City (pop., 2000 prelim.: 1,493,595), west-central Honshu , Japan.
It is situated on Ōsaka Bay and occupies a narrow shelf of land between mountains and the sea. With neighbouring cities Ōsaka and Kyōto , it is the centre of a major industrial zone. Until the Meiji Restoration it was only a fishing village, but it grew rapidly in the late 19th century. It was severely bombed during World War II and was entirely rebuilt after 1945. It suffered a major earthquake in 1995. Kōbe is an important Japanese port and a centre of shipbuilding and steel production; it is the seat of Kōbe University.