Map - Akō, Hyōgo (Akō Shi)

Akō (赤穂市) is a city located in southwestern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 45,747 in 20563 households and a population density of 360 persons per km². The total area of the city is 126.85 sqkm.

Akō is located in far southwestern Hyōgo Prefecture. The city is on the border of the Hyōgo and Okayama prefectures, which also divides the Kinki and Chūgoku areas. On each side of the border, ancient Harima and Bizen provinces, which are now Akō and Bizen cities, respectively (except for the former village of Fukukawa, now part of Akō but formerly belonging to Bizen Province), have cultivated their own cultures. Therefore, even at the present days, dialects are vastly different on the sides of the border. A traveller from west to east on the JR San'yō Main Line will notice that the dialect of passengers suddenly changes between Kamigori station in Hyogo prefecture and Mitsuishi station in Okayama prefecture. In Akō, people speak a type of the Kansai dialect whose intonation is however of the Tokyo type. The superset of the dialect spoken in Akō, called Banshū-ben, is known as one of the harshest-sounding dialects. The Chikusa River flows through the center of the city, providing the moat of Akō Castle with water through a branch, Kariya River. The central part of the city around the castle has been built on the alluvial plain of Chikusa River. Parts of the city are within the borders of the Setonaikai National Park.