Sayo Town

Hyogo Prefecture · Town

Sayo Town is a mountain town where the Izumo Kaido and Inaba Kaido roads cross, and on late-autumn mornings the "Sayo morning fog" fills the valleys. In Hirafuku, a post town, storehouses remain along the river, and the ruins of Rikan Castle rise on a mountain above. It is also known for its summer sunflower fields and the Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory Park.

Key facts

Population: 14,122 1,030th in Japan2025 Census
5-year change: −11.0% 365th in Japanfrom 15,863 in 2020
Area: 307 km² 386th in Japan
Population density: 46 people/km² 1,309th in Japan

Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2025 Population Census (population, area and density); area from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), Area Statistics of Prefectures and Municipalities (2025). National ranks are among the 1,741 municipalities, ordered by this site from these values.

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Chosen automatically, most popular first, from landmarks and cultural properties registered in Wikidata (we have not checked whether each is open). Names and descriptions: Wikidata (CC0); photos: Wikimedia Commons (photographer and license under each photo).

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Municipalities sharing a boundary (computed from the National Land Numerical Information administrative boundaries, January 2021).

The description was written for this site, picking out representative features.

Figures come from official Japanese statistics (such as the 2025 Census by the Statistics Bureau of Japan), with the source and year shown next to each one. Photos are freely licensed images from Wikimedia Commons; the photographer and license are shown under each photo.

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