JPN: Mount Rokko

Rokko Mountains, Nada, Kobe, Japan

During our December 2019 trip, my BFFs and I had the opportunity to witness two of the three "10 Million Dollar Night Views" of Japan from Mount Inasa in Nagasaki and Mount Rokko in Kobe. Standing at 931.6 m above sea level, Mount Rokko is the highest peak of the Rokko Mountains located in the southeastern part of Hyogo Prefecture.


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After a 10-minute ride on Rokko Cable Car, we reached at the upper station.


Those are models of the second generation funiculars used from 1959 to 1999.


Such a cheeky description! They look like deep-fried shrimps indeed.
Mount Rokko is a resort area with lots of attractions to choose from, such as Rokko International Musical Box Museum, Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden and Rokko Snow Park, to name a few.


Before venturing further, my BFFs and I went up to the observation platform above the upper station. There's a café that offers both al fresco and indoor seats.


The best place to see the "10 Million Dollar Night View" of the Osaka Bay area is actually from Mount Maya, another major peak of the Rokko Mountains with a lower elevation of 698.6 m. The vista from Mount Rokko, however, is breathtaking too.



"Our wings are small, but the ripples of the heart are infinite." ~ Amit Ray


Despite the cold winds up there, we waited till the sky got even darker.


As mentioned in the previous post, you can take unlimited rides on the buses running within the resort area by showing your Rokkosan Tourist Pass.



We dropped off at Rokko Garden Terrace that has got a few eateries and a gift shop.


It looks like a quaint European village, doesn't it?

I wonder if we're going to see an extensive Christmas decoration towards the end of 2020?
The gift shop is amazing, I must say. There are lots of interesting food items too.


There's a tower nearby that you can climb to the top.


Where were all the tourists? "Blown away by the cold winds!" said my BFF.


Rokko Island is a man-made island with residential and industrial areas separated by a green belt.
We walked past Rokkosan Genghis Khan Palace, a grill restaurant. If I remember correctly, the dishes are quite pricey.


We then stopped by at another gift shop. 



There's also an observation platform behind the gift shop.


Kobe Airport is somewhere there.
Rokko-Shidare Observatory is the one and only paid attraction that we went for. The entrance fee is ¥310 (~S$4.05) per adult, but you need only pay ¥210 (~S$2.75) when you show the Rokkosan Tourist Pass.

The observatory is open daily from 10.00am to 8.30pm.


The observatory is shaped like a giant tree, where the frame, walls and floors
are all made from Yoshino cypress from Nara Prefecture.


You can pretend that this photo doesn't exist. Haha...
Seeing the panorama through the frames turned out to be a pretty satisfying experience.

Can you see the tower at Rokko Garden Terrace that we climbed earlier?




The seemingly twinkling lights of the city~

Don't miss the opportunity to get a photo of yourself next to the #Rokko sign.



The so-called wind room circulates air naturally with air being sucked in from the bottom and flowing out from the top.



You can especially feel the refreshing breeze during summer months.
Did you know that Mount Rokko was the first place to introduce rock climbing to the Japanese population? Kuzou Fujiki established the first rock climbing club there in 1924.

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