Qibla direction in Kobe

How to face the Qibla in Kobe

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 20.7° towards north: the result is the bearing of 290.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 21° off.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Kobe, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Kobe to Mecca points to 261.0° (west), a full 29.7° away from the true Qibla of 290.7° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 305 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Kobe first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 290.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Kobe (34.6913° N, 135.1830° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Kobe to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 9,136 km from Kobe as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,964 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 11 h 15 min, although most pilgrims from Kobe connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Kobe run 6 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Kobe rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kobe

On 72 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kobe while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in June (30 days); for example, on 1 June 2027 it happens at 18:15 local time.

On 264 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in March (31 days), for instance on 15 February 2027 at 07:24.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Kobe: at 18:18 and 18:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Kobe compared with other cities

Compared with Tokyo, 424 km away, the Qibla in Kobe is turned 2.3° further anticlockwise (290.7° against 293.0°), and Mecca is 339 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Akashi (17 km), prays towards 290.6°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 154 cities in Japan on this site, the Qibla ranges from 288.1° in Sasebo to 295.3° in Kushiro, a spread of 7.2°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Japan.

Qibla in cities near Kobe

• Akashi290.6° · 17 km
• Takarazuka290.8° · 20 km
• Sandachō290.7° · 22 km
• Osaka290.8° · 29 km
• Kishiwada290.8° · 30 km
• Tondabayashi290.9° · 44 km