Is a day trip to Kobe worth it during a 6-day visit to the Kansai region?

I'm a little biased because I live in Kobe, but yes. My go-to itinerary for a first timer is as follows:

• From Shin-Kobe station, go to the Nunobiki Ropeway and buy a one way ticket. Take the ropeway to the top and take a stroll through the gardens. There are some cafes and restaurants along the way. There are also some areas with hammocks if you need a rest!

• Walk all the way down the gardens and towards the Nunobiki waterfall. It's a bit more forested and tricky to walk through, but it's worth it. At a leisurely pace the whole thing starting from the ropeway will take around 3 hours.

• The Ijinkan-gai isn't too far from where you'll exit so you can walk there. You have to pay to go in the houses, it's around 200 yen each. If you only want to go inside one I would suggest the German one (there's a flag outside) because it's big and pretty centralised.

• From there head into Sannomiya centre and have a walk around the shopping streets. Ikuta Shrine on the way so you can go in there from the back or side. There are loads of restaurants around this area including Steakland so this'll be your chance to get some of that Kobe beef.

• I recommend taking a small detour to Kobe City Hall as well because there's a free observatory on the 24th floor, it's not too far.

• Walk west through the shopping arcade and towards Motomachi. The Chinatown is around here so you can wander through there, it's pretty crowded though.

• Harborland and Port Tower aren't too far from there. The Port Tower has just the other day reopened after a couple of years of renovations, so look into getting a ticket. By November I'd imagine you'll be able to get one on the door but check anyway. There are a few department stores down the road and there are a couple of mini-cruises you can go on too.

I assume you'll be staying in Osaka so after you've done all of the above it'll likely be around 8PM so you can take the train back. If you're not using the JR Rail Pass and are just paying for each ticket as you go, if you take the Limited Express train on the Hankyu Line, it's only around 330 yen and only a little slower than the Shinkansen (30 mins rather than 15). That's what I use whenever I go to Osaka.

Alternatively, if you're not 100% sold on Kobe and still want some of that classical Japan vibe, you could perhaps do Himeji and Kobe as a single day. You could quite easily do Himeji Castle and the surrounding gardens before midday if you get there early, and then see the Kobe highlights in the afternoon.