Featured Events in Kobe in May, 2025 (June Updated)

This exhibition will trace the 60-plus year history of Sanrio, the company that has created many popular characters such as Hello Kitty and My Melody, through the "kawaii" culture that has become a global language. The exhibition will also focus on the background to the creation of the characters and how they developed, and will feature hundreds of exhibits such as precious original drawings, related materials, and nostalgic goods from that time. There will also be an exhibit of collaborative works with contemporary artists inspired by Sanrio characters.

The Nankinmachi Dragon Boat Festival Zongzi Exhibition is an annual event held in Nankinmachi, Kobe, Japan, to celebrate the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. During the event, Nankinmachi will hold various Dragon Boat Festival-related celebrations, including Zongzi tasting and display. Visitors can experience the rich and colorful Chinese culture here, especially tasting Zongzi of various flavors.

Kobe Suma Imperial Villa Park will hold a spring rose viewing event from Thursday, May 1, 2025 to Sunday, June 8, 2025. There are three rose gardens here: the "Royal Rose Garden", the "Rose History and Culture Garden", and the "World Hall of Fame Rose Garden". About 300 varieties and 4,000 roses are in full bloom, and the scenery is very beautiful. The garden is open from 8 am on weekends, and you can enjoy the fragrance of roses in the fresh morning air.

Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture's traditional summer event "Hirosaki Nebuta" is coming to Kobe again this year. This is a promotional event for Hirosaki City that will be held every year from 2022, following the launch of direct flights from Kobe to Aomori by Fuji Dream Airlines in March 2020. During the festival, Neputa music performances, nighttime lighting of Neputa floats, and Neputa parades will be held, just like last year.

This chapter covers Klee's period from when he studied at the Academy in Munich and then began producing art in his hometown of Bern with a small group of friends, to when he returned to Munich and met Kandinsky, Marc, and other artists of the Blue Rider movement.

“ALOHA KOBE 2025” is a Polynesian festival held at Meriken Park. You can enjoy various performances including Hawaiian hula, Tahitian dance, and live band performances. This year, three bands with ties to Kobe will perform live and introduce the history of Hawaiian music.

Tadanori Yokoo is known as the "Andy Warhol of Japan". He started out as a graphic designer and worked as an advertising designer for the Kobe Shimbun. Later, he gradually turned to mysticism and began a 15-year exploration of the world of spirituality and surrealism. As Japanese scholars believe: "Yokoo is a pioneer of the revival of popular art in the 21st century. He changed the trend of art that was out of touch with the masses in the 20th century." The exhibition is conceived as a board game, reconstructing Yokoo's career. The scene allows viewers to interact with the works in an immersive way. The audience is regarded as a "player", and whether they can successfully pass the level depends to a certain extent on luck, which echoes the artist's concept of accepting fate.

The popular TBS TV program "World's Mysteries Revealed!" will be the first to be exhibited. The exhibition will feature rare footage of the popular program, which has aired for about 1,700 episodes since 1986, as well as newly filmed interviews with the cast and producers, and mysterious objects collected from around the world, along with intriguing anecdotes and quizzes. There will also be a studio set where you can experience the familiar "Bossutto!" from the program.