Night View of Meriken Park

Meriken Park is a seaside public park extending a spacious distance between Meriken Wharf and Naka Pier and featuring an illustrative night view of Kobe that includes the sight of Port Tower lit up in red light and the image of a white sailboat seen at Marine Museum. Harborland, connected by promenade to Meriken Park, beautifully stages on the opposite shore a further night view of the Port of Kobe with its large, illuminated ferris wheel and elegant, luxury sightseeing boats that achieves a striking waterfront district augmented by the recreational facilities located there.

Bronze Statue of "Setting Sail for Hope"

The Kobe Port Emigrants Memorial stands on the southern end of Meriken Park and displays a bronze statue titled "Setting Sail for Hope" (height: 3.5m; sculptor: Nobuhisa Kikukawa) that depicts a three-member family of parents and child. This commemorative monument also honors those emigrants to Brazil that set out in large numbers from the Port of Kobe and was completed in 2001.

Meriken Theater

The Meriken Theater monument was established in 1987 and commemorates the first showing of a foreign film in Japan and the landing of Charlie Chaplin at Meriken Park. In front of the stone monument that resembles a movie screen, there are 42 black granite stones arranged to symbolize an audience. Chiseled in the stone monument are the names of 42 Japanese and foreign film stars that were selected by Nagaharu Yodogawa, a film critic hailing from Kobe.