Current Time in Yao, Japan

Yao lies in Osaka Prefecture in the Kansai region of western Japan, on the eastern edge of the Osaka plain where the flat land meets the wooded Ikoma and Shigi mountains that separate Osaka from Nara. The Yamato River flows along its southern boundary. Only a short train ride from central Osaka, the city forms a continuous part of the metropolitan area, yet the mountain backdrop and the old temple towns at the foot of the slopes give it a character of its own.

About two hundred and sixty-five thousand people live here. Yao is one of the most important centres of small manufacturing in Japan, with several thousand workshops and factories producing metal parts, machinery, plastics, electrical goods, tools and household products. Many are family businesses of remarkable skill supplying larger companies, and the city is the leading producer of toothbrushes in Japan, an industry that grew from its old brush-making trade. Farming survives in pockets, and Yao is known for its edamame soybeans, prized in Osaka restaurants each summer.

This part of Kawachi province has been settled since ancient times. Burial mounds and temple foundations testify to early importance, and the district was the base of the Mononobe clan, sixth-century ministers who opposed the introduction of Buddhism and were defeated in a battle fought nearby. Temples associated with Prince Shotoku were founded soon afterwards. In 1615 the fields of Yao saw fierce fighting during the summer campaign of the siege of Osaka, which ended the Toyotomi family and secured Tokugawa rule. In the Edo period the area prospered from cotton, and modern industrial growth followed the arrival of the railways and the expansion of Osaka in the twentieth century.

Visitors can explore the old temple town around Kyuhoji, whose streets preserve the layout of a settlement that grew under the protection of a fortified temple in the sixteenth century, along with Yao Shrine and several ancient Buddhist halls. Trails climb Mount Takayasu and the Shigi range for panoramic views over the Osaka basin, taking in the castle, the skyscrapers and the bay. Yao Airport, a general aviation field, has an observation deck popular with families, and the city has museums of local history and archaeology.

Yao is closely associated with Kawachi ondo, a lively narrative folk song performed with drums and shamisen at summer bon dance festivals, which originated in this region and is still sung enthusiastically in the streets each August. The city also has a notably international population, with long-established Korean and more recent Vietnamese and Chinese communities adding to its food and festivals. Osaka cuisine is everywhere, from okonomiyaki to kushikatsu.

Three railway companies serve the city, including the Kintetsu Osaka line, the JR Yamatoji line and the Osaka Metro, putting central Osaka within twenty minutes and Nara and Kyoto within easy reach. Several colleges and technical schools operate locally, with the universities of Osaka nearby.

Yao is worth knowing as a hardworking manufacturing city with ancient roots at the foot of the Kansai mountains.