Sayō, Hyōgo

Sayō

佐用町
Sayō 佐用町
Town
	Sayo Town Hall
	Sunflower
Tree	Ginkgo biloba

Sayō (佐用町, Sayō-chō) is a

Sayō District, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 March 2022, the town had an estimated population of 15,701 in 6797 households and a population density of 51 persons per km².^[1]

The total area of the town is 307.44 square kilometres (118.70 sq mi).

Geography

Sayo is located in the southwestern part of Hyōgo Prefecture in the basin along the Sayogawa River in the Chikusa River system. Approximately 80% of the town area is occupied by hills and forests. In the early morning from late autumn to winter, there is often a fog called "Sayo morning fog".

Neighbouring municipalities

Hyōgo Prefecture

Okayama Prefecture

Climate

Sayō has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sayō is 13.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1488 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.6 °C.^[2]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,^[3] the population of Sayō has declined steadily over the 70 years.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1950	38,352	—
1960	32,455	−15.4%
1970	26,410	−18.6%
1980	24,874	−5.8%
1990	23,827	−4.2%
2000	22,337	−6.3%
2010	19,273	−13.7%

History

Sayō is located in ancient

Sayō District

were merged into Sayō.

In August 2009, around a dozen people in Sayo are dead or missing as a result of

Japan Times

, 390 homes were flooded.

Government

Sayō has a

Diet of Japan

.

Economy

Sayō has mostly a rural economy based on agriculture and forestry.

Education

Sayō has four public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private middle school and one private high school.