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Ashiya, Hyogo

Ashiya
芦屋市
City
Clockwise from top, Ashiya River, Ashiya Municipal Museum Art, Yodoko Guest House, Emba Museum of Modern Art, Ashiya Citizen Center, Bell Port Ashiya, Jyunichiro Tanizaki Memorial Hall
Clockwise from top, Ashiya River, Ashiya Municipal Museum Art, Yodoko Guest House, Emba Museum of Modern Art, Ashiya Citizen Center, Bell Port Ashiya, Jyunichiro Tanizaki Memorial Hall
Flag of Ashiya
Flag
Location of Ashiya in Hyōgo Prefecture
Location of Ashiya in Hyōgo Prefecture
Ashiya is located in Japan
Ashiya
Ashiya
Location in Japan
Coordinates: 34°44′N 135°18′E / 34.733°N 135.300°E / 34.733; 135.300Coordinates: 34°44′N 135°18′E / 34.733°N 135.300°E / 34.733; 135.300
Country Japan
Region Kansai
Prefecture Hyōgo Prefecture
Government
 • Mayor Ken Yamanaka
Area
 • Total 18.47 km2 (7.13 sq mi)
Population (2015)
 • Total 96,748
Symbols
 • Tree Japanese Black Pine
 • Flower Kobano-mitsuba-tsutsuji
Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City hall address 7-6 Seidōchō, Ashiya-shi, Hyōgo-ken
659-8501
Website www.city.ashiya.lg.jp

Ashiya (芦屋市 Ashiya-shi?) is a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, between the cities of Nishinomiya and Kobe. The city was founded on November 10, 1940.

As of 2016, the city has an estimated population of 96,748.

Ashiya was established in 1871 as a township in Hyōgo Prefecture. In the early 1900s, it was designated as an urban planning area. This led to the building of large single-family homes with tennis courts, swimming pools, and tea houses, etc. along the hills overlooking Osaka Bay.

In 1945, the City of Ashiya prohibited the operation of pachinko parlors, gambling and entertainment facilities as well as small factories. Those laws still stand and there is no other municipal government with similar regulations in Japan.

In 1991, Ashiya residents elected Harue Kitamura (北村 春江 Kitamura Harue, born July 11, 1928) as the first woman to hold the office of mayor of a city in Japan. Kitamura was mayor when Ashiya suffered major damage during the Kobe earthquake on January 17, 1995.

Persons of note associated with Ashiya include Jirō Shirasu ("the man who reproached MacArthur"), Ryōji Noyori (Nobel prize winner), Takashi Asahina (conductor), Junichirō Tanizaki (writer), Haruki Murakami (writer), Yuriko Koike (House of Representatives member), Yoko Ogawa (writer), Tsumasaburō Bandō (kabuki actor) and Morinosuke Kawaguchi (futurist).


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