Hiking Heaven in Kobe
Kobe is uniquely situated in a narrow area between the mountains and the sea, making it an ideal city for hiking enthusiasts. Shortly after moving to Kobe, I noticed a couple living diagonally across from me heading out in hiking gear. Later, I learned that they had walked straight to Mount Rokko for a hike.
In larger cities, you typically need to take a bus or train to the base of a mountain, but in Kobe, it's not uncommon to start your hike right from your doorstep. This is exemplified by Shin-Kobe Station, a Shinkansen station. Building a Shinkansen line in Kobe, with its limited flat land, must have been quite a challenge. They had to find a way to lay the tracks along the mountainside. Because Shin-Kobe Station is located along the mountains, you can start hiking immediately after getting off the train.
This trend is becoming quite popular. People from the Tokyo metropolitan area can take the Shinkansen to Shin-Kobe, hike, and then return home on the same day. It's rare to find a place where you can go hiking and return on the same day from the Tokyo area.