Hyogo: District Border between 2 Kobe Districts Decided by Tug-of-War

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:06 JST, October 25, 2025

KOBE — A tug-of-war was used to demarcate the border between two adjacent downtown districts in Kobe on Oct. 4.

Two teams of people, representing the two districts — Sannomiya and Motomachi — participated in the tug-of war on Sannomiya Chuo Dori street with an approximately 50-meter-long rope. As the Motomachi team won, the Motomachi district now officially borders the west side of Kyomachi Street, whereas the Sannomiya district borders its east.

According to the event’s organizing committee, the border between the two districts sparked an argument at a meeting involving local trade authorities and landowners from both districts, and they decided to have it out with a tug-of-war. Under terms agreed to by both parties, the Sannomiya district would be the area east of Tor Road shopping street if the Sannomiya team won, and the Motomachi district would be the area west of Kyomachi Street should the Motomachi team win.

The Sannomiya team was led by the manager of Kobe Hankyu department store, and the captain of the Motomachi team was the manager of Daimaru Kobe department store. On the day of the event, the teams played five rounds of tug-of-war. The participants made every effort to hype themselves up. The Motomachi team won the event 4-1.

The town name in the address will stay the same in both districts, so the lives of the residents will not be affected.

“The location of my shop would have been in Sannomiya if we lost. I’ve always thought Tor Road is part of Motomachi, so I’m glad we defended it at all costs,” said one of the participants, a beaming 43-year-old woman who runs a multi-brand store.