Hearing the Wind in the Silence – Kobe Botanical Gardens

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Hearing the Wind in the Silence—KobeBotanicalGarden

Address: 1-2 Nagao, Kamiya-kami, Yamada-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City
Access: Take the Kobe Electric Railway Arima Line to Kitasuzurandai Station and transfer to a free shuttle bus.
Admission: Adults 300 yen

Opened in 1940, the KobeBotanicalGarden covers a total area of ​​142.6 hectares and features approximately 1,200 plant species (including approximately 500 introduced species).
It takes a while to get there from downtown Kobe, but it's not too inconvenient.

This isn't just a demonstration garden; it's a place where you can enjoy living plants presented in the form of a forest. The park is divided into ecologically diverse regions, including North American forests, European forests, Asian forests, and Japanese forests (North Japan, evergreen broadleaf forests, and Japanese coniferous forests). Forest plantings and displays are featured, as well as international friendship forests with sister cities (Seattle, Tianjin, Brisbane, and Riga).

I visited in late October, when the maple leaves hadn't yet turned red, and only the metasequoia trees were beginning to turn yellow. A week or two later would have been perfect. The hydrangeas are also said to be exceptional in the summer.

The botanical garden's official website also lets you check what plants are currently available, so if you're interested in seeing a specific flower, check in advance.

It was a workday, and the weather wasn't particularly good. The park was very, very empty. At times, I'd look around and find myself alone. I could hear the wind rustling through the treetops, the birds flapping their wings, and the water dripping from the treetops, creating a strangely meditative feeling.

Post by AndreaJulio | Sep 27, 2025