Sanda, Hyogo

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This article is about the city of Sanda in Japan. For other uses, see Sanda.

Residential street in Sanda, Hyogo

Sanda (三田市; -shi) is a city located in Hyogo, Japan.

As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 113,761 and the density of 541.15 persons per km². The total area is 210.22 km².

The city was founded on July 1, 1958.

Sanda city is located in the southeast of the Hyogo prefecture of Japan, and it is about 25 km to the north of the city of Kobe beyond the Rokko Mountains and in a region about 35 km northwest of the city of Osaka. Sanda city adjoins to the north the city of Sasayama-shi and to the east are Takarazuka city and Inagawa-cho. Sanda city is joined to the south by Kobe city and just to the west are the towns of Tojo-cho, Yokawa-cho and Yashiro-cho. 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-cho. Sanda-jo 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 U.S. 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-mura and Honjo-mura merged together becoming Aino-cho. Also Miwa-cho, Hirono-mura, Ono-mura, Takahira-mura merged into Sanda-cho. Then, Sanda-cho annexed Aino-cho in 1957. Sanda-cho formally became Sanda-shi (Sanda city) in July, 1958.