The Kitano-ijinkan area is a unique historic neighborhood located in the foothills near Sannomiya Station.  This post covers a neighborhood including parts of Kitano-cho (北野町), Yamamoto-Dori (山本通), and Naka-Yamate-Dori (中山手通).

The streets above are highlighted hierarchically as follows:
– Magenta:     A pedestrian plaza and shopping street, with high density of tourists.
– Cyan:            Single Lane One Way (minimal road width, maximum sidewalk width).
– Red:             “Busy” Boulevards.
– Orange:       “Quiet” Boulevards.
– Yellow:        Woonerfs & Narrow Streets.
– Green:         Laneways.  Only a fraction (2/3?) are highlighted.
Purple structure in lower right: a large pedestrian overpass.

Note that the whole highlighted area lies within a single island of walkability.

The Hierarchy of Japanese Streets categorizes the highlighted streets as follows* (with stats given for this area specifically):

* Only a fraction (2/3?) of the Laneways are counted and highlighted (green).

Streets Hierarchy, Illustrated

Level 6, highly trafficked pedestrian streets (and steps / plaza):

[the following screencap from a photosphere by Michael Ni]

This plaza has a fantastic view overlooking downtown Kobe: photosphere.

Level 5, SLOW streets (note the bollards):

On a relatively wide SLOW street like below, hard bollards are absolutely critical for raising drivers’ perception of their own speed:

Level 4, Busy Boulevards:

Level 3, Quiet Boulevards:

Level 2, Woonerfs and Narrow Streets:

Level 1, Residential Laneways: