Kobe · Rokko

Mount Rokko

Mount Rokko is the ridge above Kobe. You go up on the Rokko Cable, a cable car that climbs 1.7 km in about ten minutes from Rokko Cable Shita Station to Rokko Sanjo Station. The line was closed from 5 January to 10 April 2026 to renew the cars and facilities.

Next to the mountain station, at 737 meters, is the Tenrandai observatory, named after the visit of Emperor Showa in 1981. From it you see Kobe, the Osaka plain and as far as Wakayama. The night view from here is called the 'ten-million-dollar night view', and it is registered as a 'Japan Night View Heritage'.

Rokko Garden Terrace, about 13 minutes by mountain bus from the cable car station, is a complex of restaurants, shops and a viewpoint.

Good to know

'One of the three great night views of Japan' is said of the Kikuseidai observatory on neighboring Mount Maya, not of Rokko.
At midday on weekdays the cable car leaves every half hour and not every 20 minutes.
If you go up to the Garden Terrace in the evening, check when you arrive when the last mountain bus back to the cable car leaves, so you do not get stuck on the mountain.

What is nearby

Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Mount Rokko.

Here
Mount Rokko
~30 min
Rokko Shidare Observatory More to see
An observatory at the Garden Terrace designed by the architect Hiroshi Sambuichi, a cypress-wood structure that looks like a large tree on the mountain, opened in 2010. In summer it is cooled with ice collected in winter. ¥1,000, children ¥500.
¥1,000 · ≈ $610:00-21:00, last entry 20:30Maps Source
~30 min
Granite Cafe, Rokko Garden Terrace Cafe
A cafe and restaurant at the Garden Terrace with a view terrace. Omu-curry with a Kobe beef cutlet ¥2,400, parfait ¥2,200. When busy, a 90-minute limit. Not kosher.
11:00-20:00 last order (until 29.11.2026), closed on WednesdayMaps Source
~30 min
Rokko View Palace Food
A simple food court with a view of Kobe and Osaka, at the Garden Terrace. Ramen ¥1,200, beef curry ¥1,000. Until 11:00 drinks only.
10:00-20:00 last order (until 29.11.2026), closed on TuesdayMaps Source
~30 min
Rokko Omiyagekan, Rokko Garden Terrace Shopping
The Garden Terrace's souvenir shop, open until the evening.
10:00-21:00Maps Source
~33 min
Rokko Arima Ropeway More to see
A ropeway from Rokko Sancho Station, 3 minutes from the Garden Terrace, to Arima Onsen, about 12 minutes. ¥1,400 one way. It runs until 17:30, so it suits the day and not the evening.
¥1,400 · ≈ $909:30-17:30Maps Source

Appears in: Kobe: the herb garden by ropeway, the foreigners' houses of Kitano, Chinatown and Kobe beef

Full page for Mount Rokko