City in Kansai, Japan
Toyooka
(
豊岡市
,
Toyooka-shi
)
is a
city
in the northern part of
Hy?go Prefecture
, Japan. As of 31 March 2022
[update]
, the city had an estimated
population
of 78,348 in 37769 households and a
population density
of 110 persons per km
2
.
[1]
The total area of the city is 697.55 square kilometres (269.33 sq mi).
Geography
[
edit
]
Toyooka is located in the northern part of Hy?go Prefecture and the
Kinki region
, facing the
Sea of Japan
in the north. It lies entirely within the
San'in Kaigan Geopark
.
[2]
The
Maruyama River
flows through the central part of the city, and the Toyooka Basin, which is the largest basin in the Tajima region, spreads out in the central part of the city. Toyooka is located in the
"snow country"
of Japan and is characterized by heavy accumulations of snow in winter. One of Toyooka's famous geological features is a
basalt
cave called Gembud?. Gembud? was formed 1.6 million years ago from the eruption of an ancient volcano. In 1926, Professor
Motonori Matuyama
of Kyoto University first proposed the theory of geomagnetic polarity reversal at Genbudo after discovering it had a reverse magnetization.
The wetlands of Toyooka provide an important habitat for the
oriental stork
. After becoming extinct in the wild in the 1970s, Toyooka began a captive breeding program. After a quarter of a century of breeding efforts, the first oriental stork chick was born in 1989. In 2005 Toyooka released 5 captively bred storks, which bred successfully in the wild. As of June 2015 there are 72 wild oriental white storks in Toyooka.
The hot spring resort
Kinosaki Onsen
is located within Toyooka.
Neighbouring municipalities
[
edit
]
Hy?go Prefecture
Kyoto Prefecture
Climate
[
edit
]
Ky?tango has a
humid climate
(Koppen
Cfa
) characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall.
[3]
Although part of the
Kansai region
and Hy?go Prefecture, Toyooka has a climate much more similar to the
Hokuriku region
of
Ch?bu
and
T?hoku
. Unlike Osaka or Kobe, which rarely see significant snowfall during the winter, Toyooka, exposed to the northerly winter winds driven by the
Siberian High
and
Aleutian Low
, receives 3.1 metres (122.0 in) of snowfall per year, though melt rates are high even during the winter and the maximum cover on the ground is typically only 0.35 metres (13.8 in) and has never exceeded 0.54 metres (21.3 in). Precipitation is much heavier than in central Kansai, though less heavy than in the
Kii Peninsula
or the Hokuriku region proper.
Climate data for Toyooka (1991?2020 normals, extremes 1918?present)
|
Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
Record high °C (°F)
|
21.4
(70.5)
|
23.0
(73.4)
|
26.7
(80.1)
|
32.2
(90.0)
|
33.9
(93.0)
|
37.2
(99.0)
|
39.3
(102.7)
|
39.4
(102.9)
|
37.9
(100.2)
|
32.4
(90.3)
|
27.2
(81.0)
|
23.1
(73.6)
|
39.4
(102.9)
|
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
|
7.4
(45.3)
|
8.4
(47.1)
|
13.0
(55.4)
|
19.3
(66.7)
|
24.3
(75.7)
|
27.3
(81.1)
|
31.2
(88.2)
|
32.8
(91.0)
|
27.8
(82.0)
|
22.2
(72.0)
|
16.5
(61.7)
|
10.5
(50.9)
|
20.1
(68.1)
|
Daily mean °C (°F)
|
3.3
(37.9)
|
3.7
(38.7)
|
7.2
(45.0)
|
12.7
(54.9)
|
17.8
(64.0)
|
21.8
(71.2)
|
26.0
(78.8)
|
27.1
(80.8)
|
22.6
(72.7)
|
16.6
(61.9)
|
11.1
(52.0)
|
5.9
(42.6)
|
14.7
(58.4)
|
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
|
0.4
(32.7)
|
0.2
(32.4)
|
2.4
(36.3)
|
6.9
(44.4)
|
12.4
(54.3)
|
17.7
(63.9)
|
22.3
(72.1)
|
23.1
(73.6)
|
18.9
(66.0)
|
12.6
(54.7)
|
7.2
(45.0)
|
2.5
(36.5)
|
10.6
(51.0)
|
Record low °C (°F)
|
?12.5
(9.5)
|
?11.1
(12.0)
|
?11.0
(12.2)
|
?3.2
(26.2)
|
0.7
(33.3)
|
6.0
(42.8)
|
13.0
(55.4)
|
13.8
(56.8)
|
7.9
(46.2)
|
2.0
(35.6)
|
?2.2
(28.0)
|
?9.1
(15.6)
|
?12.5
(9.5)
|
Average
precipitation
mm (inches)
|
248.0
(9.76)
|
188.0
(7.40)
|
150.6
(5.93)
|
99.6
(3.92)
|
122.1
(4.81)
|
150.0
(5.91)
|
187.7
(7.39)
|
144.5
(5.69)
|
243.8
(9.60)
|
172.4
(6.79)
|
154.6
(6.09)
|
227.6
(8.96)
|
2,072
(81.57)
|
Average snowfall cm (inches)
|
82
(32)
|
74
(29)
|
14
(5.5)
|
trace
|
0
(0)
|
0
(0)
|
0
(0)
|
0
(0)
|
0
(0)
|
0
(0)
|
trace
|
34
(13)
|
204
(80)
|
Average precipitation days
(≥ 1.0 mm)
|
21.2
|
17.0
|
15.0
|
10.7
|
10.0
|
10.9
|
11.9
|
9.9
|
12.8
|
12.0
|
14.1
|
19.5
|
165
|
Average snowy days
(≥ 1 cm)
|
12.5
|
11.3
|
2.9
|
0.1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.1
|
5.7
|
32.6
|
Average
relative humidity
(%)
|
84
|
81
|
75
|
71
|
71
|
77
|
79
|
76
|
80
|
81
|
82
|
83
|
78
|
Mean monthly
sunshine hours
|
65.0
|
75.4
|
116.8
|
164.0
|
186.8
|
138.1
|
150.5
|
189.0
|
123.2
|
115.0
|
90.6
|
72.9
|
1,487.3
|
Source:
Japan Meteorological Agency
[4]
[5]
|
Demographics
[
edit
]
Per Japanese census data, the population of Toyooka in 2020 is 77,489 people.
