Motomachi Street is the oldest modern shopping street in Kobe, extending for some 1.2km. A Chinatown with many Chinese restaurants is found on the south side of the street. Nankinmachi is a compact Chinatown in central Kobe and a center of the Chinese community in the Kansai Region. The area was developed by Chinese merchants who settled near Kobe Port after the port was opened to foreign trade in 1868. As the Chinatown developed, it became known as Nankinmachi after Nanjing, the former Chinese capital. Nankinmachi is located a five minutes’ walk south of Motomachi Station, a ten-minute walk southwest of Sannomiya Station or a five-minute walk north of Meriken Park. It is a popular tourist attraction and shopping and dining district