Hyogo Prefecture

Kobe

Do
See old classics back to back on a big screen
A meigaza is an old-style repertory cinema that shows films after their first run, usually two back to back for a single ticket, with programs built around a director or an era. Pick a double bill from the schedule and settle in among local film fans. Japanese films are usually shown without English subtitles, so choose a foreign film in its original language or a screening marked with English subtitles.
Do
Compare the waters of five hot spring towns
These are five of Japan's best-known onsen towns: Kusatsu, Gero and Arima, the classic three, plus Beppu, which has more hot spring water than anywhere else in Japan, and Dogo, one of the oldest. Each has its own water and a landmark at its heart, from wooden channels of steaming water to a bathhouse where you are buried in warm sand. They are spread across Japan, so pick the one that fits your route; Arima is the closest, about an hour from Osaka.
Do
End your trip high above the city lights
Hakodate, Kobe and Nagasaki are known for Japan's three great night views, each seen from a mountaintop where you look down on a city spread between hills and sea. Ride up a little before sunset and watch the city slowly light up below you. Hakodate and Nagasaki are a flight away from Tokyo, while Kobe is close to Osaka, so it is the easiest one to fit into a trip.
Do
Soak in Japan's three classic hot spring towns
Kusatsu, Arima and Gero have been called Japan's three finest hot springs since the 1600s, and each town has public baths you can use on a day visit without staying overnight. The water is different in each: strongly acidic in Kusatsu, rust-brown and salty in Arima, smooth and alkaline in Gero. Arima is about an hour from Osaka, while Kusatsu and Gero are better with a night at a ryokan.
Do
Laugh along at an old-style comedy hall
A yose is a small theater for rakugo, comic storytelling in which one performer kneels on a cushion and plays every character with only a fan and a hand towel. Between the storytellers come comedy duos, magicians and paper-cutting artists who snip shapes on request, so the acts keep changing through the afternoon. Most of the talk is in Japanese, but the magic and paper-cutting need no words, and at many halls you can simply buy a ticket at the door.
Town
Kobe
An onsen town with gold and silver waters
Arima is one of Japan's oldest hot springs, written about in a chronicle from the year 720. Two kinds of water rise here, rust-brown kinsen ("gold water") and clear ginsen ("silver water"), and you can try both at the public bathhouses, which allow tattoos. It is about an hour from Osaka by bus, or 30 minutes from Kobe.
Do
Sip sake you can only get at the brewery
Some sake breweries run their own restaurants, where you can drink sake that is not sold anywhere else, with food made to go with it. Non-drinkers can tour the brewery, try sweets made from sake lees, the paste left after pressing, or simply enjoy the meal. All three here are an easy train ride from Tokyo or Osaka.

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