This town is between two great cities. On this narrow slope, where mountains press from the north and the sea spreads to the south, three railways ran through one after another at the beginning of the twentieth century. People who ran businesses in the cities set their eyes on this land, near the cities and with its good environment caught between mountains and sea, and began to build mansions and villas. In time, on the slope of the hillside, a high-class residential area was opened, advanced for its day, with power lines buried underground, and this town became the setting of a literary master’s masterwork — a brilliant mansion town. This town, caught between mountains and sea, still holds its population. Ashiya’s numbers are the record of a town inscribed with the history of railways and modernism.
A city opening on the slope caught between the Rokko mountains and the sea, between two great cities, in the southeastern part of Hyogo Prefecture. The population increased from 83,834 in 2000 to 93,922 in 2020. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "a high-class residential area," but the causal thread: how the history — three railways and modernism — is translated into today’s population and finances.
01 · Seeing the present Ashiya in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about 94,000 (93,922 in 2020). Its course is a gentle leveling-off after a long increase. It increased from 83,834 in 2000, through 90,590 in 2005, 93,238 in 2010, to 95,350 in 2015, and in 2020 it was 93,922, having moved in the mid-90,000s.
Looking inside, the figure befitting a mature residential town caught between great cities appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 18.4% in 2000 to 29.4% in 2020, approaching three in ten. The household-with-children share is 20.4% in 2020, and the Childcare Waitlist is two in 2024 and three in 2025, arising slightly. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 1.05 in fiscal 2023, a high level exceeding one, able to cover expenditure with its own tax revenue and still have a surplus. The figure of a mansion town caught between mountains and sea, holding its population while keeping a fiscal strength supported by the income of those who live there, appears in the numbers. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without going back over the history of railways and modernism.
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 · Three railways, the businessmen’s mansions, the residential area with power lines buried underground, the setting of a literary master — the history behind the numbers
What set Ashiya are the three railways that ran through one after another at the beginning of the twentieth century. Between two great cities, on this narrow slope where mountains press from the north and the sea spreads to the south, three railways ran through one after another in the twenty-odd years at the beginning of the twentieth century. These railways linking city to city changed this land into a convenient place from which one could commute to either of the two cities.
Upon these railways, a mansion town was built. People who ran businesses in the cities set their eyes on this land, near the cities and with its good environment caught between mountains and sea, and began to build mansions and villas. In time, on the slope of the hillside, a high-class residential area was opened, advanced for its day, by ordering a sloping land that had originally been a state forest and burying power lines underground. Businessmen and cultured people of the cities gathered, and a brilliant culture came into flower in this area. This town also became the setting of a masterwork in which a certain literary master depicted the life of four sisters, and came to be known throughout the nation as a mansion town. The road to becoming a city too mirrors this town. This land was originally a village, but developed together with the extension of the railways, and became a city in the latter half of the 1930s. Moreover, in a great earthquake at the beginning of the Heisei era, many buildings of this town were damaged and took a deep wound. Three railways ran through, the businessmen’s mansion town was built, the residential area with power lines buried underground was opened, and it became the setting of a literary master’s masterwork — the slope of mountains and sea caught between two cities took up these roles in that order and formed the present Ashiya.
Source: Ashiya Area Introduction (with the opening of the Hanshin line in 1905, the national railway in 1913, and the Hankyu line in 1920, businessmen built mansions and villas and the area became a stage of Hanshinkan modernism; Rokurokuso, a high-class residential area with underground power lines formed by land readjustment in the early Showa era — overview) / Ashiya City (city status from Seido Village in 1940; the setting of Tanizaki Junichiro’s "The Makioka Sisters"; many buildings damaged in the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake — overview)
03 · In the mansion town, holding its population and keeping finances supported by the income of those who live there
What characterizes Ashiya is that, holding the history of the mansion town that railways and modernism raised, it holds its population and keeps a fiscal strength supported by the income of those who live there. It increased from 83,834 in 2000 to 95,350 in 2015, and in 2020 it was 93,922, holding the mid-90,000s. This land, from which one can commute to either of the two great cities, has kept gathering people seeking a dwelling of good environment, and it can be read that it has held its population while keeping its character as a mansion town. That there are many high-income households among those who live there appears in this town’s fiscal strength.
