is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island ...

. 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, and

Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori Prefecture to the nor ...

and

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hir ...

to the west. Kōbe is the capital and largest city of Hyōgo Prefecture, and the seventh-largest city in Japan, with other major cities including Himeji, Nishinomiya, and

Amagasaki 270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 455,555 in 223812 households, and a population de ...

. Hyōgo Prefecture's mainland stretches from the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

to the Seto Inland Sea, where Awaji Island and a small

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

of islands belonging to the prefecture are located. Hyōgo Prefecture is a major economic center, transportation hub, and tourist destination in western Japan, with 20% of the prefecture's land area designated as Natural Parks. Hyōgo Prefecture forms part of the

Keihanshin is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population () of 19,302, ...

metropolitan area, the second-most-populated urban region in Japan after the Greater Tokyo area and one of the world's most productive regions by GDP.

History

Present-day Hyōgo Prefecture includes the former

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of Harima, Tajima, Awaji, and parts of Tanba and Settsu. In 1180, near the end of the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, Emperor Antoku,

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and ''kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Heian-kyō, Japan, in 1118 as the first s ...

, and the Imperial court moved briefly to Fukuhara, in what is now the city of Kobe. There the capital remained for five months. Himeji Castle, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

, is in the city of Himeji. Southern Hyōgo Prefecture was severely devastated by the 6.9 Mw

Great Hanshin earthquake The , or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and h ...

of 1995, which destroyed major parts of Kobe and Awaji, as well as Takarazuka and neighboring Osaka Prefecture, killing nearly 6,500 people.

Geography

Hyōgo has coastlines on two seas: to the north, the

, to the south, the Seto Inland Sea. On Awaji Island, Hyōgo borders the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

coastline in the Kii Channel. The northern portion is sparsely populated, except for the city of Toyooka, and the central highlands are only populated by tiny villages. Most of Hyōgo's population lives on the southern coast, which is part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. Awaji is an island that separates the Inland Sea and Osaka Bay, lying between Honshu and

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), ...

. Summertime weather throughout Hyōgo is hot and humid. As for winter conditions in Hyōgo, the north of Hyōgo tends to receive abundant snow, whilst the south receives only the occasional flurry. Hyōgo borders on Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture,

and

. 20% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Sanin Kaigan and

Setonaikai The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, 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 O ...

National Parks;

Hyōnosen-Ushiroyama-Nagisan Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park in Hyōgo Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture, and Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It was founded on 10 April 1969 and has an area of . Overview Hyōnosen-Ushiroyama-Nagisan Kokutei Kōen comprises three areas of the Chūgoku Mo ...

; and Asago Gunzan, Harima Chūbu Kyūryō, Inagawa Keikoku, Izushi-Itoi, Kasagatayama-Sengamine, Kiyomizu-Tōjōko-Tachikui, Onzui-Chikusa, Seiban Kyūryō, Seppiko-Mineyama, Tajima Sangaku, and Taki Renzan Prefectural Natural Parks.

Current municipalities

Islands

* Awaji Island * Ieshima Islands Two major artificial islands are located Hyōgo Prefecture: * Rokkō Island * Port Island

National parks

* Sanin Kaigan National Park * Setonaikai National Park *

File:Hyonosen02s1760.jpg,

(Mt. Hyonosen view from Yabu) File:Cercidiphyllum japonicum05s3200.jpg,

(Torokawataira in

Kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the ...

) File:TakenoBeach Hyogo prefecture.jpg, Sanin Kaigan National Park (Takeno Beach in Toyooka) File:Tajima mihonoura39st3200.jpg, Sanin Kaigan National Park (Tajima-mihonoura of Sanin Coast in Shinonsen)

Mergers

Future mergers

The city of Akō and the only town in Akō District ( Kamigōri), were scheduled to merge and the city would still retain the name Akō. Akō District would be defunct if the merger was successful. However, the merger hasn't taken place.

