Toyooka, Hyōgo

Toyooka (豊岡市, Toyooka-shi) is a city in the northern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 March 2022, the city had an estimated population of 78,348 in 37769 households and a population density of 110 persons per km².[1] The total area of the city is 697.55 square kilometres (269.33 sq mi).

Toyooka
豊岡市
Top: Toyooka Stork Observation Park, Second: A night view of Kinosaki Spa, Izushi Clock Tower (left to right) Third: View of Takeno Beach, Naomi Uemura Adventure Museum (left to right), Bottom: Tantō Tulip Festival, schedule on every April, Toyooka Willow Festival, schedule on every August, (left to right)
Top: Toyooka Stork Observation Park, Second: A night view of Kinosaki Spa, Izushi Clock Tower (left to right) Third: View of Takeno Beach, Naomi Uemura Adventure Museum (left to right), Bottom: Tantō Tulip Festival, schedule on every April, Toyooka Willow Festival, schedule on every August, (left to right)
Flag of Toyooka
Official seal of Toyooka
Location of Toyooka in Hyōgo Prefecture
Location of Toyooka in Hyōgo Prefecture
Toyooka is located in Japan
Toyooka
Toyooka
Location in Japan
Coordinates: 35°33′N 134°49′E
CountryJapan
RegionKansai
PrefectureHyōgo
First official recorded655 BC
Town settledApril 1, 1889
City settledApril 1, 1950
Government
  MayorMuneharu Nakagai
Area
  Total697.55 km2 (269.33 sq mi)
Population
 (March 31, 2022)
  Total78,348
  Density110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address2-4 Chūōmachi, Toyooka-shi, Hyōgo-ken 668-8666
ClimateCfa
WebsiteOfficial website
Symbols
BirdOriental white stork
FlowerTulip
TreeWillow
Toyooka City Hall and Toyooka City Council

Geography

Toyooka is located in the northern part of Hyōgo 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 Gembudō. Gembudō 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

Hyōgo Prefecture

Kyoto Prefecture

Climate

Kyōtango has a humid climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall.[3] Although part of the Kansai region and Hyōgo Prefecture, Toyooka has a climate much more similar to the Hokuriku region of Chūbu and Tōhoku. 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)
Average high °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)
Average low °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

Per Japanese census data, the population of Toyooka in 2020 is 77,489 people.[6] Toyooka has been conducting censuses since 1950.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
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

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 Hyōgo 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 Tantō (both from Izushi District) were merged into Toyooka.

Government

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 Hyōgo 5th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Toyooka has mostly a rural economy based on agriculture and commercial fishing.

Education

Toyooka has 26 public elementary schools and nine public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Hyōgo 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

Fukuchiyama branch office of JR West on Toyooka.

Railway

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 WestSan'in Main Line

Kyoto Tango RailwayMiyazu Line

Highways

Airport

Tajima Airport serves Toyooka and its area with two direct flights a day to Osaka Itami Airport

Sister cities

  • Japan 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)
  • South Korea Gyeongju, South Korea
  • Spain Alicante, Spain (1996)

Local attractions

References

  1. "Toyooka city official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
  2. "What is San'in Kaigan Geopark" on the official website of San'in Kaigan Geopark (in Japanese)
  3. Toyooka climate data
  4. 平年値(年・月ごとの値) (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  5. 観測史上1~10位の値(年間を通じての値) (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  6. Toyooka population statistics
  7. 植村善博、「1925年北但馬地震における豊岡町の被害と復興過程」 佛教大学歴史学部 ISSN 2185-4203, 『歴史学部論集』 4巻 p.1-18, 2014年03月01日
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