Kobe Sannomiya Shrine, a sacred place for prayers and aspirations

Kobe Sannomiya is the central district of Kobe City, and the Sannomiya area is named after the Sannomiya Shrine. Located at a high position, the shrine overlooks the entire Kobe harbor, and a long-standing custom has made it a shrine for praying for safe voyages and prosperous business. Every year, the Sannomiya Shrine holds several festival events: New Year's Festival, the first seven days of January. Setsubun Festival, February 3rd. Plum Blossom Festival, early February. Spring Festival, two days on May 12th and 13th. Autumn Festival, two days on October 12th and 13th. Shichi-Go-San Festival, a children's festival, every year on November 15th. Sannomiya Shrine is not one of the three major shrines of Kobe, but it is the third of the eight descendant shrines of Ikuta Shrine, from the first to the eighth. Its construction history is untraceable, but it can be estimated to date back to the Tokugawa shogunate period, so it is uniformly considered part of Ikuta Shrine. The only point of interest is the monument of the 'Kobe Incident' in Japan, which commemorates the first public diplomacy during the Meiji Restoration, a milestone in Japan's open-door policy, and marks the beginning of Kobe's transformation as an open port. Location: 2-4-4 Sannomiya-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. Transportation: Take the Kobe Municipal Subway Seaside Line and get off at the former settlement Daimaru-mae Station. Get off at Motomachi Station on the JR Hanshin line, and it's a 3-minute walk following the signs. Opening hours: All day.