What's on in Kobe, Japan through the year

Peak crowds — Kobe Luminarie, Winter break (fuyuyasumi) in Japan

• Festival

  Kobe Luminarie

  25 Jan – 10 Feb · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The light memorial for the 1995 earthquake, which moved out of December in recent years and now runs for about ten nights at the turn of January into February across Meriken Park and the old settlement. Source ↗

Still on: Nada sake brewing season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Kobe Luminarie, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Kobe Luminarie (25 Jan – 10 Feb (usually)), Nada sake brewing season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Cherry blossom, Spring break (haruyasumi) in Japan

• Nature

  Cherry blossom

  28 Mar – 10 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  The river banks at Shukugawa and the slope up to Nunobiki carry most of it. Kobe opens a few days after Kyoto and holds it a little longer, being on the water.

Still on: Nada sake brewing season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Cherry blossom, Spring break (haruyasumi) in Japan

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Cherry blossom (28 Mar – 10 Apr (usually))

Busy — Golden Week in Japan

Nothing new starts in May.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Tsuyu rain season

  5 Jun – 20 Jul · usuallyMonsoon

  Six weeks of the rain front. The city is built on a slope between the mountains and the port, so the cloud sits on Rokko and the harbour view goes for days at a time.

Busy — Summer break (natsuyasumi) in Japan, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Tsuyu rain season (5 Jun – 20 Jul (usually))

Busy — Summer break (natsuyasumi) in Japan, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Typhoon season

  1 Aug – 30 Sep · usuallyClosures

  Osaka Bay funnels the surge, and the airport and the port road are what close first. It costs a travel day rather than a trip, but pick which day you take the shinkansen. Source ↗

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Typhoon season (1 Aug – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Nada sake brewing season

  1 Oct – 31 Mar · usuallyHarvest

  The Nada breweries press through the cold half of the year, which is when the tasting rooms east of the centre pour the unpasteurised new sake they cannot ship.

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Nature

  Autumn colour at Arima and Rokko

  5 Nov – 5 Dec · usually

  It starts on top of Rokko in early November and reaches the Arima valley on the far side about three weeks later. The ropeway queues at weekends for the whole of that run.

Still on: Nada sake brewing season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Winter break (fuyuyasumi) in Japan, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Nada sake brewing season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)), Autumn colour at Arima and Rokko (5 Nov – 5 Dec (usually))