[6]
Toyooka has been conducting censuses since 1950.
Historical population
Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
---|
1950
| 102,838
| ?
|
---|
1955
| 102,557
| ?0.3%
|
---|
1960
| 99,572
| ?2.9%
|
---|
1965
| 96,599
| ?3.0%
|
---|
1970
| 94,732
| ?1.9%
|
---|
1975
| 95,687
| +1.0%
|
---|
1980
| 96,448
| +0.8%
|
---|
1985
| 96,086
| ?0.4%
|
---|
1990
| 94,163
| ?2.0%
|
---|
1995
| 93,859
| ?0.3%
|
---|
2000
| 92,752
| ?1.2%
|
---|
2005
| 89,208
| ?3.8%
|
---|
2010
| 85,607
| ?4.0%
|
---|
2015
| 82,250
| ?3.9%
|
---|
2020
| 77,489
| ?5.8%
|
---|
Toyooka population statistics
[6]
|
History
[
edit
]
The area of Toyooka was the center of ancient
Tajima Province
in the early 8th century and the location of the
provincial capital
and the
Tajima Kokubun-ji
. From the
Muromachi period
to the end of the
Sengoku period
, the area was under the stronghold of the powerful
Yamana clan
. Under the
Edo Period
Tokugawa shogunate
,
Toyooka Domain
and
Izushi Domain
existed within the borders of what is now the city of Toyooka. In 1871, following the
Meiji restoration
, "Toyooka Prefecture" incorporating all of the former feudal territories within Tajima,
Tango
and
Tanba Provinces
was created. It was abolished on August 21, 1876, when Hy?go Prefecture was created. The town of Toyooka was officially established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The
1925 North Tajima earthquake
created severe damage in Toyooka, with official government reports, indicating that there were 428 fatalities, 1,016 injuries, 7,863 buildings destroyed, and 45,659 houses damaged by collapse or fire.
[7]
The city of Toyooka was created on April 1, 1950 by the merger of Toyooka with neighboring Gosho, Nitta, and Nakasuji villages. The city expanded on April 1, 1955 by annexing Nasa and Minato villages. On April 1, 2005, the towns of
Kinosaki
,
Hidaka
and
Takeno
(all from
Kinosaki District
) and the towns of
Izushi
and
Tant?
(both from
Izushi District
) were merged into Toyooka.
Government
[
edit
]
Toyooka has a
mayor-council
form of government with a directly elected mayor and a
unicameral
city council of 24 members. Toyooka contributes one member to the
Hyogo Prefectural Assembly
. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Hy?go 5th district of the
lower house
of the
Diet of Japan
.
Economy
[
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]
Toyooka has mostly a rural economy based on agriculture and commercial fishing.
Education
[
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]
Toyooka has 26 public elementary schools and nine public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Hy?go Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private middle school and one private high school. The
Toyooka Junior College
and the Professional College of Arts and Tourism are also located in the city. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.
Transportation
[
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]
Railway
[
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]
The
Sanin Main Line
provides a JR rail connection to
Kyoto
, and direct trains to
Osaka
are available via
Fukuchiyama
. Direct Express trains take about 2.5 hours from Osaka to Toyooka.
JR West
?
San'in Main Line
Kyoto Tango Railway
?
Miyazu Line
Highways
[
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]
Airport
[
edit
]
Tajima Airport
serves Toyooka and its area with two direct flights a day to Osaka Itami Airport
Sister cities
[
edit
]
- Ueda
, Nagano Prefecture (since the former city of Ueda and the former town of Izushi were sister cities before the recent creation of both Toyooka and Ueda)
- Gyeongju
, South Korea
- Alicante
, Spain (1996)
Local attractions
[
edit
]
-
Hattan Falls in Kannabe highlands
-
Cherry blossoms in Kinosaki Onsen
-
Genbudo cave
-
Toyooka City Mascot Gensan
-
Takeno Beach
-
Izushi Castle Inari Shrine
-
Toyooka City Oriental white stork
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
|
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International
| |
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National
| |
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Geographic
| |
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