270px, Takarazuka City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Takarazuka city center Takarazuka Hyogo

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 ...

(

UTF-8 UTF-8 is a character encoding standard used for electronic communication. Defined by the Unicode Standard, the name is derived from ''Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit''. Almost every webpage is transmitted as UTF-8. UTF-8 supports all 1,112,0 ...

code FA10₁₆), which is part of Takarazuka's official name (), is not available on all systems. (It can be entered in

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

with HTML character 塚.) When not available, the

(

code 585A₁₆, HTML character 塚) is used as a substitute, rendering Takarazuka as . () 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 ...

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 221,846 in 96,729 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 2,200 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Known as the "inner parlor" of

Kansai 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 metropoli ...

, Takarazuka is famous for the

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo, Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway theatre, Broadway-style productions of musicals and stories adapted from films, nov ...

, hot springs, and the Takarazuka Tourism Fireworks Display held since 1913. It is also famous as a choice residential area along with Ashiya and

Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 1985 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218,948 households and a population density ...

Geography

Takarazuka is located in the northern part of the Hanshin area, surrounded by the Rokko Range to the west and the Nagao mountain range to the north, with the

Muko River The is a river in the south-eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture. This river was selected as the second most important river in the region by the prefecture governor. Its total length is 66 kilometers, and the drainage area is 496 square kilometers. ...

flowing through the center.

Neighboring municipalities

Hyōgo Prefecture * Inagawa *

Itami is a cities of Japan, city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83,580 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Itami is located in south-east ...

* Kawanishi *

Kita-ku, Kobe is one of 9 wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 241.84 km2, and a population of 226,402 (2008). ''Kita'' in Japanese means North. Kita-ku is the biggest ward in Kobe and occupies the northeastern part of the city. Arima Onsen is locat ...

* Sanda

Climate

Takarazuka 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 snowfall. The average annual temperature in Takarazuka is 14.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1578 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 25.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Takarazuka has been increasing steadily since the 1950s.

History

The area of Takarazuka was part of ancient

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

and has been inhabited since ancient times, with many ''

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumulus, tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞 ...

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s found within the city limits. The Mefu Jinja dates from 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 ...

. From 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, numerous landed estates ''

shōen A was a field or Manorialism, manor in Japan. The Japanese language, Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese language, Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to th ...

'' controlled by the

Fujiwara family The was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

were developed in the area. Takarazuka

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

is mentioned in

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

records. In the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, Kohama town developed as a temple town for Kōshō-ji, and subsequently Kohama Inn was established as a post station on Arima Road. The area was mostly ''

tenryō 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 war ...

'' territory under direct control 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 ...

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 village of Kohama (小浜村) was established on April 1, 1889 within

Kawabe District, Hyōgo is a district located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 29,053 and a density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symb ...

, with the creation of the modern municipalities system. In 1897, Hankaku Railroad (current

Fukuchiyama Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting Osaka and Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Fukuchiyama, Japan. Within JR West's "Urban Network" covering the Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto metropolitan region, the line from Osaka to S ...

) completed. In 1910, the Minoh Arima Electric Railway (current

Hankyu Takarazuka Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Umeda Station in downtown Osaka with Takarazuka Station in Takarazuka, Hyogo. It has a branch line, the Minoo Line, and the Nose Electric ...

completed). Takarazuka was a center of the culture from the 1910s to 1940s in what has been dubbed the age of Hanshinkan Modernism. This included the opening of the Takarazuka Girls' Opera (current

) on April 1, 1914. Kohama was elevated to town status on March 15, 1951, changing its name to Takarazuka. On April 1 1954 it merged with the village of Yoshimoto (吉本村) in Muko District to become the city of Takarazuka. The city continued to expand by annexing Nagao Village on March 10, 1955, and Nishitani Village on March 14, 1955, but losing some areas in a border adjustment with the city of Itami on April 1, 1955. On January 17, 1995 the

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 ...

caused more than 100 casualties. Takarazuka was designated as a Special City on April 1, 2003 with increased autonomy. At one time, the idea was raised of merging Takarazuka with

, Kawanishi, and Inagawa, but it is currently on hold.

Government

Takarazuka 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 26 members. Takarazuka contributes three members to the Hyōgo Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Hyōgo 6th 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 ...

Economy

Takarazuka has a mixed economy of commerce, manufacturing and market gardening. It is increasingly 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 ...

for

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, with quiet, upscale residential neighborhoods like Nigawa, Obayashi, Sakasegawa, and Hibarigaoka.

Companies headquartered in Takarazuka

* HI-LEX Corporation, a manufacturer of remote-controlling cables and accessories for multiple applications is headquartered in the city. * ShinMaywa Industries, a manufacturer of military aircraft (especially seaplanes) and heavy duty trucks is headquartered in the city.