On the other hand, the Childcare Waitlist is two in 2024 and three in 2025, arising slightly. It can be read as mirroring that, as child-rearing households too gather seeking a living environment, there is a phase in which demand for childcare places slightly exceeds supply. A Fiscal Capacity Index of 1.05 is a high level exceeding one, able to cover expenditure with its own tax revenue and still have a surplus. It clearly mirrors that the high income of those who live there brings this town an ample tax base. The population is held, aging approaches three in ten, and the fiscal strength exceeds one — these three are different sides of one fact, that high-income households have kept gathering seeking a living environment. Take out only one indicator, and the figure of this town cannot be grasped.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
04 · The mansion town caught between mountains and sea that three railways called in
Ashiya holds several functions of its own. One is the history of having, on the narrow slope between two great cities, three railways run through one after another at the beginning of the twentieth century, becoming a land from which one could commute to either of the two cities. Another is the character of a mansion town that nurtured the brilliant culture of modernism — the mansions and villas of businessmen that those railways called in, the high-class residential area with power lines buried underground, and the setting of a literary master’s masterwork. And the landform of a slope, mountains pressing from the north and the sea spreading to the south, caught between two cities, gathered to this land the people seeking a dwelling of good environment.
Ashiya is the mansion town caught between mountains and sea that three railways called in. From the three railways that ran through one after another, through the businessmen’s mansion town and the residential area with power lines buried underground, to the literary master’s setting — the geography of opening on a slope caught between two great cities, mountains pressing from the north and the sea spreading to the south, called in the railways, and called in the mansion town. By the landform alone, it would be no more than a narrow slope. That three railways ran through there changed this town into a mansion town from which one could commute to both of the two great cities — that is the whole of the make-up of the town of Ashiya.
Source: Ashiya Area Introduction (with the opening of the Hanshin line in 1905, the national railway in 1913, and the Hankyu line in 1920, businessmen built mansions and villas and the area became a stage of Hanshinkan modernism; Rokurokuso, a high-class residential area with underground power lines formed by land readjustment in the early Showa era — overview) / Ashiya City (city status from Seido Village in 1940; the setting of Tanizaki Junichiro’s "The Makioka Sisters"; many buildings damaged in the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake — overview)
05 · Atlas’s note — three railways changed a narrow slope caught between mountains and sea into a mansion town
Lay out Ashiya’s numbers and indicators of a mature mansion town caught between great cities line up: a held population, an aging rate of 29.4%, a household-with-children share of 20.4%, and a fiscal capacity of 1.05 exceeding one. But to put it in my (Atlas) habit, as an accountant, of examining the meaning of a fiscal capacity exceeding one, what I want to read here is the meaning of this town’s Fiscal Capacity Index exceeding one. That the Fiscal Capacity Index exceeds one shows that it can cover expenditure with its own tax revenue and still have a surplus. While many regional cities cannot cover even half of expenditure with their own tax revenue and rely on allocation tax, this town secures an ample tax base on its own through the high income of those who live there. The history of a businessmen’s mansion town that railways called in gave birth to the character of a town where high-income households gather, and after nearly a century that is translated into the present Fiscal Capacity Index of 1.05 — the fiscal strength of Ashiya mirrors that thread.
One more thing I want to consider is that this town’s character begins from the modern transport of "railways." That this narrow slope, mountains pressing from the north and the sea spreading to the south, became a mansion town was because, at the beginning of the twentieth century, three railways ran through one after another and changed it into a land from which one could commute to either of the two great cities. By the landform alone, it is no more than a narrow land caught between mountains and sea. But when the modern transport of railways overlaid it, it changed into a mansion town that called in the businessmen of the cities. The overlapping in which the cross of landform and modern transport set the town’s character is peculiar to this town. How the town, while holding its population, passes on this history of a mansion town to the living of the next generation is a question peculiar to a town on the slope of mountains and sea. Whether one reads it off as the sign "a high-class residential area," or sees it as "the mansion town caught between mountains and sea that three railways called in," changes with the reader’s way of life. One thing is certain. A narrow slope, hard to live on by the landform alone, three railways changed into a mansion town from which one could commute to both of the two cities. Whether the convenience that three sets of rails create balances against the price of the land — that estimate belongs to the territory of the one considering a move.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Ashiya Area Introduction (with the opening of the Hanshin line in 1905, the national railway in 1913, and the Hankyu line in 1920, businessmen built mansions and villas and the area became a stage of Hanshinkan modernism; Rokurokuso, a high-class residential area with underground power lines formed by land readjustment in the early Showa era — overview) / Ashiya City (city status from Seido Village in 1940; the setting of Tanizaki Junichiro’s "The Makioka Sisters"; many buildings damaged in the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake — 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 (Daiki 2026-06-02)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: wave17_4