page_title: Kobe foreign settlement
section_title: Social clubs
hierarchical_section_title: Kobe foreign settlement / Culture / Social clubs
caption_attribution_description: English: Kobe Club in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture, Japan. It was built in 1890, and lost in 1945. Design by Alexander Nelson Hansell (1857-1940, RIBA member). 日本語: 神戸倶楽部, 兵庫県神戸市。1890年竣工、1945年焼失。設計はアレクサンダー・ネルソン・ハンセル
context_page_description: The Kobe foreign settlement, also known as the Kobe foreign concession, was a foreign settlement located about 3.5 kilometers east of the Port of Kobe, in the future Chūō-ku of Kobe, Japan. Established based on the Ansei Treaties, it existed from January 1, 1868, to July 16, 1899.
  The site was located between the Ikuta River to the east, the Koi River to the west, the sea to the south, and the Saigoku Kaidō highway to the north. It had an area of 78,000 tsubo, and was developed based on a logical urban plan. For these reasons, it has been praised as the "best-planned foreign settlement in the Orient". Its extraterritoriality was acknowledged in some of its administrative and financial affairs, and it was managed by an autonomous organization structured with foreign residents at its center. Its operation was smooth, and relations between the Japanese and foreign sides were generally favorable. The settlement prospered as a gateway to Western culture and base of trade, spreading its economic and cultural influence to the surrounding areas as well.
context_section_description: There were two social clubs within the Kobe foreign settlement. The first, Club Concordia, was founded by resident Germans in 1868. The club only intended to admit Germans, but in order to cover the costs of their clubhouse on the eastern end of the settlement they began to accept others as well, including Dutch, Norwegians, and Swedes. The Union Club, also called the International Club and later the Kobe Club, was founded in 1869 by British and Americans, but also accepted others including French and Italians. The club moved its base repeatedly between various buildings within the foreign settlement, from Lot 31 to Lot 32 and then to the basement of the Oriental Hotel in Lot 79. After the establishment of the German Empire, Club Concordia's German and non-German members became antagonistic, and many of the non-German members left. Troubled for funds, Club Concordia sold its facilities to the Union Club, and around 1881 moved into the Union Club's previous space in the basement of the Oriental Hotel on Lot 79. The two clubs were friendly until the outbreak of the First World War, and when the Oriental Hotel burned down in 1890 the Union Club allowed Club Concordia to share their facilities. The Union Club (Kobe Club) continued to be active even after the return of the settlement.
caption: Kobe Club clubhouse (completed in 1890)
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