Just About an Hour by Train from Osaka Station! Top 5 Sightseeing Destinations

The first spot on this list is the neighborhood of Kitano, which is a famous sightseeing area in Kobe. This is the district where you can find the Western-style houses (called “ijinkan”) of foreigners, who moved to the city when Kobe Port opened as an international trade port in 1868. There were more than 200 ijinkan here at its peak, transforming the area into an exotic landscape with Western-style residences that blended in with Japanese-style houses. Around 60 of these residences still exist today, including Kazamidori no Yakata (which has a weathercock on a spire on the roof) and the Uroko no Ie (scales house). You can tour the interiors and exteriors of these houses. Aside from these houses, this area is also dotted with lots of fancy shops and spots, such as museums, miscellaneous goods/souvenir shops, long-established bars, and cafes.

Next on this list is Todaiji, a famous temple that is named as one of the eight important assets in the World Heritage Site, Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara. It houses numerous national treasures, such as the Great Buddha Hall that occupies the vast temple precincts and enshrines the large Buddha statue (symbol of the temple), and the Tegai-mon gate that has preserved its architectural structure up till now.

Admission fee (required for entering the Great Buddha Hall, Hokke-do (Sangatsu-do) Hall, and Kaidan-do Hall):
Adult (Junior high school student or older): 500 JPY
Elementary school student: 300 JPY

Next up is Arima Onsen, a popular onsen (hot spring) resort in Hyogo that is visited by approximately 1.5 million people each year. Boasting 1,400 years of history, Arima Onsen is known for having two types of hot spring waters – Kinsen (golden hot spring) with reddish brown color that contains iron, and Ginsen (silver hot spring) that is colorless and clear. Here, you can soak in the baths filled with these hot spring waters at the ryokans (Japanese-style inn), hotels, and public hot spring facilities ("sotoyu" in Japanese).

※Photo shows a foot bath that uses Kinsen