In article >, Musashi
> wrote:

> I don't know about 894...that would put it in the Heian Period, back
> when Kyoto was the capital. I suspect that maybe the sign had a "one"
> in front that fell off...1894. But who knows?

It sure doesn't look like it from the picture. The Japanese sense of
design and display indicates there'd be no room.

> The "ya" ending meaning "store" was common certainly in the Edo
> period but thats from the 1600s till 1860 or so.

Maybe they are claiming that the area had BEEN Kobe since 894. I don't
know. The building can't be any later than about 1992. Wait a minute:
I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. If Motomachi was mashed
during WWII, which I assumed, the buildings would date from then or
more recently.

On the other hand these are those "walking streets" that can only
barely accomodate a car. Those kinds of streest seemed to be "fixed"
after the war into "appropriately sized" streets with car traffic.

Again, I don't know but would be very interested to find out.

--
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97). All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.