Kobe Fashion Museum｜Access, visitor information, highlights, cafés and lunch information.
- nrak3461
- Aug 30, 2024
- 8 min read
About Kobe Fashion Museum
The Kobe Fashion Museum, Japan's first public museum focusing on the theme of fashion, opened in 1997 on Rokko Island, a maritime city in Higashinada-ku, Kobe.
As a symbol of the fashion city of Kobe, the museum plays a role in fostering human resources, disseminating information and attracting visitors, with the aim of promoting fashion-related industries and culture.
Since 2018, world-renowned fashion designer and artist KOSHINO Hiroko has served as the museum's Honorary Director. She has supervised the museum from the perspective of an active designer, including the exhibition of Hiroko Koshino's own collections.
The museum's main focus is its valuable clothing collection, which dates back to the 18th century, and it holds collection exhibitions and special exhibitions focusing on a variety of art forms. The museum has captured the appeal of fashion from multiple perspectives, including ‘clothing’, ‘food’, ‘living’ and ‘play’.
●Visitor information and access to the Kobe Fashion Museum
Highlights of the Kobe Fashion Museum
Collections
As its name describes, the Kobe Fashion Museum has a large collection of valuable materials dedicated to fashion.
The museum owns a wealth of resources, including approximately 7,000 Western costumes from the 18th to 20th centuries and ethnic costumes from more than 70 countries, as well as 2,000 fashion photographs, 1,500 fashion prints and more than 4,000 film posters.
The museum's collection includes the 18th-century women's costume ‘robe à la française’ and costumes by leading 20th-century designers such as Gabrielle Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen. The museum also has a well-stocked library, with access to approximately 45,000 books on national and international fashion, as well as international fashion magazines, the latest style magazines, audiovisual materials, textiles and other physical materials.
Architecture
The Kobe Fashion Museum, located in the ROKKO i PARK public-private complex, is characterized by its futuristic, UFO-like appearance. It was designed by Showa Sekkei and Taisei Corporation. In order to create synergy with the hotel, commercial facilities and other private sector facilities, a 50 m diameter, 40 m high atrium has been placed in the centre to link them together.
Representative past exhibitions
The museum's 1st floor exhibition rooms feature ‘Special Exhibitions’ introducing a wide variety of art, including fashion illustrations, posters and photographs, as well as ‘Collection Exhibitions’ utilizing the museum's valuable collections.
〈Main exhibitions〉.
‘Flowers Flowers in Fashion’ (2019)
‘Treasures of Fashion: Valerie Steele's Aesthetic’ (2020)
The World of Takarazuka Revue Costumes (2022)
‘Another Face: Robert Capa Select Exhibition’ (2022)
‘Japanese Paper Cutouts: Seven Muse’ (2023)
Museum shop
The museum shop at the Kobe Fashion Museum is located next to the reception desk on the ground floor. The shop offers a range of items that you will want to pick up, such as Tenugui hand towels with motifs of fashion silhouettes, penmanship with illustrations by Georges Barbier and others, postcards and books. Recommended not only for yourself, but also as souvenirs.
Opening hours: same as museum opening hours
Closed: according to museum closing days.
Café and restaurant information
Rokko Island, where the Kobe Fashion Museum is located, has a number of gourmet spots where visitors can enjoy cafés and lunches.
At "Hotel Plaza Kobe", which is adjacent to the museum, and "Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers", which is within walking distance, you can enjoy a view of the Kobe Sea from the upper floors, and at River Mall West, which is close to "Island Center Station", you can see the stream that flows through Rokko Island. Enjoy the beautiful scenery of Kobe at your favorite spot and enjoy a moment of elegance.
Places to visit around the Kobe Fashion Museum
KOBE ARTISTS MUSEUM
In 2007, "KOBE ARTISTS MUSEUM" was built next to the Kobe Fashion Museum.
Kobe's exotic cityscape, with its combination of nature and Western-style architecture, fosters a ‘Kobe-ish’ that is ‘cosmopolitan’, ‘high-coloured’, ‘modern’, ‘bright and open’, and artists attracted by this charm have been based in Kobe and left a significant mark on the Japanese art world. The museum presents exhibitions of such artists associated with Kobe and a wide range of contemporary Japanese art and culture.
Kobe City Koiso Memorial Museum of Art
"The Kobe City Koiso Memorial Museum of Art" is located on the same ‘Rokko Island’ as the Kobe Fashion Museum. The museum was opened in 1992 to honour the achievements of KOISO Ryohei, a painter born in Kobe and active in the Showa period.
The museum collects, preserves, researches and disseminates his works based on approximately 2,000 drawings, prints and other works donated to the city by his bereaved family, as well as his studio, library and other materials. The museum's current collection consists of approximately 3,300 works (as of July 2024).
The reception desk, exhibition rooms, atelier and museum shop are arranged in an easy-to-understand manner, making it easy for citizens to use and ask questions. The lobby and tearooms are also attractive, where visitors can feel Koiso's creativity and relax while gazing out over the courtyard.
The HAKUTSURU Fine Art Museum
The Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum was opened in 1934 by Jihee Kano, the seventh generation of the Hakutsuru brewery. The museum began with a collection of 500 antique works of art, based on the founder's wish that ‘a collection of world-class value should not be kept in private collections but be seen by as many people as possible’. Today, the museum has a collection of over 1,450 works, including two national treasures and 22 important cultural properties. (as of 2024 Feb).
The museum consists of two parts: the main building and the annexe.
In the main building, visitors can admire a number of national treasures and important cultural assets in a famous Showa-era building that is a perfect blend of East and West, tradition and modernity.
The annexe, which opened in 1995, displays the Middle Eastern carpet collection of KANO Hideo, the 10th generation of the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery and the museum's fourth chairman. The museum is a pioneer facility for Middle Eastern carpets in Japan, and visitors can appreciate this valuable collection.
Hakutsuru Sake Brewery has opened the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum in the vicinity of Sumiyoshi Station on the JR Kobe Line. The facility is housed in a sake brewery built in the early Taisho era (1912-1926) and allows visitors to get up close to the sake brewing process and operations that have been passed down through the generations. Those wishing to deepen their understanding of sake brewing may wish to visit.
