Kobe Travel Forum

I am in Kobe for work right now, staying at the New Otani, & I would like some shopping advice.
I love 2nd hand stores and my wife is a quilter. Some folks have advised us to try to find 2nd hand kimono and obi for recycling into quilts and also for wear. So can you help me with this. I have no Japanese, but I do have my trusty phrasebook. I've been travelling on the JR trains so far and I'm ok with those, and I'm willing to explore.
Can you all help?
amobogio
Ps. I'm from Ontario Canada
Pps. Discount running shoe store; Converse, Nike etc. would also be nice to know about

I think the best place to find 2nd hand fabrics are at flea markets. There are so many flea markets in the Kobe area during the summertime. Check listings in Kansai Time Out. The flea markets are usually on the weekends at Kobe Port.
I got alot of my fabrics and kimonos from flea markets. Prices vary of course but you can get some really great deals. I got kimonos in beautiful fabrics for 200 yen once! That's not a typo!
You might also want to try the department store kimono sections. They do have some used kimonos for sale for 2000-5000yen, and cheap obis for 1000yen. I lived in Himeji and the Himeji dept stores would sell used kimonos and obis. Also the ties for the obis.
The flea markets in Kyoto always have used kimonos and obis but I found their prices to be higher, even when bargaining.
Good luck!

For discount sports shoe wear, you may want to go to the outlets. Try the outlets at Tarumi (between Kobe and Akashi on the JR or Hankyu lines).
There are many shoe stores in Kobe, which is a city known for its shoes! Have you been to the shops on the Sannomiya and Motomachi shopping streets? How about underneath JR in that narrow shopping alley where all the young ppl frequent??