Kitano Meister Garden

Kitano-​cho (北野町, Kitanochō) is a city district at the foot of the Rokko mountain range where many foreign merchants and diplomats settled after the Port of Kobe was opened to foreign trade in the second half of the 19^th century. More than a dozen of the former mansions, known as Ijinkan, remain in the area and are open to the public as museums for viewing.
While most charge anywhere up to 1,050 Yen for admission, the Kitano Today, one of the main buildings, the Kitano Meister Garden is free of charge. The 1^st floor comprises mainly of cafes, desert shops and other food items. The second floor has various craft shops, most being one-​of-​a-​kind items.
Beautiful area to check out but be sure to wear comfortable walking attire!

Around the entrance a humorous human, cat, or bird-​like objet stands, which was conspicuous! Foreign Unilocalers! What do you think this building is? A wall of red brick and a retro modern building. This is the former primary school of Kitano, which was renovated into a complex housing various shops holding workshops or cafes and so on. Remains of the old primary school can be seen everywhere. For example, I had a sweet and coffee in Kitano café on the first floor, which was the former principal room.
On the first floor there were food shops and cafes providing local products such as distilled rice wine called Sake, hams, dairy products, or sweets. Here you can also try some experience such as making chocolates, bread, and so on. In front of a famous cheese cake shop, a foreign woman talked to me in fluent Japanese. I asked her how long she has lived in Japan. She answered me it was more than 30 years. I think it difficult to study Japanese. I respect foreigners in Japan to make much efforts to master Japanese.
On the second floor there were a variety of shops holding workshops such as making leather crafts, chopstick rests, or matches, etc, or painting pictures on a Japanese candle. You can enjoy various rare experiences here.
I think it is a nice idea to renovate a closed old school into an artistic complex. The building was crowded with a lot of customers or sightseers. This becomes a must for travelers in Kobe.