ONE HUNDRED SCENES OF KOBE

 

 

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On the left, beautiful poster color drawings of Kobe,
the sixth largest city in Japan, with the 1000 year history as a
trading port between Japan and the Asian Continent, by Hide
Kawanishi (1894 - 1965), from his book "One Hundred Scenes
of Kobe".

 

These fascinating illustrations are scenes of the changing city, after the WWII, drawn mostly in a period between 1952 and 1953. Enchanted by Kawanishi's
“One Hundred Scenes of Kobe”, more than a half of a century later, Takayuki Kita haunted the Kobe for two years, chasing the locations of these scenes, one by one. These are his photos on the right, paired with Kawanishi’s drawings.

You can find all of the artwork from “One Hundred Scenes of Kobe" along with Mr Takayuki’s photos, commentaries (about locations, their importance, the exact years that photos and drawings were made) and google maps (yes!), on the official site of city of Kobe.

BTW – it is a surreal experience to compare these two views and see how and where the city has changed. Some of the things from Kawanishi’s drawings are completely gone.. but somehow, you can still sense the vibe of the location. Since I’m a romantic and a neat freak I picked those which resisted the change and kept their original shape.

(please click on the pics, they are sooo much better in higher resolutios)

 

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