Economy

As in all prefectures nationwide, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries play a big role in the economy of Hyogo Prefecture. Hyōgo Prefecture also has an IT industry, many heavy industries, metal and medical,

Kobe Port The Port of Kobe is a Japanese maritime port in Kobe, Hyōgo in the Keihanshin area, backgrounded by the Hanshin Industrial Region. Located at a foothill of the range of Mount Rokkō, flat lands are limited and constructions of artificial isl ...

being one of the largest ports in Japan. Kobe Port also hosts one of the world's fastest supercomputers, and Hyogo Prefecture passed laws to keep Kobe Port free of nuclear weapons (a nuclear-free zone) since the year 1975. Hyōgo is a part of the Hanshin Industrial Region. There are two research institutes of Riken, natural sciences research institute in Japan, in Kobe and Harima. " SPring-8", a synchrotron radiation facility, is in Harima. Port of Kobe01s3780

Culture

National Treasures of Japan

* Himeji Castle in Himeji (

) * Jōdo-ji in

Ono ONO, Ono or Ōno may refer to: Places Fiji * Ono Island (Fiji) Israel * Kiryat Ono * Ono, Benjamin, ancient site Italy * Ono San Pietro Ivory Coast * Ono, Ivory Coast, a village in Comoé District Japan * Ōno Castle, Fukuoka * Ō ...

* Ichijō-ji in Kasai *

Kakurin-ji The is a temple of the Tendai sect in Kakogawa, Hyōgo Prefecture, Hyōgo, Japan. It was established by Prince Shōtoku's instruction in 589. Kakurin-ji's Taishidō was completed in 1112, and Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism), Main Hall was finis ...

in Kakogawa * Taisan-ji in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, w ...

* Chōkō-ji in Katō *Chorakuji in Kami, Hyōgo (Mikata) File:Jodoji Ono Hyogo01n3200.jpg, Jōdo-ji in

File:Ichijoji Kasai13bs4272.jpg, Ichijo-ji in Kasai File:Kakogawa Kakurinji12n4592.jpg,

in Kakogawa File:Hyogo-mikata-kami-kawai chorakuji-daibutsu.jpg, Chorakuji-daibutsu

Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Historic Buildings in Japan

* Kitano-chō Yamamoto-dōri * Izushi *

Sasayama , formerly known as , is a city in the central eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 40,050 in 17523 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The total area of the city is Geograph ...

File:Choueke house02 1920.jpg, Kitano-chō Yamamoto-dōri File:Ganjoji-Toyooka02s4592.jpg, Izushi File:Sasayama Okachi-machi05st3200.jpg, Sasayama

Museums

* Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art in Nada Ward,

. *

Kobe City Museum The opened in Kobe, 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 t ...

in Chuo Ward, Kobe. * Kobe Maritime Museum in Chuo Ward, Kobe. * KOSETSU Museum of Art in Higashinada Ward, Kobe. * Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum in Higashinada Ward, Kobe. * Himeji City Museum of Art in Himeji. * Asago Art Village in Asago. * Ashiya City Museum of Art & History in Ashiya. * TEKISUI MUSEUM OF ART in Ashiya. *

Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Osamu can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *治 "reign" *修 "discipline" *理 "logic" *収 "obtain" *紀 "chronicle" *統 "rule" The name can also be written in ...

in Takarazuka. File:Hyogo prefectural museum of art08s3200.jpg, Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art in

. File:Kobe city museum01 1920.jpg,

in Kobe. File:Kosetsu Museum：香雪美術館 - panoramio.jpg, KOSETSU Museum of Art in Kobe. File:Himeji City Museum of Art20bs4480.jpg, Himeji City Museum of Art in Himeji. File:Asago Art Village08n4272.jpg, Asago Art Village in Asago. File:Tezuka osamu01 2048.jpg, Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka.

Education

Universities

Amagasaki

Sonoda Women's University 270px, Sonoda Women's University is a private women's college in Amagasaki 270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had ...

St. Thomas University St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: * Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

(ex-Eichi University) – closed in 2015

Takarazuka

Takarazuka University is a private university in Takarazuka, Hyōgo, Japan, established in 1987. Campus *Takarazuka Campus (School of Art & Design and Media Design): 7-27, Hanayashiki-Tsutsujigaoka, Takarazuka, Hyogo () *Umeda Campus, Osaka (School of Nursing): 13-16, ...

* Koshien University

Sanda

* Kwansei Gakuin University (Sanda Campus)

Nishinomiya

Kobe College Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, which ...

