西国街道

The Kobe foreign settlement (神戸外国人居留地, Kōbe gaikokujin kyoryūchi), 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 (鯉川) (site of a future thoroughfare) to the west, the sea to the south, and the Saigoku Kaidō (西国街道) highway to the north. It had an area of 78,000 tsubo (about 25.8 hectares), 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 (most of whom had interests in east-India company and/or associates) 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.