<History of Kobe’s Ijinkan>
In 1858, Japan’s ruling Tokugawa government concluded a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States, and similar treaties with four European nations. Japan agreed to end over two centuries of self-imposed national isolation by opening five seaports to trade. The ports were Hakodate, Niigata, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki. The treaties stipulated that foreign nationals would be confined to living in designated areas. The district in one such port, Kobe, was close to the seacoast. However, the facilities there did not proceed as planned, and foreigners began building their homes further inland, such as the slopes of Mt. Rokko, which we will be introducing here. The district is somewhat apart from Kobe’s central commercial and industrial zones, and was fortunately spared from air raids on Kobe during World War II. As such, the neighborhood preserves a rare view of upscale life in prewar Kobe.
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