Education

;Universities and colleges * Koshien University * Takarazuka University * Takarazuka Music School ;Primary and secondary schools Takazuka has 23 public elementary schools and 12 public middle schools operated by the city government, and five public high schools operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Board of Education. There are three private elementary schools, two private middle schools and two private high schools. In addition, the prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railways

Kawanishi is serviced by the

JR Takarazuka Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting Osaka and Fukuchiyama, Japan. Within JR West's "Urban Network" covering the Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto metropolitan region, the line from Osaka to Sasayamaguchi is also ...

and the

Hankyu Takarazuka Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Umeda Station in downtown Osaka with Takarazuka Station (Hankyu), Takarazuka Station in Takarazuka, Hyogo. It has a branch line, the Hankyu M ...

Hankyu , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region. It is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho G ...

's Kawanishi-Noseguchi Station is a transfer station to the Nose Railway, which runs primarily within Kawanishi.

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, ...

* - -

- Takarazuka Main Line * - - - - Hankyu Railway Logo

Imazu Line Imazu may refer to: People * Eddie Imazu (1897–1979), Japanese art director * Hiroshi Imazu (born 1946), Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet Places *Ōmi-Imazu Station is a ...

* - - - -

Highways

Chūgoku Expressway * JP Expressway E1A

Shin-Meishin Expressway The or simply ''Shin-Meishin'' for short is an expressway, linking Mie prefecture to Hyōgo Prefecture, which is partially open and partially under construction. The expressways current length as of February 2008 is 49.7 km. It connects t ...

Buses

Hankyu Bus , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region. It is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group ...

* Hanshin Dentetsu Bus * Hankyu Country Bus * Shinki Bus

Sister cities

Takarazuka is twinned with: *

Alsergrund Alsergrund (; ) is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. As a central district, the area is densely populated. Accor ...

, Austria * Augusta, United States

Local attractions

Specialty products

*Ornamental trees and flowers (

dahlia ''Dahlia'' ( , ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. Dahlias are members of the Asteraceae (synonym name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its relatives include the sun ...

s, irises, etc.) *

Tansan senbei The crown cork (also known as a crown seal, crown cap or just a cap), the first form of bottle cap, was invented by William Painter in 1892 in Baltimore. The company making it was originally called the Bottle Seal Company, but it changed its na ...

Places

* * * * *: Mixed Western- and Japanese-style mansion built in 1918–1919. Designed by Masaharu Furuzuka. National Registry of Tangible Cultural Properties. Filming location for

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

drama . *Takarazuka City Historical Archives (former Matsumoto Residence): Western-style mansion built in 1937. (National Registry of Tangible Cultural Properties) *Nomura Koumuten House (Designed by Antonino Cardillo in 2009) *Takarazuka Bow Hall * * Takarazuka Hotel * * *

Religious institutions

*Temples ** Gosho-ji ** Heirin-ji ** Kiyoshikoujin Seichou-ji ** Nakayamadera *Shrines ** Mefu Jinja

Sightseeing and festivals

* Flower Road * Takarazuka Tourism Fireworks Display *

Takarazuka Memorial Takarazuka can refer to * Takarazuka, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan * Takarazuka Revue, a Japanese all-female theater troupe in Japan ** Takarazuka Grand Theater, the Revue's home theater in Takarazuka, Hyōgo ** Tokyo Takarazuka Theat ...

(horse race)

Notable people from Takarazuka

* Saki Aibu,

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

Kyoko Hikami is a very common feminine Japanese given name. Not to be confused with Kiyoko. Written forms The final syllable "ko" is typically written with the kanji character for child, 子. It is a common suffix to female names in Japan. The first syl ...

voice actress Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

Makoto Imaoka , nicknamed "Makochan", is a Japanese former professional baseball infielder. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball from 1997 to 2012 for the Hanshin Tigers and Chiba Lotte Marines. Playing career Imaoka spent several uneventful seasons in t ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

player * Minami Itahashi, Olympic diver *

Shinji Okazaki is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is best known for winning the Premier League with Leicester City in 2016. Internationally, he is Japan's third all-time top goalscorer with 50 goals. Club career Shim ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Akira Raijin (born July 17, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler, working under the ring name Sushi (stylized as SUSHI). He is a two-time holder of the Gaora TV Championship. He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) under the ring ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

* Kosaku Shimada,

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

Seigo Yamamoto , known as "Boss", is a Japanese drift driver.

, Drifting (motorsport), drift driver *

Tarō Yamamoto is a Japanese politician and former actor, who is the founder and current leader of the anti-establishment political party Reiwa Shinsengumi. Yamamoto currently serves in the House of Councillors representing Tokyo, and previously served in the ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

References

External links

* *
Takarazuka Revue

Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Takarazuka, Hyogo Cities in Hyōgo Prefecture