Kyōtanabe

Kyōtanabe is a city in southern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, bordered by Osaka Prefecture and Nara Prefecture, and one of the three Kansai Cultural and Academic Research City municipalities. It is sandwiched between the Kizugawa River on the east and the Ikoma Mountains on the west. The area was part of ancient Yamashiro Province and was briefly the capital of Japan during the reign of the legendary Kofun period Emperor Keitai, whose imperial court was centred at Tsutsuki Palace. The village of Tanabe was established in 1889 and became a town in 1906, and on 1 April 1997 it became a city, the 12th in Kyoto Prefecture and the 669th in Japan. To avoid confusion with Tanabe in Wakayama, the city was named Kyōtanabe by adding Kyō from Kyoto. It has a mixed economy of commerce, agriculture and light manufacturing, with Tsubakimoto Chain, Dai Nippon Printing and Meiji running major factories, and Doshisha Women College of Liberal Arts is located there. The estimated population was 71,757 and the area is 42.92 square kilometres.