Perspective of Utilization and Management of Sorakuen Gareden

Sorakuen garden, located in the central district of Kobe city, was built in the Meiji period, namely the late 19th century. It covers about two hectares of land, and it is now owned and managed by Kobe municipal government. It attracts approximately 100,000 visitors annually. Many of them are neighborhood residents, though some domestic and international tourists also visit this garden. This paper proposes the following requirements for more appropriate management of Sorakuen garden based on the analysis of available data on the utilization status of the garden and the tourist movement within Kobe city: improving planting maintenance to be more characterized as a Japanese style garden, increasing the number of visitors during the summer and winter seasons by implementing various projects including events, considering appropriate entrance fee system to increase the total income, and cooperating with the neighboring Kitano district, a popular tourism destination, to attract more visitors.