My fascination with Japan started as a child, and it came exclusively through television.
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it → start → television
The Samurai and Phantom Agents featured hilariously terrible dubbed English, but introduced Australian kids to ninja and samurai.
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Samurai → feature → ninja
One cartoon has stuck with me to this day.
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cartoon → stick → day
Gigantor was about a giant blue robot who fought evil, but he was controlled by a 12-year-old boy.
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he → fight → boy
In Japan, the robot was known as Tetsujin 28, and was created in 1956 by manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who lived in Kobe.
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who → know → Kobe
When the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Japan in 1995, Kobe was the worst-hit city – more than 4500 people in the city were killed, 40,000 people were injured and 400,000 buildings were destroyed.
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buildings → strike → city
In 2009, local businesses and government banded together to build a statue of Tetsujin 28 to symbolise the city’s resilience and rebuilding.
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businesses → band → resilience
They hoped it would become a tourist attraction that would reinvigorate the stricken neighbourhood of Shin-Nagata, which lost about 80 per cent of its buildings.
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which → hop → buildings
At home, I have a couple of shelves full of various Gigantor toys and models, collected from four trips to Tokyo in the past three years.
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I → have → years
To say I’m obsessed is an understatement.
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I → say → ?
And that’s why I’m finally here in Kobe for the first time, on a day trip from Osaka.
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I → ’ → Osaka
I want to see the place that gave birth to the big guy and pay homage.
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that → want → homage
After a 13-minute trip on the shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka, I arrive in Kobe, then take a short ride on a local train to Shin-Nagata station.
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I → arrive → station
I walk a few minutes, turn a corner into Wakamatsu Park and there he is – 18 metres tall, 45 tonnes, his shiny blue metallic shell glinting in the sun, his giant red-tipped feet dwarfing a nearby child’s bicycle, his right arm defiantly held aloft.
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arm → walk → bicycle
All of a sudden, I’m nine years old again.
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I → ’m → ?
I have to hold myself back from squealing with delight.
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I → have → delight
He’s huge.
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He → ’ → ?
He’s magnificent.
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He → ’ → ?
He’s awesome.
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He → ’ → ?
I start snapping pictures from every imaginable angle.
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I → start → angle
The cartoon’s theme tune plays on a loop in my head: “Gigantor the space age robot, his power is in your hands.
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power → play → hands
I am a man of a certain age, and yet I ask a passer-by to take photos of me underneath the statue, striking the same pose as Gigantor.
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I → ask → Gigantor
I have no shame.
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I → have → shame
Nearby, I find a row of streetlights that use the robot’s distinctive helmet-shaped head as light fittings.
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that → find → fittings
And down the end of the neighbourhood’s main shotengai (shopping street) I find Kobe Tetsujin Sangokushi Gallery, which is dedicated to the work of Gigantor’s creator, and includes small working models for the statue, a video of its construction (unfortunately only in Japanese) and 1960s toys, comics and merchandise devoted to him, along with artefacts related to Yokoyama’s other manga creations.
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which → find → creations
The rest of my day is spent experiencing what this revitalised city has to offer.
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city → spend → what
I take a ride on the Kobe Nunobiki Ropeway, a cable car that takes you on a steep ride up into the hills.
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that → take → hills
The top station offers magnificent views of the city below.
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station → offer → city
Then I take a long, leisurely stroll down through the lush Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens, home to 75,000 herbs, plants and flowers, descending to the middle station and taking a return journey to the bottom on the cable car.
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I → take → car
Not far away, it’s a brisk uphill walk through Kitano-cho, where European-style villas and mansions, once owned by international traders and diplomats from the 19th century, are intact and open to view.
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villas → ’ → century
I’m not a big fan of Starbucks, but I relent as the one in Kitano-cho is situated in a lovely, sprawling English colonial-style house built in 1907.
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one → ’m → 1907
Afterwards, I wander to Ikuta Shrine, one of the oldest in Japan, dating to AD 201.
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I → wander → AD
It has a splendid row of bright red torii gates, and is a place where people come to pray for romance or safe childbirth.
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people → have → romance
Next, a long walk along the promenades that line Kobe’s bay and port area, including a visit to the Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park, displaying stark reminders of what happened here more than 30 years ago.
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what → line → reminders
Then, as the light is starting to fade, it’s a 10-minute walk to Nankinmachi, one of only three Chinatowns in Japan.
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it → start → Japan
Over dumplings and beer, I happily end a day in which I came to see a robot from my childhood and ended up discovering much more.
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I → end → more
THE DETAILS
FLY
ANA flies twice daily from Sydney direct to Tokyo; from Perth ANA operates daily flights between December 1 and April 20, and three times a week otherwise, with connecting flights to Osaka.
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ANA → fly → Osaka
A 14-minute ride on the Seishin-Yamate line train from Shin-Kobe station gets you to Shin-Nagata station, the closest to Gigantor/Tetsujin 28.
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ride → get → Tetsujin
STAY
Koko Hotel Osaka Shinsaibashi is a smart boutique property ideally placed for the beginning of your day trip to Kobe.
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Hotel → place → Kobe
Nearby Shinsaibashi station links you to the main railway hub at Shin-Osaka station, for the shinkansen to Kobe.
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station → link → Kobe
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
