Kikuseidai Observatory (Mount Maya), Hyogo

A lookout near the top of Mount Maya, Kobe, named for stars you could scoop by hand. Its night view from Kobe to Osaka is one of Japan's top three.

The open plaza of Kikuseidai with paths and benches on Mount Maya — Photo: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The lookout where you scoop up stars

Kikuseidai is an observation plaza about 700 m above sea level, near the summit of Mount Maya, one of the Rokko mountains that rise behind the city of Kobe. The kanji 掬 (kiku) means to scoop up with your hands. The name comes from the night view, which spreads so far into the distance that it looks as if you could scoop up the stars in your hands.

A vast panorama opens out below you, from the streets of Kobe across Osaka Bay towards Osaka. The night view in particular is known as the 'ten-million-dollar night view' and counts as one of Japan's three great night views. The plaza is open at all times.

From daytime to night

By day you see mountain scenery surrounded by nature, at dusk the changing colours of the sky, and at night the glittering lights of the city; the view has a different face at every time of day.

The plaza has a footpath inspired by the Milky Way, called Maya Kirakira Komichi (Maya Twinkling Path). It is paved with a material that stores light and is decorated with constellations, and as it gets dark it glows blue.

The site began in 1955 as an amusement park, laid out when the Maya Ropeway opened. On the north side of the plaza is the Maya Nature Observation Garden, where you can get close to Mount Maya's natural surroundings.

Up the mountain by cable car and ropeway

From Sannomiya Station, take city bus 18 to Maya Cable-shita and board the Maya View Line. First the Maya Cable (a cable car) takes about 5 minutes to Niji no Eki (Rainbow Station) halfway up; there you change to the Maya Ropeway, which reaches Hoshi no Eki (Star Station) on the mountain in about 5 minutes. Kikuseidai is just outside the station.

If you drive, park at the car park in front of Tenjo-ji temple and walk about 10 minutes from there. Ordinary cars cannot drive up to Kikuseidai, and there is no parking beyond that point. Parking on the road is prohibited, and on weekend evenings there are queues of cars waiting for spaces, so visitors are asked to use the Maya View Line whenever possible.

Tips

The Maya View Line is closed on Tuesdays (or on the next weekday if Tuesday is a public holiday). On a Tuesday the cable car and ropeway up the mountain are not running, so plan around it.
If you are going for the night view, be sure to check the time of the last service down. The operator warns that if you miss it, your only options are to call a taxi from the city or walk down, and that mountain roads at night are very dangerous. The time of the last service changes with the season and day of the week.
The Maya Ropeway sometimes stops running temporarily because of system faults and similar problems (it was suspended from late August to early September 2026, for example). Check whether it is running before you set out.