Hyogo Prefecture is situated in central Japan and is the only county that borders upon both the Sea of Japan and the Seto Inland Sea. With Kobe as the capital city, Hyogo covers an area of 8,385 square kilometers and has a population of 5.6 million people.

Hyogo features a maritime monsoon climate and is regarded as one of the warm regions in Japan, with its annual average temperature of 15.2 degrees Celsius in the north and 16.7 degrees Celsius in the south. However, the weather is quite volatile. It is warm and sunny in the areas along the Seto Inland Sea, making life there more comfortable. But the areas along the Sea of Japan are often rainy and cloudy and Siberian monsoons bring heavy snowfalls in winter.

Steel, ship building and machinery are the leading industries of Hyogo and 90% of the population is concentrated in industrial cities such as Kobe and Hanshin. Hyogo is home to many leading international companies such as Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Kobe Steel, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Electric, etc.

Hyogo enjoys a full-fledged transportation infrastructure. It is only an-hour’s drive from Kansai International Airport and Itami Airport. The Port of Kobe is a leading world port for international trade whilst the world-class Shinkansen or bullet train shortens the travel time from Kobe to Tokyo to just 2.5 hours. The web of railways and subways provides easy connections between Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe.