# Timeline of Kobe

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kobe, Japan.

## Prior to 20th century

Part of a series on the :
History of Japan :
PrehistoricPaleolithic35,000–14,000 BCJōmon14,000–1000 BCYayoi
1000 BC–300 AD :
AncientKofun
300–538 AD :
ClassicalAsuka
538–710Nara
710–794HeianFormer Nine Years' WarLater Three-Year WarGenpei War 794–1185 :
FeudalKamakuraJōkyū WarMongol invasionsGenkō WarKenmu Restoration 1185–1333MuromachiNanboku-chō periodSengoku period 1336–1573Azuchi–Momoyama
Nanban tradeImjin WarBattle of Sekigahara 1573–1603 :
Early modernEdo (Tokugawa)
Tokugawa shogunateInvasion of RyukyuSiege of OsakaSakokuPerry ExpeditionConvention of KanagawaBakumatsuMeiji RestorationBoshin War 1603–1868 :
ModernMeiji
Ryūkyū DispositionInvasion of Taiwan (1874)Satsuma RebellionFirst Sino-Japanese WarTreaty of ShimonosekiTriple InterventionInvasion of Taiwan (1895)Colonization of TaiwanBoxer RebellionRusso-Japanese WarTreaty of PortsmouthJapan–Korea TreatyColonization of Korea 1868–1912Taishō
World War IIntervention in SiberiaGreat Kantō earthquake 1912–1926Shōwa
MilitarismFinancial crisisNanking incidentMukden IncidentInvasion of ManchuriaMay 15 incidentFebruary 26 incidentAnti-Comintern PactTripartite PactSecond Sino-Japanese WarWorld War IIAttack on Pearl HarborPacific WarAtomic bombingsSoviet–Japanese WarSurrender of JapanOccupation of JapanPostwar JapanAnpo protestsEconomic miracleAsset price bubble1926–1989Heisei
Lost DecadesGreat Hanshin earthquakeCool JapanTōhoku earthquakeImperial transition 1989–2019ReiwaCOVID-19 pandemicAbe assassinationNoto earthquake 2019–present :
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vte :
* 3rd century CE – Ikuta Shrine founded.
* 1868
** Port of Kobe opens.
** Hiogo and Osaka Herald English-language newspaper begins publication.
* 1870 – Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club established.
* 1872 – Minatogawa Shrine established.
* 1878 – Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry founded.
* 1884 – Kobe Yushin Nippo [ja] (newspaper) begins publication.
* 1887 – Population: 103,969.
* 1889 – Tōkaidō Main Line railway (Tokyo-Kobe) begins operating.
* 1893 – Population: 153,382.
* 1896 – Kinetoscope demonstrated at the Shinko Club.
* 1898
** Kobe Shimbun (newspaper) begins publication.
** Population: 215,780.

## 20th century

* 1902
** Kobe Higher Commercial School [ja] founded.
** Kawasaki Dockyard built.
* 1903
** Kobe Golf Club formed.
** Population: 283,839.
* 1905 – Kobe Seikosho in business.
* 1907 – City emblem designed.
* 1908 – Population: 378,197.
* 1913 – Population: 442,167.
* 1918 – Population: 592,726.
* 1920 – Population: 664,471.
* 1921 – Kobe Light Wave Society formed.
* 1925 – Population: 644,212.
* 1926 – Kobe Electric Railway established.
* 1930 – Ashiya Camera Club formed.
* 1931 – Nishi city ward established.
* 1933
** Hyōgo city ward established.
** Port Festival begins.
* 1935 – Population: 912,179
* 1936
** Railway Sannomiya Station in operation.
** Kobe Bank established.
* 1938 – Flooding.
* 1939 – Kawasaki Heavy Industries in business.
* 1940 – Population: 967,234.
* 1942 – April 18: Aerial bombing by US forces.
* 1945
** March 16–17: Bombing of Kobe in World War II.
** Population: 379,166.
* 1946 – Tarumi city ward and Kobe Municipal College of Foreign Affairs established.
* 1949 – Kobe University established.
* 1950
** November: Korean-related 1950 Nagata incident [ja] occurs.
** Population: 765,435.
* 1951 – Kobe Oji Zoo founded.
* 1955 – Population: 979,920.
* 1956 – Kobe designated a government ordinance city.
* 1957 – Sister city relationship established with Seattle, USA.
* 1963 – Kobe Port Tower built.
* 1967 – Kobe Carnival begins.
* 1970 – Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art opens.
* 1971 – Kobe Matsuri [ja] (festival) begins.
* 1972 – Sanyō Shinkansen (hi-speed train) begins operating; Shin-Kobe Station opens.
* 1975
** Nuclear-armed vessels prohibited from Kobe Port.
** Nishiyama Memorial Hall [ja] built.
** Population: 1,360,000.
* 1977 – Subway Seishin-Yamate Line begins operating.
* 1981 – The first fully Automated guideway transit driverless people mover train technology introduced on Port Island Line.
* 1981 – Kobe Convention Complex [ja] opens.
* 1982 – Kobe City Museum opens.
* 1988 – Subway Hokushin Line begins operating.
* 1989 – Kobe City Hall [ja] built.
* 1991 – Kobe Fashion Mart [ja] built.
* 1993 – Artificial Rokkō Island created.
* 1995
** 17 January: The 6.9 M$_w$  Great Hanshin earthquake shakes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture with a maximum Shindo of VII, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced in the region.
** June: Post-earthquake city "Restoration Plan" published.
** December: Kobe Luminarie festival begins.
** Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel in business.
* 1996
** October: Earthquake-damaged Hanshin Expressway rebuilt.
** Animation Kobe event begins.
* 1997 – Eco Asia meets in Kobe.
* 1998 – Akashi Kaikyō Bridge built.
* 2000 – Population: 1,493,595.

## 21st century

* 2001 – Subway Kaigan Line begins operating; Harborland Station opens.
* 2002 – Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art building opens.
* 2006 – Kobe Airport opens.
* 2007 – Kobe Planet Film Archive [ja] opens.
* 2010 – Population: 1,544,200.
* 2013
** Kizō Hisamoto becomes mayor.
** Umie Mosaic [ja] opens.