Japan: A view of Kobe Harbour, c. 1890.

Kobe is the sixth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyogo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honsho«, approximately 500 km west of Tokyo. Kobe is a prominent port city with a population of about 1.5 million. The city is located in the Kansai region of Japan and is part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto. Keihanshin in turn is part of the Taiheiyo Belt, a megalopolis. Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan port city. While the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake diminished much of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth busiest container port.