Kobe Matsuri
2,170 views · Published 19 May 2008 · 6:00 · Indexed 24 October 2026
Channel: BusanKevin · 2008 · Travel & Events
I'm in Kobe(神戸市) and it's time for the 38th Kobe Matsuri. Matsuri (祭) is Japanese for festival. Usually matsuris are sponsored by shrines or temples, but are now becoming more non-secular. The Kobe Matsuri seems to be a fairly "non-traditional" Japanese festival. Kobe is known as being an "international" city in Japan and the Kobe festival seems to be trying to capture that name. lots of world beat msic such as samba, jazz, rock, marching, traditional Japanese, etc. The size of this one-day festval really surprised me. the entire downtown core was shut down and it seemed that almost every street had some sort of event, concert or activity. I had a great time. I'm of course a Japan festival newb. Although I used to live in Asia for a long time, this type of festival was new to me and I really dug it. it was like being a kid in a candy store!
