The Port of Kobe has an outstanding natural harbor, and it has been a trading hub for commerce with ports on the Korean peninsula and the Chinese continent for many centuries. Opening in 1868, the modern Port of Kobe is strategically located at the center of the Japanese archipelago. The Port of Kobe is convenient to commercial ocean routes that link it to more than 500 ports around the world. The Port of Kobe is also linked to western Japan by domestic sea routes that travel the Seto Inland Sea