260px, Eifuku-ji Kondo 260px, Shinaga Jinja 260px, Grave of Emperor Yōmei is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Minamikawachi District,

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 13,172 in 5572 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 930 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Taishi is located in the southeastern part of Osaka Prefecture on the west side of

Kongō Range The is a mountain range on the borders of Nara Prefecture, Nara and Osaka Prefectures on the island of Honshū in the southwest of central Japan. The range separates the Osaka Plain and the Nara Basin, and forms a natural place for the boundary ...

and Katsuragi Mountains which separate Osaka from

Nara Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...

. The town is dominated by the peaks of

Mount Nijō Mount Nijō (二上山, Nijōzan) is a mountain in the Kongō Range straddling the prefectural border between Taishi, Osaka, Taishi, Osaka Prefecture, Osaka and Katsuragi, Nara, Katsuragi, Nara Prefecture, Nara in Japan. Mount Nijō has twin peaks ...

to the east.

Neighboring municipalities

Nara Prefecture * Kashiba * Katsuragi Osaka Prefecture *

Habikino 270px, Habikino city office is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 109,479 in 50918 households and a population density of 4100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city is known fo ...

* Kanan * Tondabayashi

Climate

Taishi has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Taishi is 14.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1636 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Taishi population statistics
/ref> the population of Taishi has increased steadily since the 1970s.

History

The area of the modern town of Taishi was within ancient

Kawachi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in th ...

. The area has been inhabited since the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evi ...

, due to the abundance of raw materials for

stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...

s from Mount Nijō. During the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

, the Takeuchi Kaido, one of Japan's first "official roads", which connected the port of Sakai with

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...

was constructed. It was used by

Ono no Imoko was a Japanese politician and diplomat in the late 6th and early 7th century, during the Asuka period. Ono was appointed by Empress Suiko as an official envoy ( Kenzuishi) to the Sui court in 607 (imperial embassies to China), and he delivere ...

and others during the

Japanese missions to Sui China Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Around this time, Yamato's Asuka was called "Far Asuka", while the area around Taishi Town was called "Nearby Asuka". The town has many imperial tombs, including that of

Emperor Bidatsu was the 30th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')敏達天皇 (30) retrieved 2013-1-31. according to the traditional order of succession. The years of reign of Bidatsu start in 572 and end in 585; however, there are no ...

Emperor Yōmei was the 31st Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 用明天皇 (31)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Yōmei's reign spanned the years from 585 until his death in 587. Traditional narrative He was ca ...

Empress Suiko (554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō''): She introduced Buddhism in Japan and built many Buddhist temples, but she held the balance between Buddhism and Shintoism. Under her rule, Japan ...

, and

Prince Shotoku A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fem ...

. The villages of Isonaga and Yamada were established within Ishikawa District with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1896 the area became part of

Minamikawachi District, Osaka is a district located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. In 2009 the district had an estimated population of 37,695 and a density of 491 persons per km2. The total area is 76.81 km2. Towns and villages * Kanan * Taishi * Chihayaakasaka Mergers ...

. The two villages merged on September 30, 1956 to form the town of Taishi, which was named after Prince Shotoku.

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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 11 members. Taishi collectively with the cities of Tondabayashi and Ōsakasayama, and other municipalities of Minamikawachi District contributes two members to the

Osaka Prefectural Assembly The is the legislature of Osaka Prefecture. As in all prefectures, it is elected to four-year terms by single non-transferable vote in multi- and single-member districts and is responsible for enacting and amending prefectural by-laws, approving ...

. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Osaka 15th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Taishi was traditionally dependent on agriculture and forestry.

Education

Taishi has two public elementary schools and one public middle schools operated by the town government. The town does not have and a public high school; however, there is one private high school.

Transportation

Railway

Although the

Kintetsu Railway , referred to as and officially Kinki-Nippon Railway, is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railw ...

Minami Osaka Line is a railway line operated by Kintetsu Railway. It runs between in Osaka and in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture. The line connects Osaka to southern part of the Nara Basin, running through Osaka's southern suburb cities of Matsubara, Fujiidera ...

passes through the town, there is no passenger railway service. The nearest train station is Kaminotaishi Station in neighboring Habikino or Kishi Station in Tondabayashi.

Highways

Minami-Hanna Road *

Local attractions

* Eifuku-ji, Buddhist temple associated with Prince Shotoku * Futagozuka Kofun, a National Historic Site * Iwaya, a National Historic Site *Grave of

*Grave of

* Rokutan-ji temple ruins, a National Historic Site *Shinaga Jinja, with grave of

References

External links

*
Taishi official website
Towns in Osaka Prefecture Taishi, Osaka Prince Shōtoku {{Osaka-geo-stub