Sanda, Hyōgo

Infobox City Japan
Name= Sanda
JapaneseName= 三田市
Map

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Region= Kansai
Prefecture= Hyōgo
District=
Area_km2=210.22
PopDate=April 2008
Population=113,585
Density_km2=540
Coords=
LatitudeDegrees= 34
LatitudeMinutes= 53
LatitudeSeconds=
LongtitudeDegrees= 135
LongtitudeMinutes= 14
LongtitudeSeconds=
Tree=Japanese Red Pine
Flower=Satsuki azalea
Bird=Green Pheasant
Symbol

SymbolDescription= Flag
Mayor= Hideaki Takeuchi
CityHallPostalCode=669-1595
CityHallAddress=2-1-1, Miwa, Sanda-shi, Hyōgo-ken
CityHallPhone= 079-563-1111
CityHallLink= [http://www3.city.sanda.lg.jp/ City of Sanda]

nihongo|Sanda|三田市|Sanda-shi is a city located in Hyōgo, Japan.

As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 113,585 and the density of 540 persons per km². The total area is 210.22 km².

The city was founded on July 1, 1958.

History

Sanda city is located in the southeast of the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan, and it is about 25 km to the north of the city of Kobe beyond the Rokkō Mountains and in a region about 35 km northwest of the city of Osaka. Sanda city adjoins to the north the city of Sasayama and to the east are Takarazuka and Inagawa. Sanda is joined to the south by Kobe and just to the west are the towns of Tōjō, Yokawa and Yashiro.

The name "Sanda" has a long history. Records found within the Buddhist statue "Mirokubutsuzazo" in the ancient Konshinji Temple reads: "These areas are decreed as Matsuyama's land, which includes Onden, Hiden and Keiden, which are three rice fields, and is thus renamed Sanda." (In Japanese, "San" means three and "ta" (here pronounced "da") means rice field.) This indicates that the name Sanda has been in use for an estimated 1,300 years.

The history of the inhabitants on this land, blessed with a mild climate and an abundant natural environment, is even older than the city and goes as far back as 30,000 years ago.

At the end of the 7th century, the temple town of the Konshinji Temple was created near the current location of Yashiki. Sanda castle was erected during the Muromachi Era. Also, a castle town was built during the Azuchi-Momoyama era, and Sanda flourished as a castle town governed by the Kuki clan producing 36,000 koku (equivalent of 184,000 bushels) of crops during the Edo period. After the Meiji period, Sanda expanded as the center of Arima county with a railroad system being completed. In 1956, Ai and Honjō merged together becoming Aino. Also Miwa, Hirono, Ono, Takahira merged into the town of Sanda. Then, Sanda annexed Aino in 1957. Sanda was upgraded from a town to a city in July, 1958.

External links

*ja icon [http://www.city.sanda.hyogo.jp/ Sanda official website]
*en icon [http://www.city.sanda.hyogo.jp/eigo%20new/index.html Sanda official website]