*Kwansei Gakuin University * Otemae University * Mukogawa Women's University

Ashiya

* Ashiya University

Kobe

Kobe University , also known in the Kansai region as , is a leading Japanese national university located in the city of Kobe, in Hyōgo. It was established in 1949, but the academic origins of Kobe University trace back to the establishment of Kobe Higher Com ...

* Kobe University of Commerce * Kobe Gakuin University * Kobe City University of Foreign Studies * Kobe Women's University *

Kobe Shukugawa Gakuin University , colloquially abbreviated to , was a private non-sectarian and coeducational university located in Kobe, Japan. Established in 2007, it had been specialized in Tourism Studies. However, mainly due to the financial problems occurred in the manag ...

Kobe Institute of Computing is a private university in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. History KIC was found by Mr Tomio Fukuoka in . The Graduate School of Information Technology has established in . Fields of study KIC Graduate School of Information Technology has one M ...

* Konan University * University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences * University of Hyogo

Kato

* Hyogo University of Teacher Education

Akashi

* University of Hyogo

Kakogawa

Hyogo University is a private university in Japan. Its campus is located in Shinzaike, Hiraoka-cho, Kakogawa, Hyōgo Prefecture. The university is one of the seven schools run by , a school foundation with a Buddhist background (Nishi Hongwanji denomination). ...

Himeji

*Himeji Institute of Technology *

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 Kinki University * University of Hyogo

Akō

* University of Hyogo

High schools

There are 163 public and 52 private high schools within Hyogo prefecture. Of the public high schools, some are administered by the Hyogo prefectural government, whilst the others are administered by local municipalities. * Ashiya International Secondary School, founded 2003

Sports

Binnenkant van Kyocera Dome Osaka, -22 maart 2019

The sports teams listed below are based in Hyōgo. Football (soccer) * Vissel Kobe (

) *

INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe is a Japanese football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian. In 2006 INAC Leonessa was promoted to the Nadeshiko.League, where it has played since 2020. ...

(Women's) (Kobe) Baseball * Orix Buffaloes (

) * Hanshin Tigers ( Nishinomiya) Volleyball * Hisamitsu Springs (

) * JT Marvelous ( Nishinomiya) Rugby * Kobelco Steelers (

) *

World Fighting Bull World Fighting Bull were a Japanese rugby union team that played in the county's Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in ...

(

) Basketball * Nishinomiya Storks ( Nishinomiya)

Tourism

A popular troupe of Takarazuka Revue plays in Takarazuka. Arima Onsen in the south of the province in Kita-ku, Kobe is one of the Three Ancient Springs in Japan. The north of Hyogo Prefecture has sightseeing spots such as Kinosaki Onsen, Izushi, and Yumura Onsen. Takeda Castle in Asago is often referred to locally as the "Machu Picchu of Japan". The matsuba crab and Tajima beef are both national delicacies. File:170811 Rokko-Arima Ropeway Kobe Japan00n.jpg, Arima Onsen, Kobe File:Night view of Osaka bay.jpg, Million-dollar view, Kobe File:Kobe Mosaic06s4s3200.jpg, Harborland – Meriken Park area in Kobe File:Westin Awaji Island Hotel 06.jpg, Awaji Yumebutai in Awaji File:Ichikawa river Ikuno Asago Hyogo01s5bs4272.jpg, Kuchiganaya in Asago File:Kinosaki onsen02 1920.jpg, Kinosaki Onsen File:Yumura onsen11s1920.jpg, Yumura Onsen File:Tonomine highland 01 b.jpg, Tonomine highland in Kamikawa File:Kounotori 06f4439.jpg, Toyooka Stork Park File:20130507 takeda castle 10.jpg, Takeda Castle

Festivals and events

*Miyuki Street New Year's midnight traditional sale, Himeji *Nishinomiya Shrine's Ebisu Festival in January *Yanagihara Ebisu Festival in January, Kobe *Tada Shrine's Genji Festival in April, Kawanishi *Kobe Festival and Parade in May *Aioi Peron Festival in May *Himeji

Yukata A is an unlined cotton summer kimono, worn in casual settings such as summer festivals and to nearby bathhouses. Originally worn as bathrobes, their modern use is much broader, and are a common sight in Japan during summer. Though are traditio ...

