This town is narrower than any city in western Japan. Its area is about 7.7 square kilometers — the third narrowest city even when one looks across the whole nation. On that small land, for a short while, the capital of Japan was once placed. In antiquity the capital was moved to this stretch from Heijo-kyo, and this land bears the history of having been the center of the country for a few years. The bamboo groves suited by the soil are known as a noted producer of bamboo shoots, and an Edo-era highway runs through the city. Into the narrow city area, the ancient capital, the village of bamboo shoots, and the memory of the highway are packed tightly. The narrowest city in western Japan, this town has held its population gently even as larger neighboring cities shed theirs. Muko’s numbers are the record of a town inscribed with the history of an ancient capital’s trace and a village of bamboo shoots.
A city in the Otokuni area of southwestern Kyoto Prefecture, with the narrowest city area in western Japan (about 7.7 km²). The population has gently increased, from 53,425 in 2000 toward 56,859 in 2020. This city, since enforcing city status in the middle of the Showa era, has walked on its own through no Heisei merger, so there is no merger-caused step in the recent movement of the population. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "a narrow city," but the causal thread: how the history — an ancient capital’s trace and a village of bamboo shoots — is translated into today’s population and finances.
01 · Seeing the present Muko in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about 57,000 (56,859 in 2020). Because this city has walked on its own through no Heisei merger, there is no merger-caused step in the recent movement of the population. From 53,425 in 2000, through 55,041 in 2005, 54,328 in 2010, 53,380 in 2015, to 56,859 in 2020, it has gently increased over the twenty years.
Looking inside, the figure of a narrow city area holding young households appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 13.9% in 2000 to 26.8% in 2015 and 26.7% in 2020, but stays at a level held down compared with neighboring cities. The household-with-children share is high, at 24.4% in 2020, and the crude birth rate is 8.1 per thousand in 2020. The Childcare Waitlist is zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.68 in fiscal 2023, a comparatively thick level even within the prefecture, able to cover a little under seven-tenths of expenditure with its own tax revenue. The figure of the narrowest city in western Japan, holding its population gently and holding young households, appears in the numbers. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without going back over the history of the narrow city area, the ancient capital’s trace, and the village of bamboo shoots.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency) / Real Estate Information Library (MLIT)
02 · The narrowest city area in western Japan, an ancient capital’s trace, a village of bamboo shoots, a land of the highway — the history behind the numbers
This town’s skeleton is set by the size of being western Japan’s smallest city area, and by the ancient capital’s trace, the village of bamboo shoots, and the land of the highway. The beginning layer is western Japan’s smallest city area. This land, in the Otokuni area of southwestern Kyoto Prefecture, has a city area of about 7.7 square kilometers — narrower than any city in western Japan. Even across the whole nation it is the third narrowest. The narrow city area was this town’s foundation.
On this small land, the trace of an ancient capital is inscribed. In antiquity the capital was moved to this stretch from Heijo-kyo and became the center of the country for a few years. The capital eventually moved to another land, but its memory remained on this land. The bamboo groves suited by the soil are known as a noted producer of bamboo shoots, and an Edo-era highway ran through the city. The memory of the ancient capital, the village of bamboo shoots, and the highway have overlapped on this narrow land. The road to becoming a city mirrors this town too. This town set out as a town in the Meiji era and enforced city status in the middle of the Showa era. Western Japan’s smallest city area, the ancient capital’s trace, the village of bamboo shoots, and the land of the highway — this town’s shape stands upon the history of a narrow land, opening to the southwest of the capital Kyoto, that held an ancient capital and a village of bamboo shoots.
Source: Muko City / the narrowest city in western Japan (in the Otokuni area of southwestern Kyoto Prefecture, with an area of about 7.7 km², the narrowest city in western Japan and the third narrowest nationwide — overview) / Muko City / the ancient capital and bamboo shoots (Nagaoka-kyo, to which Emperor Kanmu moved the capital in 784, lay in Otokuni County including Muko City; Otokuni is a noted producer of Kyoto bamboo shoots, and the Edo-era Saigoku Road passed through the city — overview) / Muko City (Muko Town formed in 1889 by the merger of Muko Town and five villages, with city status in 1972; thereafter it underwent no Heisei merger and remained independent — overview)
03 · In the narrowest city in western Japan, holding its population gently and holding young households
What characterizes Muko is that, even as the narrowest city area in western Japan, it holds its population gently and holds young households. From 53,425 in 2000 to 56,859 in 2020, it has gently increased over the twenty years. One can read that this conveniently sited narrow land, near the capital Kyoto and joined by rail, has continued to be chosen as a place to live. That the household-with-children share is high, at 24.4% in 2020, and the crude birth rate, at 8.1 per thousand in 2020, is on the higher side even within the prefecture, is its expression.
