Hyogo-ku, Kobe
Hyogo (兵庫区 Hyōgo-ku?) is one of nine wards of Kobe in Japan. It has an area of 14.56 km2 and a population of 106,322 (as of January 1, 2015).
The area's location with a natural harbour near the Akashi Strait which links Osaka Bay and the Seto inland sea has been an important location throughout the history of Japan. The capital of Japan was located in the area for a short period in the 12th century. Today the area is an important manufacturing zone.
The modern ward of Hyogo was formed as Sōsai-ku (湊西区, lit. "Minato West Ward"?) when the City of Kobe adopted the system of wards in 1931. Its name was changed to Hyogo in 1933 and its current boundaries were settled in 1971. The floral emblem of the ward is the pansy.
The literal meaning of the two kanji that make up the name Hyogo is "weapons warehouse". From the Heian period, the area was also known as Ōwada-no-Tomari (大輪田泊 Ōwada-no-tomari?).
The features of the natural harbour around Wadamisaki peninsula has meant the port in Hyogo has been an important gateway to the Seto inland sea since the 8th century Nara period. In the 12th century, in the latter part of the Heian period, Taira no Kiyomori recognized the strategic benefit of the location and developed the harbor, including the building of Kyogashima (?), a man-made island completed in 1173 and described as 37 hecatres in size in the The Tale of the Heike. Kiyomori, the de facto ruler of Japan between 1160 and 1180, moved his official residence to Fukuhara, in what is modern-day Hyogo. Fukuhara became the capital of Japan for a brief period near the end of Kiyomori's rule. A monument erected shortly after his death, the Kiyomori-zuka, stands in the gardens of a shrine opposite Kiyomori Bridge, also named in his honour.
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