Hello Kitty Shopping Adventure Episode 8: Kobe

The last time I felt this excited for a trip was when I visited Nagasaki for the first time in 2015. It was also a Silver Week trip, and this was also my first visit to another major port city in Japan. This 4-day, 3-night trip to Kobe, though, was shorter than the one in Nagasaki.

This was also only the second time I took an early morning domestic flight, so early that I was already in Kobe when I finally had some time for a decent breakfast. And by that, I meant a simple sit-down meal of a slice of quiche and coffee at what is probably one of the most charming and picturesque Starbucks branches in Japan - Starbucks Kobe Kitano Iijinkan. 

I also was able to properly stow my luggage immediately thanks to early check-in privileges. However, because I arrived at Kobe Airport hours before their souvenir shops opened (yes, I was THAT early), I wasn’t able to check if they carried any Gotochi Kitty items. Since I wouldn’t be using the Kobe Airport for my return flight (I flew back to Tokyo from Osaka Itami), this meant I had to schedule a separate trip back to the airport just to shop. The good thing was that the Portliner had regular trips from Sannomiya station to the airport, and a one-way trip took no longer than 30 minutes.

Views of the Kobe port from the Portliner.

Kobe Airport Hello Kitty merchandise.

When I booked my hotel months before this trip, I already knew that it was located close to the Shin-Kobe station. What I didn’t know and pleasantly surprised me was that the hotel had direct access to the station. This was one opportunity that I definitely took advantage of even if I didn’t ride the Shinkansen, because the Shin-Kobe station housed quite a lot of Hello Kitty Shinkansen exclusive merchandise.

In between, of course I toured around the city and enjoyed food tripping on Chinese food and steak burgers (with the world-famous Kobe beef, of course) at Motomachi, and spent some quiet time at Meriken Park. 

I initially included the Nunobiki Herb Gardens in my itinerary but the weather didn’t permit it. I was glad that my hotel was located close to it and my room was on a really high floor so I somehow had an idea what the view would look like from there.

This view is best enjoyed with a Kobe beef steak burger.

During my stay in Kobe I somehow managed to squeeze in a short side trip to Kyoto - mainly for Gotochi Kitty shopping, hehe. More on that here.

Hi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/ and https://linkpop.com/tokudeals. They are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.