After two train rides -- Shinshimonoseki to Hiroshima and
Hiroshima to Kobe – we're done with the Japan train system and will be biking
until we reach Tokyo on May 31. As soon as we got off the train in Kobe, we
removed our bikes from the bike bags and reassembled them right on the train
station platform – somewhat to the consternation of the train officials, who
expect everything to be done in its proper place.
Kobe is famous for its beef. In Japan, "
Kobe beef" is a registered trademark
of the Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion
Association. For beef to receive the Kobe appellation, it must
satisfy several conditions, including the right breed (the black Tajima-ushi
breed of Wagyu cattle), the correct place of birth and upbringing (specified farms
in Hyogo Prefecture of Japan [the prefecture that includes Kobe]), the right
type of fat marbling, the right size of steer (470 kg or less), and others. Troubling
to true Kobe beef producers, beef is sometimes mislabeled as Kobe beef outside
of Japan, where the Japanese trademark cannot be enforced. We can vouch for the
excellent taste and texture of Kobe beef, based on our dinner in Kobe.
Kobe is home
to a synagogue (one of only two in Japan), a Catholic church, a mosque, and
Indian places of worship and shops. While diversity of this type is the norm in
the Western world, Kobe has been the first place during our two weeks in Japan
where we've noted evidence of populations or cultures that are not of Japanese
origin. The openness of Kobe to outsiders had an important consequence in the
early 1940's, when Kobe was a safe haven for thousands of Jews fleeing the
Nazis during 1940 and 1941.
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| Re-assembling our bikes, with a "bullet train" in the background |
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| On the way from the train station to our hotel |
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| The synagogue in Kobe |
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| Our Kobe beef dinner being prepared in front of us |
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| Yum!! |
