Sorakuen Garden

相楽園

A pond garden and a Western mansion side by side downtown

⚠ Closed Thursdays

Hours

9am–5pm (last entry 4:30pm); closed Thursdays (next day if a holiday) and 29 Dec–3 Jan

Tickets

Adults (15+) ¥300, ages 6–14 ¥150

Address

5-3-1 Nakayamate-dori, Chuo-ku

The garden of the Kodera family, whose head was mayor of Kobe in the Meiji era, now run by the city. It's a pond-circuit Japanese garden, but one corner holds a wooden Western house moved from the old foreign settlement (the former Hassam House) and the roofed cabin of a lord's river barge (the funayakata), which gives the place an odd, pleasing mix. A grove of huge cycads by the entrance is its signature. Few tourists come, so it's quiet, and best in autumn colour or the spring azaleas.