of the remarkable recovery that followed, embodied in the very 'BE KOBE' spirit celebrated elsewhere in the park.

The combination of landmarks, memorial, museum and open harbour space makes Meriken Park both a place of enjoyment and reflection. It is at its most beautiful in the evening, when the Port Tower, the museum roof and the monuments are lit and reflected in the water, contributing to Kobe's fame for night views. The park is free and always open, sits within walking distance of Motomachi Station, Chinatown and the former foreign settlement, and connects along the water to Harborland, making it an essential and easily reached stop on any tour of Kobe's waterfront.