Night-time Views of Kobe Motomachi

European feel in the shopping district

Manish Prabhune Feb 12, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>Major retailer, Daimaru in Motomachi, is the most frequented place, along with Marui which is slightly further away close to Sannomiya station.</p>

<p>The Motomachi shopping district entrance. The stained glass illumination has multiple patterns at multiple entrances of the three mile long shopping street.</p>

<p>Parts of the Motomachi shopping district have a European-style architecture. Night-time illumination of the arc-style structure offers a great ambience for a night walk.</p>

<p>You can shop almost everything, including some interesting wigs!</p>

<p>Christmas time light-up of the Motomachi shopping street</p>

<p>Boutique shops around Motomachi, with unique exterior design and great illumination. Most establishments also have nice cafes, even if a bit costly.</p>

<p>Unlike in Tokyo, establishments in Kobe close down early. This photo was taken just around 8:00 p.m.; the shopping lane was already shut down and deserted.</p>

<p>Night-time view of the shopping district. On either side there are several restaurants, including Japanese, Italian, Thai and many other ethnic varieties. </p>

Sandwiched between the Chinatown district Nankinmachi and Kyu-kyoryuchi, a foreign settlement in the 19th century, Motomachi Kobe today is a shopping district with small and medium scale establishments, including major retailers like the Daimaru or Marui department stores. The street starts with Sannomiya Center Gai and it is usually quite crowded on weekends. You can shop from electronics to fashion, but there are also some nice pastry shops. With this photo story I would like to give you an idea of the night-time view of the area.

Manish Prabhune @manish.prabhune

Travelling to various places and locations in Japan for over 20 years now, I want to share my experiences and also hear about destinations that I still have not been to in the land of the rising sun. Am a photography enthusiast and love to do slow shutter blue hour photography in Tokyo.