A salad bowl, Kitano.

Although it's not well known, Kobe is actually a "multireligious symbiosis city", which can't be found in other places or countries.

In 1868, with the opening of Kobe port, the number of foreigners increased, and many of them began to live in Zakkyochi* in Kobe.

Since many people from overseas lived in Zakkyochi, it was essential to construct the places where they could pray.

In the Yamamoto area, a famous tourist spot in Kitano, there are more than 10 religious facilities within a 10-minute walk, including such a Japanese shrine, a Chinese temple, a Catholic church, a Protestant church, a mosque, a synagogue, and the only Jain temple in Japan, etc.

Kitano is a precious example of a city where people of various faiths have coexisted without any conflicts for a long time and developed as a city.

This was made possible because of the Japanese religious view of polytheistic beliefs, as in Japan there is a phrase "Yaorozu no kami (eight million gods)", which means all things have a spirit.

An example of this is the "Kitano International Festival". This festival is held at the Kitano Tenman Shrine in Kitano, where people of all religions gather to pray, eat, and socialize freely.

Although the shrine has suffered great hardships in the past, such as the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, it has continued to the present day the festival based on the concept of "mutual understanding among all religions" and "international exchange".

 

*An area where Japanese and immigrants from overseas lived together in a mixed community in Kobe.