Cafeography
Kobe · Kyū-kyoryūchi

Cafés in Kyū-kyoryūchi

The 1868 settlement grid: an 1880 consulate turned tea salon, a 1929 bank in Daimaru, and Luminarie in winter.

Photo: Chen Te, Pexels License

Kyū-kyoryūchi (旧居留地, the former foreign settlement) was planned by the British engineer J. W. Hart with grid streets, street trees, parks, streetlights and sewers, in 126 lots that still shape the district. Land was auctioned four times between 1868 and 1873, and the settlement council ran roads, lighting and its own police until the district was handed back to Japan on 17 July 1899.1

Air raids on 5 June 1945 destroyed about 70% of its buildings, and head offices drifted to Tokyo during the boom decades. Around 1980 the old Western buildings found new value, and boutiques, cafés and restaurants moved in; Kobe made it a townscape formation area in 1983.1

Local tip: Salon15's upstairs salon takes its last food orders at 19:00 and drinks at 19:30, so arrive by late afternoon for its afternoon tea.5

At a glance

23Cafés listed
2With opening hours
09:45Earliest opening
21:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: カフェラ 大丸神戸店, from 09:45 (Daily 09:45–21:00).
  • Most listed streets: 大丸神戸店 (2).
  • Most common features: bakery café (4%).

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Coffee chains in Kyū-kyoryūchi

Getting to the settlement

The settlement covered about 25.8 ha between the old Ikuta River, now Flower Road, on the east and the Koikawa, now Koikawa-suji, on the west, with the sea to the south. Eight streets ran north to south and five east to west, with carriageways separated from sidewalks.2 Kyūkyoryūchi-Daimarumae Station on the Kaigan subway line opened on 7 July 2001; of its four exits, exit 1 leads straight into Daimaru Kobe.3

Building No. 15, now a tea salon

Building No. 15 (旧居留地十五番館), completed around 1880, is the only building left from the settlement era. It was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1989, collapsed in the 1995 earthquake and was rebuilt by April 1998.1 The timber-framed brick house reused about 70% of its salvaged materials and now stands on a seismic isolation base; the building-materials firm Nozawa, which bought it in 1966, had its head office here until 1990.4

It served as the United States consulate for about ten years from 1891. Today Salon15 Tooth Tooth runs a patisserie and tea shop downstairs and a salon upstairs, with afternoon tea paired with black tea, 11:00–20:00.5

The 1995 earthquake damaged 106 buildings in the district and 22 were demolished, among them the Daikō Building of 1919 and the Meikai Building of 1921. By 2002, 20 of those sites had been rebuilt, many with shops and restaurants on the first two floors.1

The 1929 bank and Daimaru

Building 38 (旧居留地38番館) was designed by William Merrell Vories for Citibank's Kobe branch and completed in 1929; Daimaru owns it and uses it as part of the Daimaru Kobe store.6 Pâtisserie Tooth Tooth's Salon de Terrace is on its fourth floor.

Inside Daimaru, Caffera opens 09:45–21:00, and Eikokuya, Rankan and the Kyoto sweets house Bunnosuke Chaya have tea rooms. Around the store, Ch Tea Room and Yurt are on Edomachi, Carta in the OTC building on Kyōmachi, and Rough Rare at Akashimachi 18-2.

Luminarie in winter

Kobe Luminarie began as a prayer for the victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and for the city's recovery. Its 31st edition ran from 30 January to 8 February 2026 in Higashi Yūenchi, the former settlement and Meriken Park, lit from dusk to 21:30. The settlement venue was free; part of Meriken Park cost ¥500–1,500.7

Sources

  1. 神戸旧居留地の歴史, 旧居留地連絡協議会 (Kobe Former Foreign Settlement council), accessed October 2026
  2. 神戸外国人居留地, Wikipedia (Japanese), accessed October 2026
  3. 旧居留地・大丸前駅, Wikipedia (Japanese), accessed October 2026
  4. 旧居留地十五番館、震災から3年3カ月で復原, Kobe Shimbun NEXT (January 17, 2014), accessed October 2026
  5. Salon15 TOOTH TOOTH 旧神戸居留地十五番館, TOOTH TOOTH (official site), accessed October 2026
  6. 旧居留地38番館, Wikipedia (Japanese), accessed October 2026
  7. 「第31回神戸ルミナリエ」の開催, Hyogo Prefecture press release (December 22, 2025), accessed October 2026
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In Kyū-kyoryūchi, also browse: Bakery cafés

FAQ

Kyū-kyoryūchi cafés: questions

What is Building No. 15 in Kobe's former foreign settlement?

Building No. 15 is a timber-framed brick house completed around 1880, the only building left from the settlement era and the United States consulate for about ten years from 1891. It collapsed in the 1995 earthquake and was rebuilt by April 1998. Salon15 Tooth Tooth now runs a patisserie and tea salon inside.

How do you get to Kyū-kyoryūchi in Kobe by subway?

Take the Kaigan subway line to Kyūkyoryūchi-Daimarumae Station, which opened on 7 July 2001. It has four exits, and exit 1 leads straight into Daimaru Kobe, whose annex is the 1929 Building 38. The settlement grid lies between Flower Road and Koikawa-suji.

When is Kobe Luminarie held in the former foreign settlement?

The 31st Kobe Luminarie ran from 30 January to 8 February 2026, lit from dusk to 21:30, in Higashi Yūenchi, the former foreign settlement and Meriken Park. The settlement venue is free. The festival began as a prayer for the victims of the 1995 earthquake.

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