VISIT KOBE

A museum to explore the history of the seas, ships and port of Kobe and its future.

The Kobe Maritime Museum, with its distinctive white space-frame canopy reminiscent of the sails of a ship cutting across the ocean waves, was built in 1987 to mark 120 years since the opening of the modern Port of Kobe in 1868, as part of the “120th Anniversary of the Opening of Kobe Port” project. In 2020, the museum underwent renovation under the theme “The History of Kobe and Its Port.” It now offers an easy-to-understand introduction to the changing city of Kobe, as well as the history and future of its seas, ships, and port, through a combination of documents, models, videos, graphics, and interactive exhibits.

The museum also houses Kawasaki World, a corporate museum founded in 2006 by the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group, which has been a part of Kobe Port’s history since the beginning.