As a former resident of Kobe, I feel a little ashamed to say this, but after being away for so many years, the city has changed so much, including its streets and transportation network, that I often find myself relying on tourist guides when walking around Kobe.
There are many picturesque spots in downtown Kobe, and I now find myself visiting places that I had no interest in or knowledge of when I was a junior high and high school student living there.
For example, the former foreign settlement area south of Motomachi.
The area around Kitano where so-called foreigner’s houses stand side by side.
I took some more tourist-like, neat photos there, but when I lined them up, they felt a bit boring. However, thanks to climbing the slope in Kitano, I was lucky enough to capture a scene where the roof of Tenmangu Shrine stood out against the fresh greenery.
Well, what really struck me during this trip to Kobe wasn’t the photos of those famous spots, but rather the scenery of a residential area I happened to notice while walking from Hyougo Port toward Harborland.
It’s a very personal, self-indulgent thought, but it felt like the traces of the town I lived in decades ago were still vividly preserved there.
Of course, the actual place I lived was a completely different area, and besides, the residential neighborhoods of the Showa era weren’t nearly as neat and orderly—they were probably much poorer and dirtier. So rationally, I know it doesn’t resemble the place I lived, but…
There was something about the views of these streets and the atmosphere they exuded that gave me an inexplicable sense of déjà vu, and I couldn’t help but point my camera at them. That sense of déjà vu resonated deeply within me in a very personal way.
I’m sorry if the ending feels a bit confusing.
That concludes my article about my recent two-day trip to Kobe, which I took advantage of my class reunion to explore. Thank you for reading all the way to the end.
