Rokko Mountain and Osaka Bay looming over the city of Kobe
Chuo-ku, Kobe City
The city of Kobe has developed in the landscape between Mount Rokko and Osaka Bay.
The center of the city of Kobe is Sannomiya in Chuo Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture.
Walking uptown from Sannomiya and entering the foot of Mt. Rokko, you will soon reach a place called Nunobiki.
Famous Waterfall: Nunobiki Waterfall
Nunobiki Amusement Park
Nunobiki Waterfall
There are several waterfalls in this Nunobiki area, and the whole area is a park.
In order of greatest to least, they are Ontaki (Male Falls), Mentaki (Female Falls), Tsutsumidaki (Drum Falls), and Meoto Falls (Married Couple Falls).
Otaki Fall is 43 meters high.
Tea store at the foot of the waterfall, established 110 years ago
Inside Ontaki Tea House
This place is also the entrance to climbing Mt. Rokko and is crowded with climbers on holidays.
Ontaki Tea House is located near this Nunobiki-no-Otaki waterfall and will be 110 years old in 2025.
It is still crowded with tourists, hikers, and daily walkers.
15 min. walk from Shinkansen Shin-Kobe Station
Only one house remains, facing the waterfall
Google Map
From the ropeway
From Shin-Kobe Station, visitors can walk along a well-maintained trail to the Mentaki and Ontaki.
It is rare to find a place where you can experience the magnificent nature right after getting off the Shinkansen station.
You can enjoy the unique environment of Kobe, where the sea, mountains, and the city are all in close proximity to each other.
Nunobikino Falls can be reached by walking along a well-maintained trail.
In the past, there were many teahouses along the trail.
Today, however, due to the diversification of leisure activities, there is only one Ontaki teahouse.
Tourist attraction since the Heian Period
Ukiyoe artist of the Edo period, Hiroshige Utagawa
A teahouse is also depicted
Hiroshige Utagawa (1797-1858)
Nunobikinotaki Waterfall, Settsu, Honcho Meisho
Nunobiki Falls was a tourist destination for Heian aristocrats in Kyoto more than 800 years ago.
Since then, many waka poems were composed about Nunobikinotaki Falls.
In 1872, when the area was developed as a park, 36 poems were inscribed on 36 stone monuments and placed along the walking trail.
They can still be seen today.
Hiroshige Utagawa, an ukiyoe artist of the Edo period (1603-1868), also depicted Nunobikino-taki Falls as one of the most famous waterfalls.
From the shape of the waterfall, it appears to be a male waterfall.
He also painted a teahouse around the current Ontaki teahouse.
It is clear that there was some kind of teahouse in the area from that time.
Ei Kawanishi, Printmaker, 1934
Kawanishi “Kobe Hyakkei” (23) Nunobiki Yutaki, 1935 (Photo : Kobe City Museum / DNPartcom)
Ei Kawanishi, who left many prints of tourist attractions in Kobe in the early Showa period, also took up Otaki.
The building on the left is the current Ontaki teahouse.
It still looks almost exactly as it did 90 years ago.
Nunobiki Amusement Park opens in 1872
View of the coast from Nunobikitaki Falls, Kobe, Sesshu, painted by Sadanobu Hasegawa II, ca. 1874 (Kobe City Museum) Photo : Kobe City Museum / DNPartcom
Nunobiki became a park at the beginning of the Meiji Era.
When there were no parks in Japan, the first park in Japan was established at this time, learning from the Westerners who came to Kobe to trade.
It is still called Nunobiki Amusement Park today, a remnant of the time when there were no parks in Japan.
In the Meiji 10’s, there were about 30 tea stores and other stores.
Nunobikitaki Waterfall, Settsu Province (Meiji 10’s or so); original provided by Yasuo Maeda, coloring
by Kaoru Koshiro Architectural Office
This is a view of Nunobiki Amusement Park in the Meiji 10s.
Many tea stores stand overhanging the slope.
The area below the print is today’s Shinkansen Shin-Kobe Station.
Where tea stores have been operated for generations since the Edo period
Nunobikitaki Waterfall
Photo: Nunobiki Amusement Park
Yokohama Port Opening Museum
Only one of them has survived to the present day. That is the Ontaki teahouse.
The location of the Ontaki teahouse is depicted as a “former teahouse.
Ontaki teahouse was founded in 1914, but this location indicates that the teahouse has been in business for generations before that.
This is a picture of the area where the pond was located in the print earlier. This is the area around the current Tokkoin temple gate.
You can faintly see the Shinseida River and the coastline in the upper part of the photo.
At that time, it was a popular spot from which one could enjoy a panoramic view of Osaka Bay.
Nowadays, the area is overgrown with trees and skyscrapers, and such a view is no longer possible.
For details, see the Kobe City History of Life and Culture
2023 Recognized as Kobe Historical Heritage
Kaoru Koshiro, “Nunobiki, Suwasan Amusement Park, etc. (History of Amusement Parks),” Shinshu Kobe City History – Life and Culture Edition, March 2020.
Kobe City “Kobe Historical Heritage” Recognition Overview
For those who want to know more about the history of Nunobiki Amusement Park, please read the Kobe City History of Life and Culture.
Modern mountain climbing in Japan began at Mt. Nunobiki is the place where it all began.
Ontaki Teahouse has witnessed the rise of such a hiking culture.
