Cafeography
Kobe · Motomachi & Nankinmachi

Cafés in Motomachi & Nankinmachi

A 1.2 km arcade on the old Saigoku Kaidō, Nankinmachi's Chinese street and the shipping offices of Otsunaka-dōri.

Photo: Julien, Pexels License

Motomachi-dōri (元町通) took its name on 20 May 1874, the date its shopping street keeps as its birthday. It follows the old Saigoku Kaidō, the highway daimyo processions used in the Edo period, for about 1.2 km, with roughly 300 shops, more than 20 of them over a century old.1

Nankinmachi (南京町), Kobe's Chinatown, lies just south. Qing China had no treaty with Japan when the port opened, so Chinese residents could not live in the foreign settlement and opened shops on its western edge; the quarter now measures about 270 m east to west and 110 m north to south.2 Its marble Chōan-mon gate, completed in November 1985, was damaged in 1995 and rebuilt, and the Lunar New Year festival has run since 1987.2

Local tip: At JAMJAM, take a listening seat only if you plan to stay quiet; the conversation seats are set apart for talking.7

At a glance

114Cafés listed
9With opening hours
08:00Earliest opening
19:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: 元町サントス, from 08:00 (Daily 08:00–19:00).
  • Closes latest: School Bus Kobe, until 19:00 (Mon–Tue 10:00–19:00 · Thu–Sun 10:00–19:00).
  • Most common features: bakery café (4%), specialty (3%), takeaway (2%).

エビアンコーヒー

EVIAN COFFEE SHOP

  • 1 Chome-7-2 Motomachidori
  • Mon–Tue 08:30–18:30 · Thu–Sat 08:30–18:30 · Sun 09:00–18:00
  • +81783313265
  • Takeaway
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スパーク

  • 中央区中山手通4丁目18-21 エリア: 神戸元町 トアロード
  • Wed–Sun 10:00–17:00
  • 078-855-9045
Map WebsiteIs this you?Report

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Coffee chains in Motomachi & Nankinmachi

The arcade and its old shops

The road was widened in 1894 and paved in 1913, possibly Japan's first full asphalt paving. Lily-of-the-valley street lamps went up in 1926 and the arcade roof from 1953.1 Shibata Otokichi's tailoring house, founded in 1883, is counted as the first tailor in Japan run by a Japanese owner.1

Hōkōdō and the arcade kissaten

Hōkōdō Coffee (放香堂加琲) at Motomachi-dōri 3-10-6 belongs to the tea house that began importing coffee to Kobe in 1874, and grinds its beans on a stone mill; it opens 09:00–18:00 with irregular closing days.3 In 2023 a stone-ground coffee cost ¥500, ¥110 more for a pot of about two cups, and thick Danish toast with a drink ¥640.4

Motomachi Santos (元町サントス) at 2-3-12 has served charcoal-roasted coffee on the arcade since 1960 for Hagiwara Coffee, a roaster and wholesaler founded in 1928.4 Its room has barely changed since opening; in 2023 a coffee cost ¥450 and a hotcake set with butter ¥900, and it opened 08:00–19:00 every day.4

Otsunaka-dōri and Sakaemachi

South of the arcade, Otsunaka-dōri (乙仲通) runs about 800 m east to west near Nankinmachi. Trading houses and the shipping-cargo agents known as otsunaka once lined it; when its offices emptied, handmade clothing shops, galleries and cafés moved in.5

Alliance Graphique, on the ground floor of the Kaigan Building, is a café in a converted warehouse furnished with French antiques; in 2020 it was open 11:30–23:00.6 Nearby on Sakaemachi-dōri are Jazz&Coffee M&M at 2-7-3, Voice of Coffee at 3-1-17 and Hatoya Kissaten at 5-2-9.

Jazz kissa and roasters

JAMJAM, a jazz kissa in the basement of the New Moto Building at Motomachi-dōri 1-7-2, moved here from Sakaemachi-dōri and reopened on 14 September 2000 after the earthquake. It holds about 5,000 records, divides listening seats from conversation seats, bans smoking throughout and opens 12:00–22:00.7

Evian Coffee shares the address and opens at 08:30 most days and 09:00 on Sundays. Newer roasters are close by: Beans Coffee Roaster at 1-9-5, Coffee Labo Frank upstairs at 3-3-2, and Y's Coffee Roaster & Baked Shop in Hanakuma-chō.

Sources

  1. 神戸元町商店街とは, 神戸元町商店街連合会, accessed October 2026
  2. 南京町について, 南京町商店街振興組合, accessed October 2026
  3. 放香堂加琲, 放香堂 (official site), accessed October 2026
  4. 神戸で巡りたい喫茶店6選。レトロな空間と、まちの文化を体感, OnTrip JAL (August 31, 2023), accessed October 2026
  5. 地域情報スクエア：神戸・乙仲通り（神戸運輸監理部）, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, mail magazine no. 762 (November 8, 2011), accessed October 2026
  6. 神戸・乙仲通のおしゃれな雑貨店・カフェ, Rurubu & more (updated January 26, 2020), accessed October 2026
  7. JAMJAM, JAZZ TOWN KOBE, accessed October 2026
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In Motomachi & Nankinmachi, also browse: Specialty coffee Bakery cafés

FAQ

Motomachi & Nankinmachi cafés: questions

When did the Motomachi shopping street in Kobe get its name?

The street was renamed Motomachi-dōri on 20 May 1874, the date the shopping street keeps as its anniversary. It follows the old Saigoku Kaidō for about 1.2 km, has roughly 300 shops and has had an arcade roof since 1953.

Where can you drink stone-ground coffee in Motomachi, Kobe?

Hōkōdō Coffee at Motomachi-dōri 3-10-6 grinds its beans on a stone mill. It belongs to the tea house that began importing coffee to Kobe in 1874. In 2023 a stone-ground coffee cost ¥500, plus ¥110 for a pot, and it opens 09:00–18:00 with irregular closing days.

What is Otsunaka-dōri in Kobe's Motomachi?

Otsunaka-dōri is a street of about 800 m south of the Motomachi arcade, near Nankinmachi. Trading houses and shipping-cargo agents called otsunaka once filled its buildings; today handmade clothing shops, galleries and cafés such as Alliance Graphique, in a converted warehouse, occupy the old offices.

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