Port of Kobe

In the 12th century, Taira no Kiyomori renovated the then Ōwada no Tomari (大輪田泊) and moved to Fukuhara (福原), the short-lived capital neighbouring the port.

In 1865, the Hyōgo Port Opening Demand Incident occurred, in which nine warships from Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States invaded the Hyōgo Port demanding its opening.

[1] The 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake diminished much of the port city's prominence when it destroyed and halted much of the facilities and services there, causing approximately ten trillion yen or $102.5 billion in damage, 2.5% of Japan's GDP at the time.

Most of the losses were uninsured, as only 3% of property in the Kobe area was covered by earthquake insurance, compared to 16% in Tokyo.

These cruises on the Sun Princess are a part of Princess Cruises $11 billion contributions to the entire country of Japan, where the ship will also sail from Otaru, Hokkaido, as it is currently based in Yokohama, Tokyo.