Kobe hotels offer a helping hand
Six hotels in Kobe — the Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers; the Hotel Okura, Kobe; the Kobe Portopia Hotel; the Oriental Hotel; Kobe, the Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel; and the ANA Crowne Plaza Kobe — will host a charity event titled "Kobe Six Hotels Grand Chefs' Charity Lunch" from March 1 to May 6 in a bid to help orphans in the Tohoku region recover from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Kobe in 1995, and the city took several years to get back on its feet again. In order to attract tourists to Kobe and to show gratitude for the support Kobe received from around the world following the quake, the six hotels established the annual event in 1999. In order to support another region hit by a major earthquake, chefs from the participating Kobe hotels will work together to offer special healthy lunches and unique cocktails at their restaurants, with a portion of the money generated going to Tohoku-related charities.