Photo: Wikimedia contributor / CC BY-SA 4.0Chinese merchants arrived with the Western trading houses in 1868 but were not covered by the treaties, so they settled immediately west of the foreign quarter. That exclusion produced Japan's most concentrated Chinatown: essentially one street and a square, packed with street food.
Roushouki has made one item since 1915 — butaman pork buns, small enough that three is a normal order — and the queue is permanent and fast. Yokohama's Chinatown is bigger and Nagasaki's is older, but Kobe's is the one you eat your way along.
Five things the plaques won't tell you
- Do not sit down. The restaurants are fine; the street is better.
- Roushouki's queue looks long and moves in minutes — hold up fingers and pay.
- Chimaki (sticky rice in bamboo leaf) is the second thing to buy, and it travels back to the ship.
- Late January or February: the Chinese New Year festival takes over the quarter with lion dances.
- Cash. Several of the best stalls still prefer it.
Yokohama's Chinatown is bigger and Nagasaki's is older, but Kobe's is the one you eat your way along.
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Questions people ask here
How long does Kobe's Chinatown take?
Twenty minutes if you just want a pork bun, ninety if you graze properly. It is essentially one street and a square, ten minutes on foot from Naka Pier and directly on the route to Sannomiya, which is why it fits into almost any plan.
What should I order in Nankinmachi?
Butaman from Roushouki, which has sold the same steamed pork bun since 1915 — three is a normal order. Then chimaki, sticky rice steamed in bamboo leaf, and a grilled scallop skewer. Eat standing; that is how the street is designed to work.