Kitano Ijinkan Kobe: Admission, Combo Tickets & Hours

Kitano Ijinkan in Kobe is a historic district about a 15-minute walk from Sannomiya Station, where Western-style houses that foreigners lived in after the port opened still stand. Walking the streets is free. Admission to the houses is 500-1,100 yen for adults, and some are free, with combo tickets available too.

Kitano Ijinkan basic info and opening hours

Ijinkan (異人館) are the Western-style houses where foreigners lived after the Port of Kobe opened. Foreign residences went up in Kitano after the port opened in 1868, and more than 200 ijinkan were built between the late Meiji era and around the Second World War.

Today historic buildings that show the architecture and daily life of the time are open to the public, along with exhibition and hands-on facilities. Walking the Kitano Ijinkan streets is free, and you pay admission, which varies by house, to go inside. Some, like Rhine House, are free to enter.

※ Checked on the official websites on 7 October 2026. Hours and closing days may change.

How to get to Kitano Ijinkan

You can walk to Kitano Ijinkan from Sannomiya Station or Shin-Kobe Station. Weathercock House and Moegi House are about 15 minutes on foot from either station, and houses higher up the hill, like Uroko House, take about 20 minutes.

Walking from Sannomiya Station, the road climbs uphill along Kitanozaka.

If the walk feels like too much, take the City Loop bus. At Sannomiya Station, board the City Loop at stop 8, Subway Sannomiya Station (northbound).

From stop 8 it's two stops, past 9 Kitanozaka, to 10 Kitano Ijinkan. A single City Loop ride is 300 yen for adults and 150 yen for children.

For adults, the 1-day pass works out cheaper from three rides. It costs 800 yen and covers the City Loop, Port Loop and more for the day. The 1-day pass price, timetable and stop order are in the post below.

👉 Kobe City Loop Bus: 1-Day Pass, Timetable, Route & Stops

Kitano Ijinkan houses: admission and what to see

Each house in Kitano Ijinkan has something different to see. Below are the admission prices and highlights of each one, in an order that's easy to follow walking up the Kitano hill from Sannomiya.

I've marked Weathercock House, Uroko House, Moegi House, Rhine House, Yamate Hachiban-kan and English House with ⭐ as the main houses. Following the same order as the map makes it easy to see where each one is.

📍 Map of the Kitano Ijinkan houses and walking route

👉 Kobe Kitano Ijinkan map by Tokyo Mate (Google My Maps)

① English House (英国館) ⭐

English House is a colonial-style ijinkan built in 1907. Sherlock Holmes's room is recreated on the second floor, and you can put on a Holmes costume, walk around the house and take photos.

② Yokan Nagaya (洋館長屋, French House)

Built in 1908 as a shared residence for foreigners, it's two mirror-image homes joined together. Today you can see French art such as Émile Gallé, glasswork and old Louis Vuitton travel trunks.

③ Ben's House (ベンの家)

An ijinkan built at the end of the Meiji era that shows stuffed rare animals and butterfly specimens. The big highlights are a stuffed polar bear and American bison, and a narwhal tusk about 2.5m long.

④ Kobe Mysterious Consulate of Trick Art (神戸トリックアート・不思議な領事館)

A late-Meiji building that was used for a time after the war as the Panamanian consulate. Today it's a hands-on ijinkan where you step into optical-illusion paintings and take your own photos.

⑤ Rhine House (ラインの館) ⭐

Rhine House is a two-storey wooden ijinkan from the early Taisho era that keeps old ijinkan features like a veranda and bay windows. Its current name comes from the beautiful horizontal lines of its outer walls.

⑥ Kobe Kitano Museum (神戸北野美術館)

Kobe Kitano Museum uses the former US consulate residence built in 1898. Today you can see contemporary art and special exhibitions inside the historic ijinkan.

※ Platon Decorative Arts Museum, Italian House (プラトン装飾美術館·イタリア館): closed

The Platon Decorative Arts Museum (Italian House) is an early-Taisho ijinkan that displayed European antique furniture and art. It closed on 31 December 2025 and can no longer be visited.

⑦ Former Chinese Consulate (坂の上の異人館)

A late-Meiji former Chinese residence, it's an Asian-style ijinkan furnished with Ming and Qing dynasty Chinese furniture, ceramics and art. There's also a story that walking between the pair of lion statues in the courtyard brings luck in love.

⑧ Kitano Foreigner's Club (北野外国人倶楽部)

A late-Meiji former foreign residence that recreates the living spaces of the time, with a wooden fireplace and an old kitchen. It also offers bookable photo sessions in dresses.