Festival in June *Dekansho Bon Dancing Festival in August, Sasayama *Nada Fighting Festival, Himeji *Kobe Luminarie in December *Ako Chushingura Parade

Transportation

Rail

* JR West ** San'yō Shinkansen ** JR Kobe Line ** Wadamisaki Line ** San'yō Main Line **

San'in Line The is a railway line in western Japan, which connects Kyoto and Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is the major railway line of the San'in region, approximately paralleling the Japan Sea, crossing K ...

** Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line) ** Kakogawa Line ** Bantan Line ** Kishin Line ** Akō Line * Hankyu Railway **

Kobe Line may refer to: *JR Kobe Line, an alias of, and a part of the Tōkaidō Main Line and Sanyō Main Line (Ōsaka Station, Ōsaka-Himeji Station, Himeji) *Hankyu Kobe Line (Umeda Station, Umeda-Sannomiya Station, Sannomiya) *Hanshin Expressway Route 3 ( ...

** Kobe Kosoku Line ** Itami Line ** Imazu Line ** Koyo Line ** Takarazuka Line * Nose Railway **Myoken Line **Nissei Line * Shintetsu ** Arima Line ** Kobe Kosoku Line **

Sanda Line The is a commuter railway line in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan operated by Kobe Electric Railway. It connects Kobe with its northern suburb, Sanda. The line is long, extending from Arimaguchi in Kita-ku to Sanda, where the line connects with t ...

** Kōen-Toshi Line ** Ao Line * Kobe Municipal Subway ** Seishin-Yamate Line ** Kaigan Line ** Hokushin Line *Hojo Railway (Ao-Hojo) * Hanshin Railway ** Main Line ** Kobe Kosoku Line ** Mukogawa Line **

Hanshin Nanba Line The is a railway line operated by the private railway operator Hanshin Electric Railway connecting Amagasaki Station in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and Ōsaka Namba Station in Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. History The , the pre ...

* Sanyo Railway ** Main Line ** Aboshi Line *

Chizu Express The is a Japanese third-sector railway that connects Hyōgo, Okayama and Tottori prefectures. The Chizu Line is not electrified, but is a high-grade railroad, and extends a total of 56.1 kilometres. The limited expresses ''Super Hakuto'' and ''S ...

* Kitakinki Tango Railway ** Miyazu Line

People movers

* Kobe New Transit ** Port Liner ** Rokkō Liner

Road

Expressways

Chūgoku Expressway The (part of Asian Highway Network ) is an expressway in Japan, which extends from Suita, Osaka to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. It connects Kansai and Chūgoku regions in western Honshu, Japan's main island. Other major cities along the expressw ...

* San'yō Expressway *Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway * Meishin Expressway *Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway *Bantan Expressway *Second Shinmei road * Hanshin Expressway

National highways

*Route 2 *Route 9 *Route 28 *Route 29 *Route 43 *Route 171 *Route 173 *Route 174 (Sannomiya-Kobe Port) *Route 175 *Route 176 *Route 178 *Route 179 *Route 250 *Route 312 *Route 372 *Route 373 *Route 426 *Route 427 *Route 428 *Route 429 *Route 436 *Route 477 *Route 482 *Route 483

Ports

– Mainly international container hub port * Akashi Port * Shikama Port – Mainly Shōdo Island route ferry

Airport

* Kobe Airport * Konotori Tajima Airport

Notable people

* Ume Aoki, manga artist * Mana Ashida, child actress from Nishinomiya * Koichi Domoto, singer of KinKi Kids * Heath, musician, singer-songwriter and bassist of X Japan is from

* Hiro Fujiwara, manga artist *

Miracle Hikaru , is a Japanese impressionist of the comedic performing arts from Toyooka, Hyōgo. She is best known for her impersonation of Hikaru Utada. Her professional activities are currently managed by Jinsei Pro. Prior to her career as an Impressionist, ...

