Hyogo, Japan Dec. 22 Sun 10:27PM
Hyogo Prefecture is home to the famous Himeji Castle, Kobe beef, and various onsen resorts and towns. It is made up of twenty nine cities, one of which is Kobe: the capital of Hyogo.
One of the three largest Buddha statues in Japan was also built in Hyogo Prefecture, at Nofukuji Temple in Kobe. This Buddha is known as Hyogo Daibutsu, and is an 8 minute walk from JR Hyogo Station!
The southern cities of Hyogo Prefecture were hit by the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995, and there are various memorial sites and museums to visit in these areas.
Summers in Hyogo are very hot and humid, so it is best to visit around Spring time to see the cherry blossoms in season or Autumn to see the warm fall leaf colors!
Hyogo has many National Treasures, such as:
Himeji Castle,
Jodo-ji,
Ichijo-ji,
Kakurin-ji,
Taisan-ji,
And Choko-ji.
Hyogo is also the home of the popular Takarazuka Revue! An all-female performance group that now performs all over the world. A fun experience is to see them perform at their home base: The Takarazuka Grand Theater.
Photo by 663highland (663highland) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
Some other Hyogo tourist attractions are: Kinosaki Onsen, Izushi historic district, Yumura Onsen, Mastuba crab, and Tajima beef!
In addition, Hyogo is a prime place for visitors interested in attending a Japanese festival! Hyogo hosts the following festivals annually:
Miyuki Street New Year’s midnight traditional sale (Himeji, New Years)
Ebisu Festival (Nishinomiya Shrine, January)
Yanagihara Ebisu Festival (Kobe, January)
Tada Shrine’s Genji Festival (Kawanishi, April)
Kobe Festival and parade (Kobe, May)
Aioi Peron Festival (Aioi, May)
Himeji Yukata Festival (Himeji, June)
Dekansho Bon Dancing Festival (Sasayama, August)
Nada Fighting Festival (Himeji, October)
Kobe Luminarie (Kobe, December)
Chusingura Parade (Ako, December)
Be sure to take a look at our various Hyogo articles to learn more about visiting Hyogo Prefecture!
