Hyōgo Prefecture

Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県, Hyōgo-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu.[1] Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,400 km2 (3,243 sq mi). Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, and Okayama Prefecture and Tottori Prefecture to the west.

This article is about the prefecture. For the ward in the city of Kobe, see Hyōgo-ku, Kobe.
Hyōgo Prefecture

兵庫県
Prefecture
Japanese transcription(s)
 • Japanese兵庫県
 • RōmajiHyōgo-ken
Flag
Symbol
CountryJapan
RegionKansai
IslandHonshu
CapitalKobe
SubdivisionsDistricts: 8, Municipalities: 41
Government
 • GovernorToshizō Ido
Area
 • Total8,400.94 km2 (3,243.62 sq mi)
Area rank12th
Population
 (June 1, 2019)
 • Total5,469,762
 • Rank7th
 • Density650/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
ISO 3166 codeJP-28
Websiteweb.pref.hyogo.lg.jp/fl/english/
Symbols
BirdOriental white stork (Ciconia boyciana)
FlowerNojigiku (Chrysanthemum japonense)
TreeCamphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora)
Himeji Castle in Himeji, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Kōbe is the capital and largest city of Hyōgo Prefecture, and the sixth-largest city in Japan, with other major cities including Himeji, Nishinomiya, and Amagasaki.[2] Hyōgo Prefecture's mainland stretches from the Sea of Japan to the Seto Inland Sea, where Awaji Island and a small archipelago of islands belonging to the prefecture are located. Hyōgo Prefecture is a major economic center, transportation hub, and tourist destination in western Japan, with 20% of the prefecture's land area was designated as Natural Parks. Hyōgo Prefecture forms part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area, the second-most-populated urban region in Japan after the Greater Tokyo area and one of the world's most productive regions by GDP.

History

Present-day Hyōgo Prefecture includes the former provinces of Harima, Tajima, Awaji, and parts of Tanba and Settsu.[3]

In 1180, near the end of the Heian period, Emperor Antoku, Taira no Kiyomori, and the Imperial court moved briefly to Fukuhara, in what is now the city of Kobe. There the capital remained for five months.

Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is in the city of Himeji.

Southern Hyōgo Prefecture was severely devastated by the 6.9 Mw Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995, which destroyed major parts of Kobe and Awaji, as well as Takarazuka and neighboring Osaka Prefecture, killing nearly 6,500 people. In 2020 Hyōgo became one of the worst affected prefectures for the COVID-19 virus in Western Japan.

Geography
Map of Hyōgo Prefecture.
     Government Ordinance Designated City      City      Town
Kobe
Takarazuka
Sumoto
Tatsuno
Shiso
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
18901,551,367—    
19031,833,957+1.30%
19132,143,791+1.57%
19202,301,799+1.02%
19252,454,679+1.29%
19302,646,301+1.51%
19352,923,249+2.01%
19403,221,232+1.96%
19452,821,892−2.61%
19503,309,935+3.24%
19553,620,947+1.81%
19603,906,487+1.53%
19654,309,944+1.99%
19704,667,928+1.61%
19754,992,140+1.35%
19805,144,892+0.60%
19855,278,050+0.51%
19905,405,040+0.48%
19955,401,877−0.01%
20005,550,574+0.54%
20055,590,601+0.14%
20105,588,133−0.01%
20155,536,989−0.18%
source:[4]

Hyōgo has coastlines on two seas: to the north, the Sea of Japan, to the south, the Seto Inland Sea. On Awaji Island, Hyōgo borders the Pacific Ocean coastline in the Kii Channel. The northern portion is sparsely populated, except for the city of Toyooka, and the central highlands are only populated by tiny villages. Most of Hyōgo's population lives on the southern coast, which is part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. Awaji is an island that separates the Inland Sea and Osaka Bay, lying between Honshu and Shikoku.

Summertime weather throughout Hyōgo is hot and humid. As for winter conditions in Hyōgo, the north of Hyōgo tends to receive abundant snow, whilst the south receives only the occasional flurry.

Hyōgo borders on Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture and Okayama Prefecture.

As of March 31, 2008, 20% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Sanin Kaigan and Setonaikai National Parks; Hyōnosen-Ushiroyama-Nagisan Quasi-National Park; and Asago Gunzan, Harima Chūbu Kyūryō, Inagawa Keikoku, Izushi-Itoi, Kasagatayama-Sengamine, Kiyomizu-Tōjōko-Tachikui, Onzui-Chikusa, Seiban Kyūryō, Seppiko-Mineyama, Tajima Sangaku, and Taki Renzan Prefectural Natural Parks.[5]

Cities
See also: List of cities in Hyōgo Prefecture by population

Twenty-nine cities are located in Hyōgo Prefecture:

  • Kobe is where the Hyogo Prefectural Government sits.

