Kitano-cho, Kitano or Idzinkan - Kobe area, which houses more than thirty residences of foreign diplomats and wealthy merchants built in the Meiji period (1868 - 1912 years) and Taisho (1912 - 1926 years). About twenty of these houses are open to tourists.

Construction of residences began after 1868, when the port of Kobe was opened up to foreign merchant ships, and later became one of the largest international ports in Japan.

Name of area translates as "North field". The fact that Kobe stretches along the coast for 30 kilometers, and people settled at the water's edge. For arrivals during the second half of the XIX century was the only place in the northernmost part of the "strip" at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, with time and the foreigners began to settle on a hillside with a wonderful view of the bay. Each of the aliens built a house in accordance with the architectural traditions of the country, so Kitano-cho, you can see the house in English, French, Chinese style. There is also a house in the Russian style, built by merchants Parashutinymi. Besides housing residences in the area at the end of the XIX century it was built religious buildings of different faiths - Christian churches, synagogues, mosques, houses of worship and Hindu temples.

Among developers Kitano-cho also been popular Victorian style - built from stone and wood home Japanese are considered a model of European chic. Since the late 80-ies of the XIX century to about 1910 in Kobe it was built more than a hundred houses, European appearance that differed sharply from the traditional Japanese homes. To date, only 30 buildings have survived, some are still residences.

Historic district Kitano-cho relatively safely survived the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 and is now an open air museum.