, comedian and impersonator is from Toyooka * Kanō Jigorō, founder of the martial art Judo * Jun, musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist of

Phantasmagoria Phantasmagoria (, also fantasmagorie, fantasmagoria) was a form of horror theatre that (among other techniques) used one or more magic lanterns to project frightening images, such as skeletons, demons, and ghosts, onto walls, smoke, or semi-t ...

is from

* Shinji Kagawa, footballer from

* Tomoya Kanki, drummer of One Ok Rock * Takumi Kawanishi (J-pop idol singer and dancer, member of JO1) * Tomomi Ogawa, bassist of

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

* Itzuki Yamazaki, professional wrestler from Ieshima * Kaoru, guitarist of

Dir En Grey Dir En Grey (stylized as DIR EN GREY and previously as Dir en grey) is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in February 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will. With a consistent lineup of guitarists Kaoru and D ...

Ayaka Kimura , born October 30, 1981 and known professionally as , is a Japanese actress and former singer. From 1998 to 2008, Nagate was part of Hello! Project as a member of the Japan-based girl group Coconuts Musume. History Nagate joined Hello! Proje ...

, actress, former singer of Coconuts Musume is from Kobe * Keiko Kitagawa, actress from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and Buzzer Beat was born in Kobe * Miho Komatsu, singer and songwriter from

* Yūji Kuroiwa, politician from

, current governor of

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

* Kamui Kobayashi, former Sauber and

Toyota Racing Toyota Racing may refer to: * Toyota Gazoo Racing * Toyota Motorsport GmbH * Toyota Racing (Formula One team) * Toyota Racing Development * Toyota Racing Series See also * Toda Racing, Japanese corporation * Toyota Supra in motorsport * Toyota i ...

driver from

* Chisa Maekawa, singer of Girl Next Door * Kiyomatsu Matsubara, ichthyologist, herpetologist and marine biologist * Aya Matsuura, singer is from Himeji * Ryuto Kazuhara, vocalist of Generations from Exile Tribe is from

* Mina Myoui – American-born Japanese singer of South Korean group Twice. Raised in Nishinomiya * Hiro Matsushita – Businessman, former driver in Champ Car series. Chairman of Swift Engineering &

Swift Xi Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, a ...

Miyavi , better known by his stage name Miyavi (雅, stylized as MIYAVI), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger-slapping style of playing a guitar. He has been active since 1999, first as guitarist ...

, musician, although born in Konohana-ku, Osaka grew up in Kawanishi *

Minako Nishiyama is a Japanese contemporary artist whose works have dealt with cultures, customs, and the representations of young females in Japanese media and popular culture. Her work is identified with an initial stage of the artistic transformation of post-m ...

, contemporary artist * Masamune Shirow,

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

artist was born in Kobe * So Taguchi, outfielder for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

* Masahiro Tanaka, pitcher for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

* Nagaru Tanigawa, creator of the '' Haruhi Suzumiya'' series was born in Kinki * Tsuneko Taniuchi, contemporary performance artist * Fumito Ueda, video game creator of '' Ico'', '' Shadow of the Colossus'', and '' The Last Guardian'' *

Juri Ueno is a Japanese actress. She first gained recognition in the 2005 film '' Swing Girls'' where she was a recipient of Newcomer of the Year prize at the Japanese Academy Awards. Ueno achieved mainstream success for playing the titular role in the li ...

, Japanese Academy Award-winning actress best known for her performances in '' Swing Girls'' and the live-action adaptation of '' Nodame Cantabile'', is from Kakogawa * Shota Yasuda, guitarist of Kanjani Eight is from Amagasaki * Piko, musician,

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...

singer born in Kobe, Hyōgo

Sister regions

Hyogo entered a sister state relationship with Washington state in the United States on October 22, 1963, the first such arrangement between Japan and the United States. In 1981, a sister state agreement was drawn up between Hyogo and the state of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

in Australia. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of this agreement in 1992, the Hyogo Prefectural Government Cultural Centre was established in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

.Hyogo.com.au

Notes

Citations

General references

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth (2005)
''Japan Encyclopedia''
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. . .

External links

Official Hyōgo prefecture homepage

Hyōgo prefecture tourist guide

Hyōgo Business & Cultural Center

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyogo Prefecture Kansai region Prefectures of Japan