260px, Himeji City Hall 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 ...

located in

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 ...

in the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

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 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 525,682 in 227,099 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 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Himeji is located in the central western part of the Harima Plain in the western part of Hyogo Prefecture, and is the central city of the Harima region of the prefecture. The Ichikawa River is located in the central eastern part of the city, and the Senba River and Noda River are located in the center. The Ieshima Islands in the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

are within the city limits and are located off the coast of Harima Bay. The city is surrounded by the mountains and the sea.

Neighbouring municipalities

Hyōgo Prefecture * Ichikawa * Kakogawa * Kamikawa * Kasai * Shisō * Taishi * Takasago * Tatsuno

Climate

Himeji 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 climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool winters. Summers are significantly wetter than winters. The average annual temperature in Himeji is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Himeji was on 31 August 2020; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 24 January 1963.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Himeji in 2020 is 530,495 people. Himeji has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

Himeji has been the center of

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 th ...

since the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 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 capita ...

, and was the location of the

provincial capital A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

and Harima Kokubun-ji. After the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

Ikeda Terumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was ''Kokushi (officials), Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many ...

received a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

at Harima Province and established the

Himeji Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Harima Province in what is now the southern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Himeji Castle, which is located in what ...

. He expanded Himeji Castle and its

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

. Due to its location dominating the

San'yōdō is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. The San'yōdō corresponds for the most part with the modern conception of the San'yō region. This name derives from the i ...

highway connecting the

Kinai region is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kina ...

with western Japan, Himeji was a major stronghold of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

through the

Bakumatsu period were the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunat ...

. Following the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, Himeji was the capital of "Himeji Prefecture" (later Shikama Prefecture) from 1871, which was merged into Hyōgo Prefecture in 1876. The city of Himeji was established on April 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern municipalities system. After the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

, the Japanese government reportedly considered moving the nation's capital from Tokyo to Himeji. On April 1, 1996, Himeji attained

Core city In urban planning, a historic core city or central city is the municipality with the largest 1940 population in the present metropolitan area (metropolitan statistical area). This term was retired by the US census bureau and replaced by the term ...

status, with increased local autonomy. On March 27, 2006, the town of Yasutomi (from Shisō District), the town of Kōdera (from Kanzaki District), and the towns of Ieshima and Yumesaki (both from Shikama District) were merged into Himeji.

Air raids

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Himeji was a target for the United States'

XXI Bomber Command The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II. The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization and ...

as it was an important rail terminal and contained two large military zones. The first air raid occurred on June 22, 1945 at 0950, in which 60

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

bombers centered on an area containing a Kawanishi Aircraft Company factory. The bombing killed 341 people and rendered 10,220 homeless. The second attack occurred on July 3, 1945, at 16:23, 107 aircraft dropped 767 tons of

incendiary bomb Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...

s on Himeji, destroying 63.3% of the built up areas of the city. However, the famous Himeji Castle, although blackened by smoke from the burning city, remained unscathed, even with one firebomb being dropped on it. This attack killed 173 people, severely wounded 160, and resulted in the destruction of 10,300 buildings, rendering 45,182 people homeless.

Government

Himeji 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 46 members. Himeji contributes eight members to the

Hyogo Prefectural Assembly The is the prefectural parliament of Hyōgo 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 city is divided between the Hyōgo 11th and Hyōgo 12th districts 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 ...

Mayors of Himeji City (1889–present)

Economy

Himeji is located within the Hanshin Industrial Area and Harima Seaside Industrial Areas. The coastal region is heavily industrialized, with steel mills, chemical plants, semiconductor and automobile electronics predominating. In addition, Kansai Electric Power's Himeji No. 1 Power Station and Himeji No. 2 Power Station are located in the area. The northern two-thirds of the city is mainly agricultural and

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

off the southern seacoast also plays a role in the economy. Traditional crafts include the production of ''

butsudan A , sometimes spelled butudan, is a shrine commonly found in temples and homes in Japanese Buddhist cultures. A ''butsudan'' is either a defined, often ornate platform or simply a wooden cabinet sometimes crafted with doors that enclose and p ...

'' (Buddhist altars), leather crafts, glue, matchmaking and candles.

Education

Colleges and universities

Himeji Dokkyo University is a private university in Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1881, and it was chartered as a university in 1986. It has many international students relative to other Japanese universities, and is most known for t ...

* Himeji Hinomoto College * Himeji University * Kenmei Women's Junior College (1951–2008) * University of Hyogo - Himeji Institute of Technology

Primary and secondary schools

Himeji has 66 public elementary schools, 32 public middle schools and three public high schools operated by the city government and 13 public high schools operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Department of Education. There are also four private combined middle/high schools. There are also four special education school for the handicapped, one operated by the city and three by the prefecture. A North Korean school, , can also be found in the city.

