Hyogo is a large prefecture that forms the western edge of the Kansai region, Straddling Honshu with borders on both the Sea of Japan and the Seto Inland Sea its urban areas make up the western side of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. Its Awaji Island also borders the Pacific Ocean. Formed from the provinces of Harima, Tajima, Awaji, and parts of Tanba and Settsu after the Meiji Restoration, Hyogo has a population of 5.6 million with 1.5 million of those people residing in the capital city of Kobe. The climate is humid subtropical with hot summers and cool to cold winters. While protected from direct typhoon hits, a major fault line runs near the capital, Kobe City, so there tends to be a major large earthquake every half century or so.
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