On the other hand, the share aged 65 and over is 26.7% in 2020, staying at a level held down compared with neighboring cities. The Childcare Waitlist is zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.68 is a comparatively thick level even within the prefecture, able to cover a little under seven-tenths of expenditure with its own tax revenue. The area is about 7.7 square kilometers, the smallest in western Japan. And yet the population gently increases, the household-with-children share exceeds two in ten, and the finances are on the thicker side within the prefecture. That narrowness is a weakness is not what the numbers here say.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
04 · A narrow land opening to the southwest of the capital Kyoto held an ancient capital and a village of bamboo shoots
Muko holds several functions of its own. One is the history of western Japan’s smallest city area, with a city area of about 7.7 square kilometers, narrower than any city in western Japan. Another is its character of being an ancient capital’s trace, on the stretch to which the capital was moved from Heijo-kyo for a few years in antiquity. And it holds the face of a village of bamboo shoots and a land of the highway, where the bamboo groves suited by the soil are known as a noted producer of bamboo shoots and an Edo-era highway runs through the city. Into the narrowest city area in western Japan, the memory of the ancient capital, the village of bamboo shoots, and the highway are densely folded.
If it is narrow, the eye of administration reaches readily to every corner, and if it is near the capital and joined by rail, people keep choosing it as a place to live. Read not by breadth but by the goodness of position, this small city’s numbers fall into place.
Source: Muko City / the narrowest city in western Japan (in the Otokuni area of southwestern Kyoto Prefecture, with an area of about 7.7 km², the narrowest city in western Japan and the third narrowest nationwide — overview) / Muko City / the ancient capital and bamboo shoots (Nagaoka-kyo, to which Emperor Kanmu moved the capital in 784, lay in Otokuni County including Muko City; Otokuni is a noted producer of Kyoto bamboo shoots, and the Edo-era Saigoku Road passed through the city — overview) / Muko City (Muko Town formed in 1889 by the merger of Muko Town and five villages, with city status in 1972; thereafter it underwent no Heisei merger and remained independent — overview)
05 · Atlas’s note — the narrowness of the city area is also a strength that lets administration reach every corner
What first catches the eye in Muko’s numbers is that, even as the narrowest city area in western Japan, it gently increases its population and holds young households, with a household-with-children share of 24.4% and a crude birth rate of 8.1. Breadth does not necessarily mean people gather, nor does narrowness necessarily keep people away. If it is near the capital and joined by rail, even a narrow land keeps being chosen as a place to live. The breadth of the city area and the movement of population are separate matters — that is what this town’s numbers teach.
One more thing I (Atlas), as one who handles numbers, find of interest is the comparatively thick level of a fiscal capacity of 0.68. That people and housing are densely packed into the narrow city area, and that young households support the tax base, lies behind this thickness. Narrowness also has the aspect that it can let the eye of administration reach every corner of the city area and raise the convenience of living. Narrowness also has the aspect that it lets administration reach every corner and raises the convenience of living. It is not necessarily a weakness — only, that cannot be seen by gazing at one number alone. People and housing are densely packed into the narrowest city area in western Japan, and young households support the tax base — that density produces, at once, the thickness of a fiscal capacity of 0.68 and a household-with-children share of twenty-four percent. In this city, narrowness has not become a weakness.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Muko City / the narrowest city in western Japan (in the Otokuni area of southwestern Kyoto Prefecture, with an area of about 7.7 km², the narrowest city in western Japan and the third narrowest nationwide — overview) / Muko City / the ancient capital and bamboo shoots (Nagaoka-kyo, to which Emperor Kanmu moved the capital in 784, lay in Otokuni County including Muko City; Otokuni is a noted producer of Kyoto bamboo shoots, and the Edo-era Saigoku Road passed through the city — overview) / Muko City (Muko Town formed in 1889 by the merger of Muko Town and five villages, with city status in 1972; thereafter it underwent no Heisei merger and remained independent — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (wave36-kinki 2026-06-05)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: wave36k_