Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has retained its cosmopolitan character ever since with a rich architectural heritage dating back to the Meiji era. While the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake diminished some of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth-busiest container port.American Association of Port Authorities; – "World Port Rankings 2006". Retrieved April 15, 2008. Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Kobe Steel, while over 100 international corporations have their Asian or Japanese headquarters in the city, including Eli Lilly and Company, Procter & Gamble, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Nestlé."Number of foreign corporations with headquarters in Kobe passes 100." (Japanese) in Nikkei Net, retrieved from NIKKEI.net on July 3, 2007.Hyogo-Kobe Investment Guide – "List of Foreign Enterprises and Examples". Retrieved February 8, 2007. The city is the point of origin and namesake of Kobe beef, the home of Kobe University, and the site of one of Japan's most famous hot spring resorts, Arima Onsen.
kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the west following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has retained its cosmopolitan character ever since with a rich architectural heritage dating back to the meiji era while the 1995 great hanshin earthquake diminished some of kobe's prominence as a port city it remains japan's fourth-busiest container portamerican association of port authorities; – "world port rankings 2006" retrieved april 15 2008 companies headquartered in kobe include asics kawasaki heavy industries and kobe steel while over 100 international corporations have their asian or japanese headquarters in the city including eli lilly and company procter & gamble boehringer ingelheim and nestlé"number of foreign corporations with headquarters in kobe passes 100" (japanese) in nikkei net retrieved from nikkeinet on july 3 2007hyogo-kobe investment guide – "list of foreign enterprises and examples" retrieved february 8 2007 the city is the point of origin and namesake of kobe beef the home of kobe university and the site of one of japan's most famous hot spring resorts arima onsen