Sanda, Hyōgo Prefecture, Kansai Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Sanda is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded in 1958.

Geography Sanda City is located in south-east Hyōgo Prefecture, about 25 km (16 mi) to the north of the city of Kobe beyond the Rokkō Mountains and about 35 km (22 mi) north-west of the city of Osaka. The highest elevation point in the city is 697meters at Mt. Mine, and the lowest elevation point is 116 meters. The northern and eastern parts of the city are mountainous. In the past, it had the appearance of a typical farming village with rural scenery, but due to the development of large-scale housing complexes since the 1980s and the convenience of double-track electrification of the JR Fukuchiyama Line, it has rapidly become a satellite city of Osaka and Kobe.

Rivers The Muko River runs through Sanda from Sasayama City in the north to Osaka Bay in the southeast. The size of the drainage basin is 496 km². The river is host to events and festivals throughout the year.

Neighbouring municipalities Hyōgo Prefecture • Kobe • Takarazuka • Miki • Katō • Takarazuka • Miki • Tamba-Sasayama • Inagawa.

History The area of Sanda was part of ancient Settsu Province, and has been inhabited since the Japanese Paleolithic period. The name "Sanda" has been in use since long ago. Records found within a Buddhist Maitreya statue in the ancient Konshin-ji Temple read: "These areas are decreed as Matsuyama's land, which includes Onden, Hiden and Keiden, which are three rice fields, and the land is thus renamed Sanda". The earliest document on record which refers to Sanda is from 1477.

Sanda Castle was erected during the Muromachi period. A castle town later developed during the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and under the Edo Period Tokugawa shogunate. Sanda was the centre of the 36,000 koku Sanda Domain, ruled through most of its history by the Kuki clan.

Following the Meiji restoration, the town of Sanda was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The town prospered thanks to the completion of a railroad system which connected the town and the surrounding areas. In 1956, the towns of Miwa, Hirono, Ono, and Takahira merged into the town of Sanda. Finally, Sanda annexed Aino, itself a merger of towns Ai and Honjō, in 1957. Sanda was upgraded from a town to a city on July 1, 1958.

Government Sanda has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 22 members. Sanda contributes two members to the Hyōgo Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is within Hyōgo 5th districts of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

General hospitals • Sanda City Hospital/Keyakidai • Hyogo Chuo Hospital/Ohara

Economy Sanda has a mixed economy of commerce, light manufacturing and agriculture. It is increasingly a commuter town for Osaka and Kobe.

Industries Mitsubishi Electric (Melco) has a large R&D and production campus in Sanda. Many large industries in Sanda city are concentrated in the Hokusetsu Sanda Technopark. The industries represented primarily include pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food, and distribution. Some specific companies based in the Technopark are: • Iris Ohyama (Plastics/chemicals) • Morita (fire engine manufacturing) • Asahi Foods (food) • Soft99 Corporation (car wax/chemicals) • Nippon Polyester (polyester/chemicals) • Hayashi (tower/chemicals) • Kishida Chemical (chemicals) • Tamapori (polystyrene/chemicals) • Kiribai Kobayashi (drug-manufacturing, disposable heating pad/chemicals) • Hokuseisha (printing) • Sastech (stainless steel) • Ueno Drug (drug/chemicals).

Libraries Sanda has three libraries: • Sanda City Library • Sanda Woodytown Library • Sanda-Ai Library

Sanda city also has a mobile library called "Soyokaze". It began service on January 19, 1994 and has about 3,500 books.

Railways JR West - Fukuchiyama Line • Sanda - Shin-Sanda - Hirono - Aino - Aimoto

Kobe Electric Railway - Shintetsu Sanda Line • Yokoyama - Sanda Honmachi - Sanda

Kobe Electric Railway - Shintetsu Kōen-Toshi Line • Yokoyama - Flower Town - Minami Woody Town - Woody Town Chuo.

Transport: Road • Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway • Chūgoku Expressway • Hanshin Expressway Ikeda Route ◦ National Route 176.