Hyogo's History
Known to many as a "Japan in Miniature," Hyogo Prefecture has been the location of many important points throughout the history of Japan.
Hyogo Prefecture
Ports opened at Kobe in 1868, marking the beginning of Hyogo Prefecture. In 1876, Harima, Tamba, Tajima, and Awaji were added to the prefecture, completing the territory of Hyogo that we know today.
Koshien Stadium
Built in 1924, this baseball stadium is famous for holding the National High School Baseball Championship every summer. Representative teams from all 47 prefectures in Japan have a baseball tournament with each other. Many impactful impressions and miracles have happened there.
Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake
In 1995, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake happened. The damage was enormous. As a result of this disaster, many disaster prevention facilities have been built and memorial events have been established, like the Kobe Luminarie, a lights festival funded through donations.
Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge
In 1998, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world, was built. The bridge is 3991 meters long, connecting Honshu and Awaji. Until the bridge was completed, Awaji Island was not connected to the main island of Honshu.
Tamba Dinosaur
In 2007, a fossil dinosaur that is more than 100 million years old was discovered in Tamba City. It’s named the Tamba dinosaur.
Oriental White Stork Revival
In 2007, “konotori” nests, or stork nests, were seen in the natural world for the first time in 46 years. This is a prefectural bird that had become extinct in Japan and only seen in captivity until then.
Technology
In 1997, a large-scale synchrotron radiation facility “Spring-8” was built to conduct research using the world’s highest-performance synchrotron radiation. In 2012, supercomputer “Kei” was built. “Fugaku” will be operated in place of “Kei” in 2021.