⑨ Yamate Hachiban-kan (山手八番館) ⭐

Yamate Hachiban-kan is a late-Meiji ijinkan with sculptures by Rodin, Bourdelle, Bernard and others. The best-known sight is the "Saturn chair": sit in it and make a wish, and it's said to come true.

⑩ Uroko House and Uroko Museum (うろこの家・展望ギャラリー) ⭐

Uroko House was the first ijinkan in Kobe opened to the public. The natural slate on its outer walls looks like fish scales, which gave it its name, and the observation gallery has modern European paintings and views over Kobe and the port.

⑪ Vienna Austria House (ウィーン・オーストリアの家)

An exhibition house that introduces Austrian culture with Mozart as its theme. You can see Mozart-related rooms and exhibits modelled on instruments of the time, such as a fortepiano.

⑫ Denmark House (デンマーク館)

It introduces Danish history and culture, focusing on the Vikings and the fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen. The highlights are a 6m half-scale model of a Viking ship and the Andersen exhibits.

⑬ Kaori-no-Ie Olandakan (香りの家オランダ館, Dutch House)

Kaori-no-Ie Olandakan is a wooden ijinkan from the mid-Taisho era that was the Dutch consul general's residence for many years. Today it introduces Dutch culture, and the signature activity is making your own original perfume.

⑭ Weathercock House (風見鶏の館, former Thomas residence) ⭐

Weathercock House was built around 1909 as the home of German trader Gottfried Thomas and is a national Important Cultural Property. With its red-brick walls and the weathercock on its spire, it's the building that symbolises Kitano Ijinkan.

⑮ Moegi House (萌黄の館) ⭐

Moegi House was built in 1903 as the residence of US consul general Hunter Sharp and is a national Important Cultural Property. It's known for its pale green walls, and from the second-floor veranda you can look out over Kobe.

Kitano Ijinkan combo tickets: prices and houses included

Kitano Ijinkan combo tickets are sold separately for each group of houses, and they can't be swapped between groups. The Uroko group passes don't get you into Weathercock House, Moegi House or the Olandakan houses, and the 2-house ticket and the Olandakan 3-house pass don't cover the Uroko group houses.

※ Adult prices including tax, checked on the official websites on 7 October 2026.

✔️ The Weathercock House and Moegi House 2-house ticket is sold at the ticket booths on site.

✔️ The Uroko group passes are sold at the visitor centre, the ticket plaza and each house, and as web tickets.

✔️ Kobe Mysterious Consulate of Trick Art is not included in the Uroko group 3-, 4- or 7-house passes.

✔️ The Olandakan group sells its 3-house discount passport for 1,500 yen, cash only.

Starbucks Kobe Kitano Ijinkan

Starbucks Kobe Kitano Ijinkan is in the Kitano Monogatarikan (北野物語館) building. It's on Kitanozaka, about a 3-minute walk from the City Loop Kitano Ijinkan (北野異人館) stop.

The building is a two-storey wooden house built in 1907 and a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. It was damaged in the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, taken apart and stored, then moved and restored at its current site in 2001.

Most ijinkan open at 9 or 10am, but Starbucks opens at 8am, so it's a good place for coffee or a light breakfast before you visit the houses.

FAQ: where to buy, children and Starbucks

Q. Do I need to buy Kitano Ijinkan combo tickets in advance?

A. Not necessarily. The Uroko group passes can be bought on site and are also sold as web tickets. You can decide on the day which houses you'll visit and buy then.

Q. Are children free at Kitano Ijinkan?

A. At Weathercock House and Moegi House, high school students and younger are free. The Uroko group has a separate primary school price and preschoolers are free, but primary school children can't go in on their own. The Uroko group charges the adult price from junior high school age.

Q. Do I need an ijinkan ticket for Starbucks Kobe Kitano Ijinkan?

A. No. It's a Starbucks store in the Kitano Monogatarikan, so you can use it without visiting any of the paid ijinkan. You can drop in before or after looking around Kitano Ijinkan.

Walking the hill streets past the old ijinkan, you get a natural feel for the time Kobe has been through and the mood of the city. Pick a few houses you like and take your time enjoying the Kitano scenery.

🧡 Tokyo Mate Kobe travel guides

How to get from Osaka to Kobe Sannomiya is covered in a separate post below.

👉 Osaka to Kobe Sannomiya: JR, Hankyu & Hanshin Fares, Times