Sit in a kotatsu (heated table) and listen to music boxes on a winter mountaintop. That is what the “Cats and Kotatsu Warm Fair 2026” offers at ROKKO Forest of Music Museum on Mt. Rokko in Kobe, from Saturday, December 26, 2026 to Friday, March 12, 2027. Themed around cats and kotatsu, the winter event turns spaces around the museum into cozy corners.
A concert with no musicians, from a kotatsu seat
The highlight is the “Winter Concert with No Performers.” Antique music boxes and other automatic instruments play winter favorites and cat-themed songs. Sample pieces include “Winter” from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, “Let It Go” from the film Frozen and “Memory” from the musical Cats. Shows start every hour from 10:00 to 16:00 and last about 30 minutes.
The front row of the concert room has 16 kotatsu seats where you sit with plush cats. They are first come, first served, so arriving early is safer if you have your heart set on one.
The third-floor loft also gets a rug space, “Lie Down with Plush Toys Concert Room,” for a limited time. It fits about 1–4 people, again on a first-come basis. Lying down to listen is possible only during this season.
Cat paintings and cat-design music boxes
In the exhibition “Today and Tomorrow, a Fine Cat Day,” about five Japanese-style cat paintings by Atsuko Suwa, an artist from Nishinomiya, Hyogo, are on display and for sale. Suwa paints subjects she meets in daily life, such as cats and plants.
The museum shop “Tokine” sells cat-design music boxes and goods. The “Wooden Box Animals” shown here costs ¥6,050 and the plush-style “Music Box Mate” ¥3,300. In the music box assembly workshop (from ¥3,800), you choose the tune and case and take your own music box home. Some sessions run at a special kotatsu seat (one table, first come, first served).
Cat-shaped rice curry and free warm wear
The attached “Mori no Cafe” serves its Awaji onion curry (regular size, ¥1,350) with cat-shaped rice. There are also kotatsu seats on the terrace for winter views.
Many activities are free: loaner warm wear in animal motifs or cardigans (first come, first served, 8 pieces), the “Nyan Nyan Nyan Stamp Rally” across three spots in the SIKI Garden, and the “Nuigurumi Photo Support Fair,” which lends props for photos of plush toys. You can borrow a cat plush if you do not have one.
Event information
- Dates: Saturday, December 26, 2026 – Friday, March 12, 2027
- Hours: 10:00–17:00 (tickets sold until 16:30)
- Closed: every Thursday during the period and Friday, January 1, 2027. Open on Thursday, February 11, 2027 (national holiday)
- Admission: Adults (junior high school and older) ¥1,700; children (age 4 to elementary school) ¥850
- Parking: ¥1,000 per standard car
- Mori no Cafe: 11:00–16:30 (last order 16:00)
- Winter-only set tickets: “Rokko Cable & Museum Warm Ticket” ¥3,700 (adults only, Dec 1, 2026 – Mar 19, 2027, sold at Rokko Cable Shita Station); “Rokko Arima Ropeway & Museum Winter Ticket” ¥3,500 (adults only, online only, Dec 1, 2026 – Mar 7, 2027)
- All prices include tax
