Karaoke, a popular form of entertainment in Japan, originated in Kobe in the 1970s.

Mobile Suit Gundam, created by Yoshiyuki Tomino in 1979, is a popular anime series that helped to popularize the mecha genre of anime, which features giant robots.

The airbag, which was co-invented by Yasuzaburo Kobori and Allen K. Breed in the 1980s, has become a standard safety feature in automobiles worldwide.