Meriken Park & Kobe Port Tower

神戸ポートタワー（メリケンパーク）

The red hourglass tower and the harbourside park that define Kobe

Hours

9am–11pm (last entry 10:30pm); closes for maintenance and private events

Tickets

Observation floors + rooftop: adults ¥1,200, ages 6–15 ¥500. Observation only: ¥1,000 / ¥400. Preschoolers free. Park free

Address

5-5 Hatoba-cho, Chuo-ku

A 108 m lattice of red pipes pinched in the middle like a drum, Port Tower has been the face of Kobe harbour since 1963, and it reopened in 2024 after a long refit. From the observation floors the Rokko ridge, the port and the Harborland Ferris wheel sit in one frame; the new rooftop deck puts you out in the wind with no glass. Down in Meriken Park you get the white-netted Maritime Museum, the "BE KOBE" letters, and a stretch of quay left broken exactly as the 1995 earthquake left it.