is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in

Ibo District Ibo District is a small district of Cabo Delgado Province in northern Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeast ...

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 33,753 in 13941 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 1500 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Taishi is located in southwestern Hyōgo prefecture, and is enveloped to the west by the city of Tatsuno, and to the east by the city of

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...

Neighboring municipalities

Hyōgo Prefecture *

* Tatsuno

Natural Features

*Dantoku Hill (Dantoku Yama) *Tatsuoka Hill (also known as Tatsuoka Yama) *Ōtsumo River

Climate

Taishi has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Taishi is 15.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1519 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 21.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Hyōgo population statistics
/ref> the population of Taishi has steadily increased over the 100 years.

History

Taishi is located in ancient

Harima Province or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During the ...

, and the name appears in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

'' Nihon Shoki'' records. In 606 AD,

Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half-s ...

, also known as Shōtoku-taishi, gave a lecture on the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

to the Imperial Court, and was rewarded with the estate of Ikaruga-no-shō, which is located on the present town area. The village of Ikaruga was created within

Ibo District, Hyōgo is a district located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. As of 2020, the district has an estimated population of 34,105. The total area is 22.61 km2. Towns and villages *Taishi Merger *On October 1, 2005 the towns of Ibogawa, Mitsu Mitsu may ...

with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on April 1, 1931. The villages of Sekkai and Ōda were merged with Ikaruga to form the town Taishi on April 1, 1951. On April 1, 1955, Taishi annexed the village of Tatsuda. In October 2005 three towns (Ibogawa, Shingū, Mitsu) of Ibo District along with the town of Tatsuno merged into a single city bearing the name of Tatsuno. The merger left Taishi as the sole remaining independent town of the Ibo District. Separate plans have been laid out respectively for the merger Taishi and Tatsuno, or the merger of Taishi and Himeji.

Government

Taishi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

town council of 14 members. Taishi, together with the city of Tatsuno, contributes one member to the

Hyogo Prefectural Assembly The is the prefectural parliament of Hyogo Prefecture. The assembly's 87 members are elected every four years in 40 districts by single non-transferable vote. Nine of the electoral districts correspond with the wards of Kobe city and the rema ...

. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Hyōgo 12th district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

Taishi has mostly a rural economy based on agriculture and light manufacturing.

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

has a factory for the production of semiconductors and related products.

Education

Taishi has four public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Department of Education.

Transportation

Railway

The

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

(JR West)

San'yō Shinkansen The is a line of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network, connecting Shin-Osaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka, the two largest cities in western Japan. Operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West), it is a westward cont ...

San'yō Main Line The is a major railway line owned by JR Group companies in western Japan, connecting Kōbe Station and Moji Station, largely paralleling the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, Inland Sea, in other words, the southern coast of western Honshu. The Sa ...

run through the town, but there is no station. The nearest train station is Aboshi Station in Himeji.

Highways

* * *

Local attractions

Cultural and Historical Landmarks

* Ikaruga-dera - A Buddhist temple of the

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

sect that is connected to Prince Shōtoku and given a construction date of A.D. 606 in historical writings. *The consists of a historical building arrayed with artifacts dating from 1860 to 1863. *The D51-345 is a locomotive dating from 1941, manufactured in Yamaguchi and on display near Tatsuoka Hill.

Places of Cultural Interest

* Asuka Hall - Built in 1993, a culture and arts center where music and other performances are held. Seats an audience of 800.

Notable people

Miyamoto Musashi , also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer and rōnin, who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship a ...

(1584–1645) - Influential nobleman known for both swordplay and penmanship; born in Taishi; noted in the collection of writings known as the Harimakagami. The fact is possibly apocryphal as many cities lay claim to his birthplace. * Noguchi Sōichi (1965-) - Astronaut and engineer; attended elementary school in Taishi starting from 3 years of age until completing the 5th grade. *Yamada Etai (1895–1994) - Buddhist monk, head of the

sect. *Yasuda Seifū (1895–1979) - Poet who spearheaded the publication of the

Tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...

periodical Shiratama; known also for writing the poems Harutori and Tatsuokayama.

References

External links

*
Local school websiteTaishi official websiteTaishi places of historical interest
Towns in Hyōgo Prefecture {{Hyogo-geo-stub