How to reach Kobe and Kobe University
Most of you will stay in Sannomiya, the city centre of Kobe. The venue of the conference, Kobe University, is located on a hill, about 5 km north-east of Sannomiya.
Directions from other Japanese cities and airports to Sannomiya and on to Kobe University are explained on the university web page: please consult there for further details. Here only the key points are described.
1. Arriving in Kobe from abroad
- There are Coaches from the airport every 15-30 min to Sannomiya (65-75min)
(Click #5 for timetable and fees)
- Renting a car is not recommended. Parking in Kobe is very expensive and parking inside Kobe University is restricted.
- If that is not possible, you will need to take a train from Narita to Kobe via Tokyo (about 650km, 4-4.5 hours total - still relatively simple) or move to Tokyo International Airport ("Haneda" airport, mostly for domestic flights) to Osaka international airport (quite complicated: not recommended unless the domestic flight Haneda-Osaka is included without surcharge).
2. From Sannomiya to the conference site at Kobe University
There are three main lines from Sannomiya, but either JR or Hankyu is the most convenient to the university
A) Take Hankyu Railway from Hankyu Sannomiya station (Hankyu guide in pdf) to Rokko Station in the direction of Osaka Umeda. Then take city bus service (green) number 36. The bus stop at the Rokko station is located on the hillside. See also the bottom of this page)
B) Take Japan Railway (JR) from Sannomiya station to Rokko-michi station, in the direction of Osaka. The local and rapid service stops at Rokko-michi (second and first station, respectively), while the "special rapid" service does not. After that, take the city bus service number 36. The bus stop at Rokko-michi Station is located on the north = hillside, see also the bottom of this page).
Once you take bus no. 36, get off at the "Shindai-BunriNougakubu-Mae" bus stop, the third stop from Hankyu, which is indicated at the middle of campus map . The building number 32 in the map, in the direction of downhill, is the conference site, the Rokko Hall.
Note that you need to a buy ticket to take train and pay 200yen for bus, separately. You might consider buying a rechargeable smart card ICOCA available on ticket vending machine at JR stations (ex. Sannomiya JR station). It is 2000 yen with 500 yen deposit, which will be returned when you give it back to ticket vending counters at JR west stations. It works similarly as the Oyster Card in London, although there is no reduction in fare. You can take almost all the public transportation media in Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe) area by touching the reader at the gate (train) or when getting off (bus). More information on ICOCA, see a Wikipedia entry or a page by JR group in Japan .
Weather in July
The weather in most parts of Japan in summer is very hot and humid due to monsoons from the south. Despite that, it is not very rainy: 5 out of 7 days are fine on average in Kobe. When it rains, however, it ican be quite strong.
Kobe is at 34°41'N, which is as far south as Los Angeles, Atlanta or Cyprus.
Temperature: High: 28-33°C, Low: 24-27°C
Carrying a small umbrella is recommended. A compact, foldable one is often available at convenience stores for less than 1000 yen.
Tourist information
Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) : General introductions about traveling and sightseeing in Japan and an explanation of the transportation system. Available in a variety of major languages.
Japan-guide.com :Plenty of practical information including the transportation network.
