Hiya, I’m planning to move from Kyoto to Kobe for work. Where’s a good place to live? We’re a family with a dog and want a house not an apartment. Work is near Sannomiya.
I was thinking about Suma because of the beach. But maybe it’s too far for wifey to commute to Osaka?
Any ideas are welcome!
Cheers
m
12 comments
Hi there! I’m living in Suma at the moment and i totally recommend this place! It’s quiet, fairly cheap, there’s the beach nearby, the aquarium (though they’re renewing it now), you can take any train (普通、快速、新快速) and there’s a Mister Donuts next to the station! Special mention to Hansen’s famous coppe pan shop.
However, it’s indeed far from Osaka so i can also recommend Nishinomiya (there’s a huge shopping mall called Nishinomiya Gardens) or Amagasaki. Hope this helped!
Kobe’s a nice place. Does it have to be Kobe? I mean, if you work in Sannomiya and your wife in Osaka, then I would recommend either Nishinomiya Kitaguchi (Hankyu line) or perhaps JR Ashiya. Both places are on super convenient express train stops, both have great shopping options (especially Nishinomiya Kitaguchi) and they are located about equidistantly between Kobe and Osaka. Nishinomiya Kitaguchi is regarded as one of the best places to raise a family in the Kansai region.
If you really prefer Kobe then I would recommend the underrated JR Sumiyoshi.
If living in a house is a priority then perhaps Hankyu Rokko or JR Rokkomichi.
I would love to hear others chime in on this because I’m thinking of making a move to Kobe or nearby cities soon too.
If your wife working Osaka, then for her sake live in sumiyoshi or nishinomiya. Don’t go to suma. Lots of yankees.
Hello, Kobe resident here, it’s a great city and I am sure you will love it.
* Higashi Nada-Ku = Posh, basically Ashiya. Expensive but nice, I lived up in the hills above Mikage when I was at university.
* Nada-Ku = Slightly more affordable than Higashinada, still very liveable, good schools.
* Chuo-Ku = I live here! City centre, easy access to Sannomiya and all the fun stuff, a little rough around the edges though. Great if you are single or a couple, maybe just a bit too popping for family life.
* Hyogo-Ku = Avoid, especially the Shinkaichi area, bit of a slum. Lots of prostitution and strange Oyaji drinking in the streets.
* Nagata-Ku = Nice, very affordable, easy to live in. Areas that border on Hyogo are still a little bit rough.
* Suma-Ku = As you’ve said, beach life! It’s great over there. Good shops and fairly affordable if a little far from Osaka.
* Kita-Ku = Up in the mountains! I am a big smelly mountain man and really want to live here if I secure a fully remote job. Spend my evenings and weekends up in the Rokko mountains. Big disadvantage is having to take the Kobe Dentetsu into town and then do a full commute from Sannomiya. Easy access to Arima if Onsen is your thing.
* Tarumi-Ku = The burbs, cheap and kinda far from everything, not to my tastes but I know a few residents that love it, quite peaceful and has its own demi-small town identity
* Nishi-Ku = The only part of the city I have never entered. There isn’t a lot up there, it’s quite rural. The difference to the city centre seems quite dramatic.
Another good rule of thumb is the closer to the sea you are; the cheaper, friendlier and slightly grungier it gets. Mountain side is posh folks that drive BMWs and look down on everyone. Living around the JR line is maybe a nice balance.
Hit me with any burning questions, the city rocks and I am actually building a subreddit, r/Kobe, for it at the moment.
If you live west of sannomiya and don’t live right next to a station getting anywhere without a car is a nightmare. East of Sannomiya has way more buses. Either way anywhere you live in kobe I recommend getting an ebike or two.
I used to live in Kitano and loved it. If you go a little further north that way I think a house might be possible. I also used to commute to Osaka and would not recommend it from any further west than Kobe station.
If you can afford the higher land price, Toyonaka, Itami, Takarazuka, Amagasaki, Nishinomiya or even Ashiya are the way to go.
If you can not afford it, then west of Sanda, east of Higashiosaka or north of Kawanishi are the areas you want to look at.
Hankyu Mikage, Ashiya, okamoto are all very nice but rent/housing is expensive, especially if the place is newer.
If the wife doesn’t mind a bit longer commute Akashi is nice as well, especially if you want some access to a beach…it’s cleaner than suma as well.
Hanshin Uchide/Ashiya also nice with easy access to Osaka as well as the the beach for your dog (but I wouldn’t want to swim there).
Sannomiya of course is nice but quite a bit busier than the above places.
Do you have a car? Will you be driving a lot? In that case, I’d recommend somewhere west along the subway line, between Sogoundokoen and Seishin Chuo up in the mountains. Your wife can take the subway to Sannomiya and then transfer to an express train to Osaka. You’re more likely to find larger detached houses with their own parking space. If you were to live somewhere in the thick of the city, your options would probably be a 3 story, very narrow house where the first story is almost entirely garage space or a really old house that you’d have to tear down first then rebuild.
If you need faster access to Osaka, I’d say look for a place as close to possible to Kobe Station. It has JR, Hankyu, and Hanshin access. You’re also close enough to Meriken Park so you can walk your dog. Again, though, I think you’d be sacrificing space for convenience.
It also depends if you have a car or not.
I wouldn’t advise higher than Rokko if you don’t have any. I used to go from Rokkomichi to Rokko, with my stroller full of groceries and it was tough…
Rokko is nice because you can go anywhere with the Hankyu, and the zoo is your annex garden. Sannomiya 3 stations.
From Rokkomichi I could take my kids to the beach.
Kobe is a nice place to live, kids friendly, many things to do.
I think you will get better value with a place on the Hanshin Line. Maybe around Mikage would be good if your wife has to change trains at Umeda in any case.
Ashiya, 15 mins to Osaka, 45 to Kyoto and less than 10 to Sannomiya by shinkaisoku (less than 30 to Suma by kaisoku). Dog friendly, 3 train lines, good restaurants, decent supermarkets, the best German bakery in Kansai, besides other great bakeries with real bread. There are 3 Napoli oven pizza places all within 10 minutes from the city center. Bike paths, small festivals (Jazz festival, cherry blossom, the usual summer), close to a nice waterfront, 2 public pools to choose from,
Besides, it’s a beautiful little walkable city and has what few other places in this country do, zoning laws. Might cost a little more.
Ashiya is nice . Akashi better but far from Osaka I guess