is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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

, Japan. , the city 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 28,208 in 13143 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 310 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Aioi is located in southwestern Hyōgo Prefecture extending largely south to north. The city's northern region is mountainous, the southern region faces the Seto Inland Sea.The area around the urban center, with Mt. Minosan in the north, Mt. Tengadai in the east, and Mt. Miya in the west, is a basin surrounded by small mountains.

Neighboring municipalities

Hyōgo Prefecture * Akō * Tatsuno

Climate

Aioi 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 Aioi 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 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Aioi has remained relatively constant over the past 70 years.

History

The Aioi area was part of ancient Harima Province and was located on the San'yō highway linking western Japan with the Kinai region. The area was the location of a stronghold of the Ebina clan, originally from

Sagami Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu Province, Izu ...

, who were retainers of the powerful Akamatsu clan. In the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the area became part of the holdings of Akō Domain. The village of was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on January 1, 1913, becoming . The town merged with the neighboring town of Naba on April 1, 1939, and the reading of the ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' of its name was officially changed to "Aioi" on April 13, 1939. It was raised to city status on October 1, 1942. Aioi merged with the villages of Wakasano and Yano on April 1, 1954.

Government

Aioi 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 14 members. Aioi contributes one member to the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Hyōgo 12th 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

Aioi has traditionally been famous for shipbuilding, which, despite many years of decline, still maintains a strong presence through Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI). The city is increasing becoming a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, with 25.0% of those commuting to work going to Tatsuno or Himeji. (2010 National Census).

Education

Aioi has seven public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private high school.

Transportation

Railway

JR West , 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, ...

– San'yō Shinkansen *

– San'yō Main Line / Akō Line * -

Highways

San'yō Expressway * JP Expressway E29

Harima Expressway * *

Local attractions

270px, Dragon Boat races in Aioi *, with

dragon boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

races, which takes place on the last weekend of May each year. In 1655, the dragon boat races were brought from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. Later in 1922, some Nagasaki IHI workers were transferred to Aioi. * Kanjōsan Castle ruins, National Historic Site

Daikon

In November 2005, the city was mentioned in world news reports after a large '' daikon'' radish that grew though the pavement was found slashed. According to a city spokesperson, the radish was seen as an inspiration due to "its tenacity and strong will to live." Efforts were undertaken to propagate the radish from a

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the sca ...

, as well as to harvest the plant's DNA. The tenacious daikon, nicknamed "Daichan," has since been celebrated in a children's book. In 2006, a special firework representing the daikon was set off at the annual firework display preceding the dragon boat races.27 May 2007: Date of the annual Aioi 'Peron' festival which includes boat racing for the whole of that day. Fireworks the previous night in Aioi.

Noted people from Aioi

* Ikuo Oyama, politician * Kirio Urayama, film director * Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, politician * Yoshito Yasuhara, voice actor

References

External links

Aioi City official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aioi, Hyogo Cities in Hyōgo Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Aioi, Hyōgo