Near the Kobe 神戸 waterfront is a grand stone building. A weathered plaque bears the following inscription:

On this site in July 1868
was established the first
American consulate in Kobe

The American consulate can be seen in this map of Kobe from 1929:

And in detail:

It is no longer an American consulate. The yellow awnings above the windows read “Grand-Back 大きいサイズの紳士服専門店”. It is a clothing store for large people:

• Grand-Back Big & Tall グランバック.
• グランバック神戸元町 / Grand-back Motomachi Kobe
  
• 兵庫県神戸市中央区海岸通り1-1-1, 〒650-0024
• TEL.078-393-3344
• Google map

Am I alone in finding this amusing?

For a list of all of Grand-Back’s store locations, see their website. For stores in Tokyo, 東京大きいサイズの店, two of the more popular Tokyo locations are:

• 1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 〒 100-0006
• グランバック有楽町店
• 東京〒100-0006都千代田区有楽町1-7-1
• Google map
• TEL.03-5222-5700

Aoyama Grand-Back

• 1-2-3 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 〒 107-0061
• グランバック青山店
• 東京〒107-0061都港区北青山1-2-3
• Google map
• TEL.03-3478-6941

Links and Glossary:

• Link: Maps of Kobe, Japan in 1914, 1929, 2016
• 大きいサイズの服 = large size clothing
• 大きいサイズの紳士服店 Large size men’s clothing store
• Kobe, taxes, and hills: the golf courses of Hyogo Prefecture ゴルフ場利用税堅持のための全国市町村連盟
• Maps of Kobe, Japan (1914, 1929, 2016) 神戸市の地図