The tectonic history of the Nojima fault, a ~10 km-long active fault whose movement caused the disastrous 1995 Kobe earthquake, was studied by the apatite fission-track (AFT) dating method. AFT ages of 63--83 Ma from a thermally undisturbed uplifted block indicate relatively minor uplift since ~65 Ma with an estimated total exhumation of ~3.6 km assuming a geothermal gradient of 25¿C/km. AFT ages of 44--54 Ma and the nature of the track length distribution from fault-related rocks indicate that fault-related hydrothermal minerals, such as laumontite and chlorite, and foliated cataclasite were formed by ancient fault activity that occurred before ~44 Ma. It is inferred that the Quaternary fault activity of the Nojima fault is a relatively major phase in the entire tectonic history of the Nojima fault.