Tamba, Mountain city in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Tamba is a town in Hyōgo Prefecture, set in a broad basin at around 100 meters elevation between the mountains that separate the inland from the sea. The area spreads across gentle hills, rice paddies, and forests, with small rivers running through the valley.
Kuroi Castle served as the seat of the Akai clan during the 16th century, until it fell in 1579 after the death of Akai Naomasa, a warrior known as the Red Demon. Afterward, control shifted hands, and the region saw decades of political reorganization under different daimyō families.
The name comes from the old Tamba Province that once covered much of central Japan, and traces of that past remain in local crafts and farming traditions still practiced today. Visitors often see pottery workshops where artisans shape and fire Tanba-yaki ceramics using methods handed down for centuries.
Travelers can reach the town from Osaka by express train or highway bus via the Kasuga or Hikami interchanges, with both options taking around an hour and a half. Once there, local bus routes connect smaller districts and points of interest throughout the valley.
Miwakare Park holds Japan's lowest drainage divide, a rare geological formation in the valley where rainwater naturally flows in opposite directions. Visitors can see a small marker at the spot where the flow directions separate.
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