The traditional Japanese style of enjoying nature, where one can eat and drink while admiring the scenic beauty of the area, has been carried on at the Japanese-style teahouse.
In 2023, the teahouse was officially recognized as a “Kobe Historical Heritage Site” in recognition of its historical value.
Creating the landscape of Kobe, a city of sea and mountains
〜Citizens, private companies, government, and universities join forces to promote～
Kobe Nunobiki Ontaki Tea House Preservation Society established
Kobe Nunobiki Ontaki Tea House Preservation Society WEB site
Search by “ontaki.jp”!
Photo: Kaoru Koshiro Architect Office
The application for “Kobe Historical Heritage” was made by the Preservation Society, an intermediary organization established by volunteers in 2010.
Members include university faculty, railroads, newspaper companies, and civic groups involved in Nunobiki, and they hold liaison discussions.
Its mission is to create a landscape unique to Kobe and to share it with the world.
Taisho Era buildings remain
Entrance, sitting room, wet edge
Right photo: Courtesy of Ontaki Chaya Yamaguchi
Drawing: Kaoru Koshiro Architect Office
This is a comparison with the Taisho era. The area around the waterfall viewing area remains as it was in the Taisho era.
The reason why there is a gate in the middle of the trail is because this is not a park but private property.
This is a special form of parkland before parks were established in Japan.
This is a floor plan of Ontaki Tea House. Currently, only building #12 is open to customers.
Building No. 7 is the kitchen, and behind it is the spacious building No. 8.
This used to be a tatami room for guests, and the entrance, front room, tatami room, and wet-edge still remain.
The entrance is accessed by a staircase made of fake rock. This was the climbing route in those days.
Taisho Era Ontaki Tea House
Right photo: Courtesy of Ontaki Chaya Yamaguchi
The photo on the left was taken from the wet edge of the Taisho era.
This is a better view of the waterfall from the front.
It was closed before the war, but is scheduled to be opened during the upcoming renovation.
The photo on the left is a family photo taken in front of the gate. The same building can be seen in the background.
There is also a teahouse at Mentaki (Female Waterfall)
A view of Mentaki in the Meiji era
Mentaki after the Showa Period
Both courtesy of Kobe City Archives
This is a view of the teahouse in Hetaki near Shin-Kobe Station.
The left photo is from the Meiji era and the right photo is from the 1960s.
You can see how a bridge was built near the waterfall to serve as a teahouse.
Aqueduct in the Meiji era (Currently under preparation for lighting up at night)
Tea stalls increase along with the hiking culture
THE KOBE WALKING SOCIETY’S SKETCH MAP OF HILLS BEHIND KOBE
Kobe Walking Society, 1914 (Courtesy of Kobe City Archives)
Just outside of Shin-Kobe Station is an aqueduct built in the Meiji era.
It is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.
At that time, there was a photo studio at the foot of the bridge, and this bridge was used as a backdrop.
With the rise of hiking culture in the Taisho era (1912-1926), these teahouses spread throughout Mt. Rokko.
We can confirm that by the prewar period, nearly 100 teahouses had been established throughout Mt. Rokko.
The illustration is a map of mountain trails made by the first mountaineering club in Kobe.
During the Taisho era, when Kobe’s population grew rapidly, more than a hundred groups were formed on the mountain again alone.
Zensuke Tea House in 1927
Left: Zensuke Teahouse, photo attached to the first signature book of the Kobe Walking Association, estimated around 1913
Right: At a table at the south end of the veranda of Zensuke Chaya, estimated around 1927
Zensuke Chaya, the birthplace of the Mainichi Mountaineering Club 1978
Diamond Mountaineering Club of Japan
From the advertisement column, 1929, courtesy of Kobe City Archives
This is a photo of one of the few remaining mountaineering groups to date, the Chickadee Mountaineering Club.
These mountaineering groups have contributed to the environmental maintenance of Mt. Rokko through cleaning up the mountain, maintaining trails, and planting trees.
The terrace seating against the backdrop of ornamental trees is impressive as people enjoy eating and drinking amidst the view and nature.
Ikuta River system connecting mountains, city center, and ocean
Map of water systems
If you walk upstream through the Ikuta water system where Nunobiki is located, you will find a pleasant trail leading upstream, and near the source of the water, it becomes a nature conservation area.
If you walk downstream, you will pass through Sannomiya in the heart of the city and end up at the waterfront, where ocean cruising is also possible.
Nunobiki Amusement Park can be regarded as an important base of the Ikuta River system that connects the mountains, central Tokyo’s Sannomiya, and the sea.
Trees are being planted by local volunteers
Left: Koshiro Laboratory, Kobe University
Right: Association for Appreciation of Nunobiki-no-Taki Waterfall
Cherry trees were planted by citizens’ groups and mountaineering groups to restore the atmosphere of the former Nunobiki Amusement Park.
Cleanup activities are conducted three times a month by the Chiyoko Mountaineering Club.
Request for donations
Due to its deterioration, Ontaki Chaya needs preservation and renovation work.
The renovation plan is to reinforce the building against earthquakes while preserving the atmosphere of the time, and to reuse as many of the original materials as possible.
We hope that it will become a cultural asset that will convey Kobe’s geographical characteristics and historical culture for all eternity.
If you would like to donate, please follow the procedure from the link below.
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