Wikipedia

Hyōgo Prefecture

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

Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県, Hyōgo-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu.[3] Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 (as of 1 June 2019) and a geographic area of 8,400 square kilometres (3,200 square miles). Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, and Okayama and Tottori prefectures to the west.

Hyōgo Prefecture
兵庫県
Prefecture
Japanese transcription(s)
 • Japanese兵庫県
 • RōmajiHyōgo-ken
Rokkō Island and Higashinada District, Kobe City, Hyōgo Prefecture at night, view from Maya Peak
Rokkō Island and Higashinada District, Kobe City, Hyōgo Prefecture at night, view from Maya Peak
Flag of Hyōgo Prefecture
Flag
Official logo of Hyōgo Prefecture
Symbol
Anthem: Hyōgo Kenminka[note 1][1]
Location of Hyōgo Prefecture
Coordinates: 34°41′26.94″N 135°10′59.08″E / 34.6908167°N 135.1830778°E / 34.6908167; 135.1830778
Country Japan
RegionKansai
IslandHonshu, Awaji
CapitalKobe
SubdivisionsDistricts: 8, Municipalities: 41
Government
 • GovernorMotohiko Saitō
Area
 • Total
8,400.94 km2 (3,243.62 sq mi)
 • Rank12th
Population
 (1 June 2019)
 • Total
5,469,762
 • Rank7th
 • Density650/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
GDP
[2]
 • TotalJP¥ 22,195 billion
US$ 203.6 billion (2019)
ISO 3166 codeJP-28
Websiteweb.pref.hyogo.lg.jp/fl/english/
Symbols of Japan
BirdOriental white stork (Ciconia boyciana)
FlowerNojigiku (Chrysanthemum japonense)
TreeCamphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora)
Himeji Castle in Himeji, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Kobe is the capital and largest city of Hyōgo Prefecture, and the seventh-largest city in Japan, with other major cities including Himeji, Nishinomiya, and Amagasaki.[4] 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 designated as Natural Parks. Hyōgo Prefecture forms part of the Kobe metropolitan area and Osaka 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

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Map of Hyogo Prefecture with former provincial boundaries and current prefectural offices.
1.□Kobe city (divided between Harima and Settsu)
2.■Settsu (Hanshin South office)
3.■Settsu (Hanshin North office)
4.■Harima East office
5.■Harima North office
6.■Harima Central office
7.■Harima West office
9.■Tanba office
8.■Tajima office
10.■Awaji office
Areas beyond Harima West belonged to Mimasaka (north) and Bizen (south)

Present-day Hyōgo Prefecture includes the former provinces of Harima, Tajima, Awaji, and parts of Tanba and Settsu.[5]

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 Nishinomiya and Ashiya and the neighboring Osaka Prefecture, killing nearly 6,500 people.

Geography

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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:[6]

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, 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, 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 31 March 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.[7]

Current municipalities

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Aioi相生市
 
Akashi明石市
 
Akō赤穂市
 
Amagasaki尼崎市
 
Asago朝来市
 
Ashiya芦屋市
 
Awaji淡路市
 
Himeji姫路市
 
Itami伊丹市
 
Kakogawa加古川市
 
Kasai加西市
 
Katō加東市
 
Kawanishi川西市
 
Kobe (capital)神戸市
 
Miki三木市
 
Minamiawaji南あわじ市
 
Nishinomiya西宮市
 
Nishiwaki西脇市
 
Ono小野市
 
Sanda三田市
 
Shisō宍粟市
 
Sumoto洲本市
 
Takarazuka宝塚市
 
Takasago高砂市
 
Tamba-Sasayama丹波篠山市
 
Tanba丹波市
 
Tatsunoたつの市
 
Toyooka豊岡市
 
Yabu養父市
 
Fukusaki福崎町
 
Harima播磨町
 
Ichikawa市川町
 
Inagawa猪名川町
 
Inami稲美町
 
Kami香美町
 
Kamigōri上郡町
 
Kamikawa神河町
 
Sayō佐用町
 
Shin'onsen新温泉町
 
Taishi太子町
 
Taka多可町
class=notpageimage|
Municipalities in Hyōgo Prefecture      Government Ordinance Designated City      City      Town

Islands

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Two major artificial islands are located Hyōgo Prefecture:

National parks

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Mergers

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Main article: List of mergers in Hyōgo Prefecture

Future mergers

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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.[8] However, the merger has not taken place.

Economy

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Hyogo prefecture population pyramid in 2020

As in all prefectures nationwide, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries play a big role in the economy of Hyogo Prefecture.[9] 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,[10] 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

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National Treasures of Japan

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Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Historic Buildings in Japan

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  •  
    Kitano-chō Yamamoto-dōri
  •  
    Izushi
  •  
    Sasayama

Museums

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Education

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Universities

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Amagasaki

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Takarazuka

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Sanda

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Nishinomiya

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Ashiya

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Kobe

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Kato

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Akashi

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Kakogawa

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Himeji

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Akō

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High schools

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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

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Kyocera Dome Osaka

The sports teams listed below are based in Hyōgo.

Baseball

Basketball

Football (soccer)

Rugby

Volleyball

Tourism

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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.[11]

Festivals and events

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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

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Rail

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People movers

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Road

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Expressways

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National highways

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  • 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

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

Airport

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Notable people

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Sister regions

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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.[12][13]

In 1981, a sister state agreement was drawn up between Hyogo and the state of Western Australia in Australia.[14] To commemorate the 10th anniversary of this agreement in 1992, the Hyogo Prefectural Government Cultural Centre was established in Perth.[15]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Hyōgo Prefectural Government has expressed the view that the "Prefectural song does not exist" and denied the fact that currently, this song has been enacted in 1947.

Citations

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  1. ^ 金旻革 (2015-01-01). "布く新憲法 ゆくては明かるし…幻の兵庫県民歌". Kobe Shimbun. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  2. ^ "2020年度国民経済計算（2015年基準・2008SNA） : 経済社会総合研究所 - 内閣府". 内閣府ホームページ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Nussbaum, "Kobe" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 537, p. 537, at Google Books.
  5. ^ Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 780, p. 780, at Google Books.
  6. ^ Statistics Bureau of Japan
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ City.ako.hyogo.jp Archived 2006-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science". Archived from the original on 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  11. ^ "JAL Guide to Japan – Matsuba Crab". Archived from the original on 2015-04-05. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  12. ^ Camden, Jim (August 20, 2013). "Washington, Japan celebrate 50 years". Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  13. ^ "Celebrating 50 years with Hyogo, Japan". Washington State Library. August 19, 2013. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  14. ^ "Sister Cities – City of Perth". Archived from the original on 2015-05-30.
  15. ^ Hyogo.com.au Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine

General references

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hyōgo Prefecture.
 
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Hyōgo.
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