Akashi, Hyōgo

Demographics

History

Akashi is mentioned in a waka (five-line, 31-syllable poem) written by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro in the 7th century and it is the setting for one of the chapters of the 11th-century novel The Tale of Genji. It developed as the castle town of Akashi Domain during the Edo Period, from 1617 to 1871 due to its location dominating the San'yōdō highway connecting the Kinai region with western Japan. The famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi is claimed to have laid out the design of the castle town. The town of Akashi was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to city status on November 1, 1919. The city annexed the neighboring villages of Hayashizaki on February 11, 1942 and Okubo, Uozumi and Futami on January 10, 1951 to reach its present dimensions. A proposal to merge with the city of Kobe was rejected by a referendum in 1955. The city suffered from the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995 with 4,839 houses were completely or partially destroyed and nine fatalities.

On July 21, 2001, 11 people were killed and 247 were injured during a crowd crush after a fireworks show. Five city officials were subsequently convicted of negligence in connection with the incident.

Akashi became a Core city on April 1, 2018 with increased local autonomy.

Government

Akashi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 30 members. Akashi contributes four members to the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Hyōgo 9th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Akashi is located within the Hanshin Industrial Area and Harima Seaside Industrial Area and has succeeded in attracting many companies to its Futami Seaside Industrial Park. The city has long been noted for aviation-related instrumentation manufacturers and electronic component manufacturers. Yamato Scale, a leading global manufacturer of commercial weighing and packaging equipment, is headquartered in the city. Due to its transportation connections and location, numerous bedroom communities have developed for commuters to Kobe and Osaka, which is estimated to exceed 30% of the working population. The city has also been noted since the Edo Period for its production of sake.

Education

Elementary and Junior High Schools

Akashi has 28 municipal elementary schools and 13 municipal junior high schools. School attendance boundaries are determined by the Akashi City Board of Education. However, Takaoka-higashi Elementary, Takaoka-nishi Elementary, and Takaoka Middle School operate under a special open-enrollment policy. Students from anywhere in the city can attend these schools if they complete the required application process (though, as of 2022, new applications are only accepted for incoming first graders).

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |Akashi Municipal Elementary and Junior High Schools

High Schools

One public high school is operated by the city government and seven public high schools are operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Board of Education.

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |Public High Schools in Akashi The nursing school of University of Hyogo is located in Akashi.

The city also has the National Institute of Technology Akashi College (NITAC) ().

The city once had a North Korean school, , and Akashi Junior College ().

Transportation

Railway

18 px JR West – San'yō Shinkansen

22 px JR West – San'yō Main Line (JR Kobe Line)

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20px Sanyo Electric Railway - Main Line

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Highways

25px|link=|alt= Daini-Shinmei Road
(Kobe, Okayama, Hiroshima, Shimonoseki)
(Kobe, Tokushima)
(Maizuru)
(Kobe, Okayama)
(Maizuru)
(Nishiwaki, Asago)

Ferries

Akashi Awaji Ferry and Awaji Jenova Line to Awaji Island

Sister cities

Akashi is twinned with:

Vallejo, California, United States, sister city since 1968
Wuxi, China, friendship city since 1981

Local attractions

Akashi Castle, National Historic Site
Akashi Municipal Planetarium, which stands on the meridian of 135 degrees east longitude, which is used to determine Japan Standard Time.
Akashi Park Stadium is a track and field stadium that can hold 20,000 spectators.
Kakinomoto Shrine
Uonotana (Uo-no-Tana, , literally "fish-shelf"), a market where local fishermen display an array of fresh seafood caught in the Akashi Strait.

File:Port of Akashi,明石港 DSCF1831.jpg|Port of Akashi

File:山陽電鉄明石駅・明石天文台より俯瞰P9160007.jpg|Sanyo Akashi Station

File:Port of Akashi,明石港地蔵のある路地 DSCF1956.jpg|Old town area

File:Akashi-uontana,2010年末-魚の棚商店街 DSCF0215.JPG|Uontana

File:Akashi Minicipal Planetarium.jpg|Akashi Municipal Planetarium

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Culture

Akashi is known for Akashiyaki, a kind of takoyaki particular to the region. Small pieces of octopus (tako) are placed inside a ball-shaped mold containing a mixture of flour and eggs, and this is then fried. Akashiyaki is often eaten by dipping in a thin soup. People who live in Akashi call it "tamagoyaki"(tamago, or , literally "egg").