30 Minutes Away from Kobe. Spending an Afternoon at a Museum and Botanical Garden where you can Feel the Nature

About Mount Rokko

Mount Rokko, which stretches north from Kobe, is a vast natural area just 30 minutes by bus from the city center. It is also included in the Seto Inland Sea National Park. There is no other national park in Japan that is so close to a city.

From the top of the mountain, you can get a panoramic view of the city of Kobe. The night view is particularly beautiful, and the spectacular star-studded view is famous throughout the world.

Mt. Rokko's charm doesn't end at night. There are plenty of facilities here, such as observation decks, art spots, and botanical gardens, where you can have fun while feeling close to nature.

Let's look back about 150 years into the history of this unique mountain.

In 1868, a young man arrived from England. His name was Arthur Hesketh Groom. He would later make his fortune in trade and become known as the "Founder of Mt. Rokko."

At that time, Japan was in a transitional period where trade with the West was booming after the end of the Edo period, during which diplomatic relations with the outside world had been restricted for a long time. Kobe was one of the few port cities open to foreign trade, and many merchants like Groom had migrated there from the West.

Groom, who loved Japan, was particularly fond of Mt. Rokko. At the time, there were no tourist attractions and the mountain was very rugged, so he built a resort with his friends, invested his own money to improve the mountain trails, and developed the mountain. In 1903, Groom and his friends also built Japan's oldest golf course, Kobe Golf Club, on Mt. Rokko. Amazingly, this golf course is still in operation today, more than 120 years later.

The idyllic culture of Mt. Rokko, where nature and play coexist in harmony, was started by Westerners who loved this area.

Listen to sounds from 100 years ago at the ROKKO Forest Sound Museum

At the Rokko Forest Sound Museum, you can relive the atmosphere of the era in which the Grooms lived.

This facility, which opened in 1994, is a museum that exhibits and plays automatic musical instruments such as music boxes. The collection mainly consists of instruments that were popular in Europe and America about 100 to 150 years ago, which overlaps with the era in which Groom lived.

The building was designed with Germany, the birthplace of disc music boxes, in mind.

▲The facility's largest automatic organ, the "Decappedance Organ Kempener" (made in 1938, Belgium)

The museum hosts recitals using automatic musical instruments entitled "Concerts without Performers."

The exhibits include one of the world's largest dancing organs, musical automatons, and antique music boxes that are beautiful in both appearance and sound. You will be enchanted by the complex and rich tones.

By scanning the QR code on some of the music boxes on display, you can listen to the actual sounds they make on your smartphone.

▲A birdhouse-shaped music box on the museum grounds

▲When the wind blows, the wind chimes* make a cool sound.

Another highlight is the SIKI Garden, where about 300 kinds of seasonal flowers are planted. There are birdhouse-shaped music boxes and other devices that let you enjoy the sounds of nature, making you feel as if you have wandered into a fantasy world.

▲In addition to the standard drinks menu, the cafe also offers seasonal drinks. This is the blue lemonade that was only available for a limited time in the summer.

Mori no Café overlooks SIKI Garden, and its retro interior makes it look like a movie set. The terrace seats are the best location to view the garden.

In addition to dishes made with ingredients from Hyogo, they also offer sweets and drinks.

▲You can rent out the SIKI Dome (a 360-degree transparent dome-shaped tent) and enjoy lunch in a picnic-like atmosphere.

▲A garden with a nice atmosphere even on a rainy day

In a Western-style building filled with greenery, you can watch and listen to music boxes, and stroll through the beautiful gardens. This place, where time flows slowly, is like a secret garden in Mt. Rokko. The magical atmosphere is wonderful on rainy days as well as sunny days.

There are museums with various themes not only on Mount Rokko but also throughout Kobe city.

*Wind chimes...A traditional Japanese summer decoration made of glass and metal. They make a pleasant sound when the wind blows, and are cherished as a symbol of the season when hung up in the summer, as well as providing a sense of coolness.

*The wind chime exhibit is only available in the summer, and you can enjoy different exhibits each season.

Discover rare plants and flowers at Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden

The Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden is located next to the ROKKO Forest Sound Museum.

The garden opened in 1933 and was built by Dr. Tomitaro Makino, a botanist known as the "father of Japanese botany," who visited the garden many times. It is the alpine botanical garden with the longest history in Japan.

Taking advantage of the mountain's climate, at an altitude of 865 meters and with an average annual temperature of 9 degrees, approximately 1,500 types of plants are cultivated, including alpine plants and cold-climate plants from all over the world, as well as wildflowers native to Mt. Rokko.

▲Japanese Catchfly (August)

▲ Purple Loosestrife (August)

At the ROKKO Forest Sound Museum you can see a well-maintained garden, but what you can enjoy here is the appearance of plants that are cultivated in conditions close to the wild.

The garden, which covers approximately 50,000 square meters, recreates the natural environments suited to each plant, including an area that recreates the wetlands found around Mt. Rokko and an area where tall trees have been planted.

The rock garden, which cultivates alpine plants, is a particularly unique area.

That's because, on Mount Rokko, which is 865 meters above sea level, you can see flowers that bloom at altitudes of 1,500 to 3,000 meters.

You can also see edelweiss, a flower representative of the Alps, and Dicentra peregrina, known as the queen of alpine plants in Japan, in the rock garden (flowering season is May to June).

Edelweiss, a cafe located next to the east entrance of the botanical gardens, is the perfect place to spend some relaxing time surrounded by greenery.

The mountain hut-style interior of the store is lined with old photos of Mt. Rokko, retro posters, and books about plants.

The great thing about Mt. Rokko is that there are places like this where you can feel the great outdoors close to the city. Even if you're not good at mountain climbing, you can easily get here by using the cable car or ropeway.

You can visit the ROKKO Forest Sound Museum and the Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden with a combined ticket, so be sure to check when purchasing your tickets. Combined tickets can be purchased at the ticket counters of each facility. For more information, please click here .

Rokko Forest Sound Museum
Address: 4512-145 Kita Rokko, Rokkosan-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, 657-0101 ( Google map )
Business hours: 10:00-17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Closed: Thursdays, December 31st, January 1st *May be open on Thursdays during certain periods such as public holidays Website: https://www.rokkosan.com/museum/?lang=en (English)

Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden
Address: 4512-150 Kita Rokko, Rokkosan-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, 657-0101 ( Google map )
Opening period: Mid-March to late November *For details, please refer to the website. Opening hours: 10:00-17:00 (last entry 16:30) *May be extended during events. Closed days: There are holidays. For details, please refer to the website.
Website: https://www.rokkosan.com/hana/?lang=en (English)