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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Good Day Kobe Bay

Date:  27 November 2010
Place:  Sannomiya - Kobe City - Kobe Port












My Travel:
           For todays entry I would share my whole day's excitement of my new travel to Kobe city.  Many fascinating places including Kobe Mosque, Kobe Port, Kobe Tower and Maritime Museum were visited.
             Traveling from Osaka city, it took only 40 minutes. The route to Kobe city as follow:
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[Hankyu Line] Minami Senri => [JR Line] Osaka => [JR Line] Sannomiya => [JR Line] Kobe
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Kobe Mosque: First established mosque in Japan

My Views about Kobe:










       Kobe is the capital of Hyogo Prefecture and one of Japan's ten largest cities. Located between the sea and the Rokko mountain range, I would say Kobe is also considered one of Japan's most attractive cities. 

          My Japanese friend ever said, Kobe has been an important port city for many centuries.  There was one of the first Japanese ports to be opened to foreign trade in the late Edo Period, and the city remains one of Japan's  cosmopolitan cities. I would say there are a lot of Muslim immigrants  too. So, it is not surprised the Kobe Mosque was founded since 1935. SubhanAllah!

        In January 1995, Kobe was hit by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which killed over 5000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of buildings. A decade later, the city is completely rebuilt, and few signs of the terrible event are left. 
This past aftermath enthuse me traveling there.





Sannomiya, Kobe


Sannomiya JR Station



Sannomiya City


The Sannomiya map locates Kobe Mosque






Police Station








The route to Kobe Mosque



Higashimon Street

Ikuta Shrine (生田寺)


Actually, this temple is the short cut route to Kobe Mosque




Red Spirit of Temple
























Fengshui Garden







Exit Temple Gate 



VIP Guests attending the Ritual Ceremony

The main temple building




Rabbit-chan welcoming the kiddies




Front Gate of Ikuta Temple



Ablution area for Shinto 






Kobe Mosque










            After walking around 20 minutes from Sannomiya, JR train station, finally I reached at  Kobe Mosque. I noticed there looks like Muslim community area where I could found many  Muslim people and several Halal Food shops. At Kobe Mosque, I had a chance meeting with  mosque manager, Mr. Ahsan. Actually, he is a father of my two teachers during my former university: Saira-sensei and Saima-sensei. I was informed he had been 35 years living in Kobe since he immigrated from Pakistan. I am really lucky to meet him, knowing some past and current Muslim issue in Kobe. 
         According to Mr. Ahsan, the 
Kōbe Mosque  
(神戸モスク) or Kobe Muslim Mosque (神戸 ムスリムモスク) was founded in October, 1935. It is Japan's first mosque ever constructed,  by donations collected by the Islamic Committee of Kobe from 1928 until its opening in 1935. Unfortunately, the mosque was confiscated by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1943. However, it continues to function as mosque today. It is located in the Kitano-cho foreign district of Kobe. 

      Gratefully to Allah, during the 
Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995, the Kobe Mosque strongly preserved without any catastrophe
. Historically, t
he mosque was built in traditional Turkish style by the Czech architect Jan Josef Švagr (1885–1969), the architect of a number of Western religious buildings throughout Japan. And now, I observed unitil last weekend, it developed progressively with further renovation. Hopefully, may Allah bless the Kobe land and I pray He open other hearts to be at Peace. Amin.