Ashiya, Hyogo
Encyclopedia
Cities of Japan
||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...
founded on November 10, 1940 located in Hyōgo
Hyogo Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, between the cities of Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
and Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
.
Demographics
As of 2009, the city has an estimated populationPopulation
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 93,094 and the density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 5,030 persons per km². The total area is 18.47 km². The average household income in Ashiya is the highest of any city in Japan based on annual income tax reports.
History
Ashiya was established in 1871 as a township in Hyōgo prefecture. In the early 1900s, it was designated as an urban planning area. This led to the building of large single-family homes with tennis courts, swimming pools, and tea houses, etc. along the hills overlooking Osaka Bay.In 1945, the City of Ashiya prohibited the operation of pachinko parlors, gambling and entertainment facilities as well as small factories. Those laws still stand and there is no other municipal government with similar regulations in Japan.
In 1991, Ashiya residents elected Harue Kitamura ( Kitamura Harue, born July 11, 1928) as the first woman to hold the office of mayor of a city in Japan. Kitamura was mayor when Ashiya suffered major damage during the Kobe Earthquake on January 17, 1995.
Since 2008, buying, selling or building on property less than 4,269 square meters in area has been prohibited in the Rokurokusō-chō area by city architectural agreement.
Culture and people
Due to the large number of celebrities living within the city limits, Ashiya is known as the Beverly HillsBeverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
of Japan. Persons of note associated with Ashiya include Jirō Shirasu ("the man who reproached MacArthur"), Ryōji Noyori
Ryoji Noyori
is a Japanese chemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001. Noyori shared half of the prize with William S. Knowles for the study of chirally catalyzed hydrogenations; the second half of the Prize went to K. Barry Sharpless for his study in chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions...
(Nobel prize winner), Takashi Asahina
Takashi Asahina
was a Japanese conductor. Born in Tokyo, he founded the Kansai Symphonic Orchestra in 1947 and remained its chief conductor until his death in Kobe. Inspired by a meeting with Wilhelm Furtwängler in the 1950s, he began a lifelong attachment to the music of Anton Bruckner, recording the complete...
(conductor), Chitaru Asahina (conductor), Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (writer), Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer and translator. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize and Jerusalem Prize among others.He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature...
(writer), Atsuko Suga (writer/scholar of Italian literature), Yuriko Koike
Yuriko Koike
is a Japanese politician, who was the Minister of Defense in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but resigned August 27, 2007 after only 54 days in office...
(House of Representatives member), Yōko Ogawa
Yoko Ogawa
is a Japanese writer.-Biography:Ogawa was born in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, graduated from Waseda University, and lives in Ashiya, Hyōgo, with her husband and son. Since 1988, she has published more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel The Professor's Beloved Equation has been...
(writer), Hiroko Koshino (fashion designer) and Tsumasaburō Bandō
Tsumasaburo Bando
was one of the most prominent Japanese actors of the twentieth century. Famous for his rebellious, sword fighting roles in many jidaigeki silent films, he rose to fame after joining the Tōjiin Studio of Makino Film Productions in Kyoto in 1923.-Early life:...
(kabuki actor).
The city was the setting for Jun'ichiro Tanizaki's novel Sasameyuki (細雪） (The Makioka Sisters
The Makioka Sisters
The Makioka Sisters can refer to:*The Makioka Sisters , a serial novel by Tanizaki Junichiro*The Makioka Sisters , three films based on the novel...
, Eng. trans. Edward G. Seidensticker).
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
sits on a hill overlooking Hankyu Ashiyagawa Station and Osaka Bay. It was completed in 1924 as a residence for the Yamamura family, founders of the famous sake company "Sakuramasamune" . It is now known as the Yodokō Guest House
Yodokō Guest House
The Yodokō Guest House was built as the summer villa for the well-to-do brewer of Sakura-Masamune sake, Tazaemon Yamamura, and is the only surviving Frank Lloyd Wright residence in Japan...
and is open for tours. Ashiya also features the house of Hiroko Koshino designed by pritzker prize winning architect Tadao Ando.
Transport
Central Ashiya is served by JR West Ashiya StationAshiya Station (JR West)
is a train station on the Tōkaidō Main Line of JR West, located in Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.-Operation:The JR station consists of six tracks, with two island platforms serving the four tracks on the inside, and two express tracks on the outside for passing trains...
. Hanshin Electric Railway
Hanshin Electric Railway
is a Japanese private railway company of Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group that links Osaka and Kobe. It also owns the Hanshin Tigers baseball team.The second character for Osaka and the first character for Kobe combine to form the company name, 阪神, which can be read Han-shin.IC cards are accepted when...
Ashiya Station
Ashiya Station
Ashiya Station is the name of two train stations in Ashiya, Hyōgo, Japan:* Ashiya Station * Ashiya Station...
and Uchide Station serve the southern part of the city, while Hankyu Railway
Hankyu Railway
is a Japanese private railway that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of major businesses operated by Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc. The railway's main terminal is at Umeda Station in Osaka...
Ashiyagawa Station
Ashiyagawa Station
is a train station on the Hankyu Railway Kōbe Main Line in Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.-Layout:-Adjacent stations:...
is located in the quieter northern area.