Kobe Transportation

To get to Kobe from Osaka is very easy. There are 3 JR stations in Kobe - JR Kobe, JR Motomachi and JR Sannomiya. There are frequent departures from JR Osaka station. If you are going to the harbour front, get off at JR Kobe. However, if you want to go to Nankinmachi or the departmental stores like Daimaru or Sogo, get off at JR Sannomiya.

Getting around kobe is easy. Most of the tourist attractions are near the few main stations like Sannomiya station.

Kobe can be done as a day trip from the surrounding cities. It takes only 40min from Kobe to Himeji by JR rapid trains and cost 950yen. Kobe to Osaka will take 30min by JR Rapid trains and one hour to Kyoto (1450yen) by JR rapid trains.

The Shinkansen is by far the most convenient way to travel around Japan. Unfortunately it isn't very cheap! Luckily there is a Japan JR Rail Pass available to foreign travellers. See the JR East website for details:

It must be bought abroad and stamped in Japan before you can use it. There are several options including one week (unlimited JR travel except for the super fast Nozomi service), two week, JR East and JR West passes. Check with your local travel agent for the best option or click on the link to see for yourself!

Shin Kobe Station is the main Shinkansen station serving Kobe. It is located on the main route between Osaka and Tokyo.

Here is a link to a very cool page that lets you see the routing between cities/stations/ports within Japan. It will tell you the route and includes the cost and time. http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/.

Kobe is a major port for Japan and has a ferry service to different cities around Japan. I came on the Shin-Moji (Kyushu) - Kobe Ferry which was an overnight journey. We left the Port of Shin-Moji at 6.30pm and arrived Kobe the next day at 5.30am.
The ferry has communal baths (split for men and women) to relax in, a bar, a restaurant, games and karaoke rooms and offers both first and second class sleeping rooms. Pictured is the second class room where you are given a 'pillow' and blankets and you sleep on the floor with about 10 people to a room. First class has small cabins with bunk beds.
The trip cost 6000 Yen one way which is a very reasonable way to get between Honshu and Kyushu.

The JR line is a very convenient way to get around Kobe. It is quick and cheap. I never had to wait more than three minutes for a train to come by.

Link to route and pricing. Also checkout the link to "Sounds on the Subway", that brought back memories to me.

The best way to see Kobe/Sannomiya is to walk around. This way you can see more & not miss off the beaten track sites. Kobe/Sannomiya is not so far apart so walking is not a problem. If you walk on the shopping streets it won`t seem so long! Ha ha!

Note that there's a stop for Kobe on the Shinkansen line called "Shin-Kobe", which is situated north of the city center / harbour.
I think the best bet is to take the local line from JR Osaka to JR Kobe, or JR Sannomiya. JR Sannomiya station is where the vibrant nightlife is. The chinatown is within walking distance too.
Note that "Shin-Kobe" and "Kobe" stop are different, and quite a distance between the two.

u have to use air transport it depends where u are coming from, then when u reach either horishma o tokyo then u may use what transport u wish or train , road or plane all are available bravo to the japanese.