Towns

These are the towns in each district:

Islands

Two major artificial islands are located Hyōgo Prefecture:

National parks

Mergers
Main article: List of mergers in Hyōgo Prefecture

Future mergers

The city of Akō and the only town in Akō District (Kamigōri), were scheduled to merge and the city would still retain the name Akō. Akō District would be defunct if the merger was successful.[6] However, the merger hasn't taken place.

Economy

As in all prefectures nationwide, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries play a big role in the economy of Hyogo Prefecture.[7] Hyōgo Prefecture also has an IT industry, many heavy industries, metal and medical, Kobe Port being one of the largest ports in Japan. Kobe Port also hosts one of the world's fastest supercomputers,[8] and Hyogo Prefecture passed laws to keep Kobe Port free of nuclear weapons (a nuclear-free zone) since the year 1975.

Hyōgo is a part of the Hanshin Industrial Region. There are two research institutes of Riken, natural sciences research institute in Japan, in Kobe and Harima. "SPring-8", a synchrotron radiation facility, is in Harima.

Kobe Port

Culture

National Treasures of Japan

Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Historic Buildings in Japan
  • Kitano-chō Yamamoto-dōri
  • Izushi
  • Sasayama

Museums

Education

Universities

Amagasaki

Takarazuka

Sanda

Nishinomiya

Ashiya

Kobe

Kato

Akashi

Kakogawa

Himeji

Akō

High schools

There are 163 public and 52 private high schools within Hyogo prefecture. Of the public high schools, some are administered by the Hyogo prefectural government, whilst the others are administered by local municipalities.

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Hyōgo.

Football (soccer)

Baseball

Volleyball

Rugby

Basketball

Tourism

A popular troupe of Takarazuka Revue plays in Takarazuka.

Arima Onsen in the south of the province in Kita-ku, Kobe is one of the Three Ancient Springs in Japan. The north of Hyogo Prefecture has sightseeing spots such as Kinosaki Onsen, Izushi, and Yumura Onsen. Takeda Castle in Asago is often referred to locally as the "Machu Picchu of Japan". The matsuba crab and Tajima beef are both national delicacies.[9]

Festival and events
Dekansho Bon Dancing Festival
Castle Festival in Himeji
  • Miyuki Street New Year's midnight traditional sale, Himeji
  • Nishinomiya Shrine's Ebisu Festival in January
  • Yanagihara Ebisu Festival in January, Kobe
  • Tada Shrine's Genji Festival in April, Kawanishi
  • Kobe Festival and Parade in May
  • Aioi Peron Festival in May
  • Himeji Yukata Festival in June
  • Dekansho Bon Dancing Festival in August, Sasayama
  • Nada Fighting Festival, Himeji
  • Kobe Luminarie in December
  • Ako Chushingura Parade

Transportation

Rail

People movers

Road

Expressways

National highways
  • Route 2
  • Route 9
  • Route 28
  • Route 29
  • Route 43
  • Route 171
  • Route 173
  • Route 174 (Sannomiya-Kobe Port)
  • Route 175
  • Route 176
  • Route 178
  • Route 179
  • Route 250
  • Route 312
  • Route 372
  • Route 373
  • Route 426
  • Route 427
  • Route 428
  • Route 429
  • Route 436
  • Route 477
  • Route 482
  • Route 483

Ports
  • Kobe Port – Mainly international container hub port
  • Akashi Port
  • Shikama Port – Mainly Shōdo Island route ferry

Airport

Notable people

Sister regions

Hyogo entered a sister state relationship with Washington state in the United States on October 22, 1963, the first such arrangement between Japan and the United States.[10][11]

In 1981, a sister state agreement was drawn up between Hyogo and the state of Western Australia in Australia.[12] To commemorate the 10th anniversary of this agreement in 1992, the Hyogo Prefectural Government Cultural Centre was established in Perth.[13]

See also

Notes
  1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Hyōgo prefecture" in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 363-365, p. 363, at Google Books; "Kansai" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 477, p. 477, at Google Books.
  2. Nussbaum, "Kobe" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 537, p. 537, at Google Books.
  3. Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 780, p. 780, at Google Books.
  4. Statistics Bureau of Japan
  5. "General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture" (PDF). Ministry of the Environment. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  6. City.ako.hyogo.jp Archived 2006-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "ⅩⅡ Income of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries" (PDF). Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  8. "RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science". Archived from the original on 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  9. "JAL Guide to Japan – Matsuba Crab". Archived from the original on 2015-04-05. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  10. Camden, Jim (August 20, 2013). "Washington, Japan celebrate 50 years". Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  11. "Celebrating 50 years with Hyogo, Japan". Washington State Library. August 19, 2013. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  12. "Sister Cities – City of Perth". Archived from the original on 2015-05-30.
  13. Hyogo.com.au Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine

References

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