Transportation

Railway

260px, San'yō Shinkansen running through the city of Himeji Shinkansen jrw

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 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 co ...

–

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, in other words, the southern coast of western Honshu. The San'yō Shi ...

(

JR Kobe Line JR, J. R. or Jr. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' J R'', a 1975 novel by William Gaddis * J. R. Ewing, a ''Dallas'' television character * JR Chandler, an ''All My Children'' television character * '' Jornal da Record'', a Brazilian ne ...

) * - - - --- - -

– Bantan Line * - - - - - -

–

Kishin Line is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) between Himeji, Hyōgo and Niimi, Okayama, Japan. The name of the line comes from the first kanji of Himeji () and Niimi () which the line connects. Stations *S: Trains stop *s: ...

* - - - Sanyo electric railway logo-5

Sanyo Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway operating company based in western Hyōgo Prefecture. It runs local and express rail service between Himeji and Kobe, and also connects directly with Hanshin Main Line to Osaka. Although the Hanshin Electric Rai ...

- Main Line * - - - - - - - - Sanyo electric railway logo-5

- Aboshi Line * - - - - - -

Highways

San'yō Expressway * JP Expressway E2A

Chūgoku Expressway * JP Expressway E95

Bantan Renraku Road * * * * * * *

Ferries

* Bozeki Kisen: Himeji Kazuma Port - Tanga Island - Boze Island * Kosoku Ieshima: Himeji Kazuma Port - Iejima * Shodoshima Ferry: Himeji Kazuma Port-Fukuda Port (

Shōdoshima Shōdoshima or is an island located in the Seto Inland Sea, Inland Sea of Japan. The name means "Island of Azuki bean, Small Beans". There are two towns on the island: Tonoshō, Kagawa, Tonoshō and Shodoshima, Kagawa, Shōdoshima, composing the ...

) * Takafuku Liner: Himeji Kazuma Port - Iejima

International relations

Himeji is twinned or has sister city relationships with six international cities and two Japanese cities, as well as a sister castle located in France. Himeji has a particularly strong relationship with Phoenix, Arizona, as teachers from America are able to teach English abroad for 1–2 years. Additionally, the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program allows for both Japanese and American high school students to experience the cultures and languages of their respective countries for 3 weeks.Sister Cities
. City of Himeji. Retrieved August 24, 2008.

Sister cities

International

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, Australia *

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

South Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heri ...

, South Korea *

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

, Belgium *

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

, Brazil *

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, United States *

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

, China

Japan

* Matsumoto, in

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

* Tottori, capital city in

Tottori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, least populous prefecture of Japan at 538,525 (2023) and has a geographic area of . ...

Sister castles

Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmore ...

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city ** US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Chantilly (Charlotte neighborhood), North Carolina ...

, France * Conwy Castle (Castell Conwy) in North Wales, since October 2019

Local attractions

Engyō-ji The is a temple of the Tendai sect in Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan. History It was founded by Shoku Shonin in 966. The complex of buildings is at the top of Mt Shosha approximately 25 minutes by bus from Himeji Station. The mountain summit can be ...

temple * Harima Kokubun-ji ruins, National Historic Site * Himeji Castle, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. For over 400 years, Himeji Castle has remained intact, even throughout the extensive bombing of Himeji in

and natural disasters such as the 1995

Great Hanshin earthquake The Great Hanshin Earthquake (, ) occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region of Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 o ...

and various

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

s. *

Himeji Central Park The is a safari park in Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan. The park opened in March 1984, and is the only safari park in Kansai region. It has a "sister park" agreement with Nairobi National Park, Kenya. The park also incorporates an amusement park. It is ...

safari park A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals. A safari par ...

) * Himeji City Tegarayama Botanical Garden * Koko-en Garden * Mount Seppiko * Okishio Castle - A castle ruin, Home castle of the

Akamatsu clan is a Japanese samurai family of direct descent from Minamoto no Morifusa of the Murakami-Genji (Minamoto clan). Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Akamatsu" at ''No ...

. File:Engyoji05s4592.jpg,

File:Himeji Koukoen32n4592.jpg, Koko-en Garden File:Tegarayama Central Park Himeji Hyogo pref Japan02bs5.jpg, Tegarayama Central Park

Notable people from Himeji

* (1546–1604), famed strategist under

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

* (1899–1969), judoka * (1986-), entertainer *, visual kei rock band * (1939–2020), fashion designer * (1933–1985), the 4th ''kumicho'' of

Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest ''yakuza'' organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for longshoreman, dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest organized cr ...

's largest

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

syndicate * (1889–1960), philosopher and historian

References

External links

Himeji City official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Himeji, Hyogo * Cities in Hyōgo Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan