Kyotanabe-shi

In the latest Population Census the population is about 74,000 (73,753 in 2020). Its course is a single road of increase. From 59,577 in 2000, through 64,008 in 2005, 67,910 in 2010, 70,835 in 2015, to 73,753 in 2020, it has increased steadily, several thousand every five years. Among the many cities that shed population, it added a little over fourteen thousand over twenty years. Note that this town became a city in 1997, and before that it was Tanabe Town.

Looking inside, the figure befitting a town that keeps increasing appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 12.9% in 2000 to 23.5% in 2020, but still stays in the twenty-percent range, markedly young while many cities of the nation pass thirty percent. The household-with-children share is high, at 23.8% in 2020, and the Childcare Waitlist is zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.76 in fiscal 2023, a comparatively high level able to cover seven-tenths or more of expenditure with its own tax revenue. The figure of the town of Ikkyu and gyokuro, keeping its population increasing, with aging held down and a comparatively high fiscal body, appears in the numbers. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without going back over the history of the Zen temple and the science-research city.

This town’s skeleton is set by a modern university and town of learning overlapping upon the old history of an old temple and tea. The old layer is the Zen temple and tea. The temple opened on this land in the Kamakura era, after falling to ruin around the Onin War, was restored by a Zen monk known for his wit. That monk named the temple "Shuon-an," in the sense of repaying his master’s kindness, spent the latter half of his life on this land, and is said to have closed his last years, in his eighties, at this temple. Together, this land is also known as a producer of gyokuro, the finest tea raised under cover, and has piled up high acclaim at national competitions. The Zen temple and gyokuro set this town’s old rank.

And in the modern era, a new footing overlaps on this land. In 1986, a university campus opened on this land. Further, this town came to occupy one corner of a town of learning and research laid out across three prefectures of the Kansai region. A young generation studying at the university, and people working at research institutions, came to gather on this land. Upon the old history of the temple where the witty Zen monk spent the latter half of his life and the finest gyokuro, a new footing of a university and a town of learning overlapped — this town’s shape stands upon the history of the Zen temple, gyokuro, and the science-research city that the geography of the west bank of the Kizu River held.

What characterizes Kyotanabe is that, holding the old history of a Zen temple and gyokuro, it keeps increasing its population through the siting of a university and a science-research city. From 59,577 in 2000 to 73,753 in 2020, a little over fourteen thousand increased over twenty years. One can read that the convenience of commuting to Kyoto and Osaka, the university campus, and the development as a town of learning and research have kept drawing in young households and a studying generation. Among the many cities that shed population, that Kyotanabe keeps increasing is the expression of this siting.

This increase appears in the inside of the population too. The share aged 65 and over is 23.5% in 2020, still staying in the twenty-percent range. One can read that the young generation studying at the university and the child-rearing households that keep flowing in keep youthfulness in the town’s age structure. The household-with-children share is high, at 23.8%, and the Childcare Waitlist is zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.76 is a comparatively high level able to cover seven-tenths or more of expenditure with its own tax revenue, and one can read that the income of the inflowing households and the like support the tax source. That the population keeps increasing, that aging is held down, and that the fiscal body is comparatively high — these three are not separate merits, but branch from a single fact: that the young generation studying at the university and the child-rearing households that keep flowing in bring this town youthfulness and a tax source at once.

Kyotanabe holds several functions of its own. One is the history of the temple where a Zen monk known for his wit spent the latter half of his life and closed his last years, holding the old layer of a Zen temple that bears a name of repaying a master’s kindness. Another is its character as a producer of the finest gyokuro raised under cover, leaving a history of piled-up high acclaim at national competitions. And the university campus opened in 1986, and the siting of one corner of a town of learning spanning the Kansai region, give this town the proper structure of calling in a young generation and people of research.

Kyotanabe is a town where a university and a science-research city overlapped upon a Zen temple and gyokuro. From the Zen temple where the witty Zen monk spent his time and the producer of the finest gyokuro, to the university campus, and then to one corner of the town of learning — the geography of "the west bank of the Kizu River, near Kyoto and Osaka" called in the Zen temple and tea of old, and the university and town of learning in the modern era, and set the town’s skeleton. The Zen temple where the witty monk spent the latter half of his life, and the tea fields that yield the finest gyokuro. Upon that old rank, a university campus and a town of learning overlapped, valued for the advantage of being near Kyoto and Osaka. A young generation of learning flows into the old faith and the village of tea — that layering shapes this town’s present.