Sannomiya

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Sannomiya (三宮) is a district of Chūō-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo, Japan. Sannomiya serves as the financial, commercial, and the entertainment center of Kobe. The district takes the name from Sannomiya Shrine, a branch of Ikuta Shrine.

Before the 1920s, Sannomiya was just a small suburb of the city. The major suburbs were Motomachi and Shinkaichi which are west of Sannomiya. In 1933, the Sogo Department Store moved from Motomachi to premises in front of Sannomiya Station. The area started to develop rapidly.

Sannomiya is also the hub for most of the transportation systems in Kobe. JR West, Hankyu Railway, Hanshin Electric Railway, Kobe Municipal Subway and Kobe New Transit use Kobe-Sannomiya Station as their primary station in the area. The Kobe Incident in 1868 occurred in this suburb in front of the Sannomiya Shrine.