Mayor of Kobe

Greeting from Mayor

Welcome to the City of Kobe’s Website

Kobe is blessed with various attractive sightseeing resources such as rich natural environments with the surrounding Rokko Mountains and the Seto Inland Sea, exotic townscapes, Arima Hot Springs and breweries in Nada. The city is proud of its multidimensional excellence including high level of manufacturing skills, well-developed urban infrastructure and more importantly, the ties among people established through the restoration from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

mayor Spurred by the new exchanges of people, goods and information since the opening of Kobe Airport in 2006, the city has accelerated the vitalization of tourism industry, invitation of corporations in connection with the Kobe Medical Industry Development Project and development/improvement of next-generation supercomputers which is a national project.

Furthermore, Kobe is reviewing the "sense of Kobe” from the perspective of design under the ”Design City, Kobe,” a new urban strategy, aiming to create the fresh appeal of Kobe. In 2008, Kobe City was designated one of "Cities of Design” of the Creative Cities Network by the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Kobe will utilize this opportunity to internationally publicize its initiatives for the "Design City, Kobe” project by building the international network with other overseas cities designated as well and promoting the mutual cooperation and communication with them.

In 2009, Kobe City celebrates the 120th anniversary of municipality. This city have actively assimilated foreign cultures in an enterprising spirit since the opening of ports in the end of Edo Period and been diligently built by the wisdom and efforts of the predecessors so that it has successfully developed into an appealing town with the unique color of "sense of Kobe” while overcoming a wide variety of difficulties.

I am looking forward to your visit to the attractive city, Kobe.

Profile of Mayor

Tatsuo Yada

Date and place of birth

Born on February 7 1940 and bred in Kobe

Personal History

Graduated from Takaha Elementary School, Takasho Junior High School and Mikage High School

April, 1959 : Started career as an official of the Kobe City Government
March, 1971 : Graduated from Kansai University, Faculty of Law
April 1994 : Director General, Airport Improvement Office of Ports and Harbours Bureau
April 1997 : Director General, Public Health and Welfare Bureau
May 2000 : Executive Director, Kobe City Council of Social Welfare
April 2001 : Deputy Mayor of Kobe City
November 2001 : 15th Mayor of Kobe City (first term)
November 2005 : Second term as Mayor of Kobe City