It is located in the Kansai region, which makes up the southern side of the main island of Honshū, on the north shore of Osaka Bay.

The earliest written records regarding the region come from the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201.

Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has retained its cosmopolitan character ever since with a rich architectural heritage dating back to the Meiji era.

[7] Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Kobe Steel, while over 100 international corporations have their Asian or Japanese headquarters in the city, including Eli Lilly and Company, Procter & Gamble, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Nestlé.

Tools found in western Kobe demonstrate the area was populated at least from the Jōmon period.

[10] The natural geography of the area, particularly of Wada Cape in Hyōgo-ku, led to the development of a port, which would remain the economic center of the city.

[11] Some of the earliest written documents mentioning the region include the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201.

[4][10] The city was briefly the capital of Japan in 1180, when Taira no Kiyomori moved his grandson Emperor Antoku to Fukuhara-kyō in present-day Hyōgo-ku.

Hyōgo Port was opened to foreign trade by the Shogunal government at the same time as Osaka on January 1, 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration.

[14] At the time of the opening of the city for foreign trade, the area saw intense fighting resulting from the civil war in progress.

The region has since been identified with the West and many foreign residences from the period remain in Kobe's Kitano area.

[5][6] During World War II, Kobe was lightly bombed in the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942, along with Tokyo and a few other cities.

Other adjacent cities include Takarazuka and Nishinomiya to the east and Sanda and Miki to the north.

In terms of numbers of employees, food products, small appliances, and transportation equipment make up the three largest sectors.

[33][34] Japanese companies which have their headquarters in Kobe include ASICS, a shoe manufacturer; Daiei, a department store chain; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co., Kinki Sharyo, Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (ship manufacturer), Mitsubishi Electric, Kobe Steel, Sumitomo Rubber Industries,[35] Sysmex Corporation (medical devices manufacturer)[36] and TOA Corporation.

Other companies include the confectionery manufacturers Konigs-Krone and Morozoff Ltd., Sun Television Japan and UCC Ueshima Coffee Co.

[8] Some prominent corporations include Eli Lilly and Company, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble,[37] Tempur-Pedic, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Toys "R" Us.

Sub Area Activity Hanshin of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces provides monitoring across Osaka Bay and Harima Sea.

The city of Kobe directly administers 169 elementary and 81 middle schools, with enrollments of approximately 80,200 and 36,000 students, respectively.

International schools serve both long-term foreign residents and expatriates living in Kobe and the Kansai region.

The city is widely associated with cosmopolitanism and fashion, encapsulated in the Japanese saying, "If you can't go to Paris, go to Kobe.

[52] It also hosts both a Festival, as well as a statue of Elvis Presley, the unveiling of which was heralded by the presence of former Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi.

Kobe is well known in Japan as being a city for the affluent, as many high-end stores and mansions line its streets.

[54] The city hosts the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club, founded in 1870 by Alexander Cameron Sim,[55] and a prominent foreign cemetery.

A number of Western-style residences – ijinkan (異人館) – from the 19th century still stand in Kitano and elsewhere in Kobe.

The city headquarters the professional wrestling promotion Dragongate, established in 2004 as an offshoot of Último Dragón's original Toryumon system.