was 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 ...
in
Shisō District,
Hyōgo,
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 ...
.
Geography
Yamasaki translates as "Mountain Cape", a reference to its seclusion amongst a range of forest-covered mountains. The extensive forest area provides the town's biggest industry, logging.
Yamasaki was about 45 minutes by car from the nearest city,
Himeji
260px, Himeji City Hall
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is ...
, which is to the east.
The population was served by a large hospital, the administrative center of Shisō City, and a major intercity highway, the
Chūgoku Expressway. There was no rail link, largely dictated by geography. There was one large high school, three junior high schools,
Population
As of 2003, 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 25,629 and a
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...
of 143.27 persons per km
2. The total area was 178.89 km
2.
History
On April 1, 2005, Yamasaki, along with the towns of
Chikusa,
Haga and
Ichinomiya
is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...
(all from
Shisō District), was merged to create the city of
Shisō and no longer exists as an independent
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
.
The new Shisō City incorporates a number of local townships and villages, most significantly the castle town of
Haga and
Chikusa.
Yamasaki has existed as a town for about fifty years, but the area has been occupied since the
Ōnin period in the fifteenth century, as its ancient "
Hachiman Shrine
A is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the ''kami'' Hachiman. It is the second most numerous type of Shinto shrine after those dedicated to Inari Ōkami (see Inari shrine). There are about 44,000 Hachiman shrines.
Originally the name 八幡 was rea ...
" denotes. Today, it includes substantial rice paddy cultivation.
Yamazaki Anzai, an important Confucian scholar, had ancestry in the area and was Yamasaki's best known personage.
References
External links
*
Official website of Shiso
Dissolved municipalities of Hyōgo Prefecture
Shisō, Hyōgo
{{Hyōgo-geo-stub