The neighborhood west of Kitano known as Yukinogoshocho has been in decline for quite a while. In the past, when Kobe’s downtown was located near Minatogawa Station just to the south, it must have been a desirable and convenient place to live. Now, its main street is lined with crumbling old houses, many of them seemingly empty, and young people and families with children are scarcely found. A few years ago the local elementary school closed for good.
But signs are emerging of a hopeful new future for Yukinogoshocho. In mid-2022, the derelict school building was transformed into a environmentally- friendly community center called “Nature Studio” which comprises an aquarium, a daycare center, a fishing pond, shops, eateries, yoga classes, and even a microbrewery.
By the time I had a chance to finally visit Nature Studio it had already been open for two months, so the rush of curious first-time visitors had passed, or so I had assumed. I was surprised at how many people were there. Everywhere I looked I saw families enjoying themselves, fishing for rainbow trout in the pond or lounging in the park. The wait to enter the aquarium was about half an hour, but it was well worth it.
Minatoyama Aquarium, housed in part of the old school building, is a small-scale aquarium designed especially for children to enjoy. Most of the fish tanks are placed at a child’s eye-level, with soft cushions on the floor encouraging children and their parents to relax and stay a while. Because of a cap on the number of visitors allowed inside at any one time, the place has a calm, quiet, even reverential atmosphere. One room even invites visitors to sit silently and listen to the sound of water droplets falling from a wall of aquatic plants.
One of the most popular attractions here is the otter room, the home of the aquarium’s two mammals. When I visited, the pair was napping together, one otter’s neck resting on the other’s in what looked like a sweet embrace.
One of my favorite parts of my visit was sampling Open Air’s microbrews, an experience I definitely want to repeat either here or at the brewery’s taproom in Motomachi. The Prime Meridian, a dry hopped saison, was especially refreshing on that warm September evening. It was also gratifying that I was able to enjoy my drink at a table made from recycled materials.
If you’d like to learn more about Nature Studio and what’s going on there, please check out the official website: https://naturestudio.jp/
Open Air’s official website can be found here: https://www.openair.beer/
