Ōgaki Castle Ogaki-Nishi IC from Mount Ibuki

is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 161,539, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 782 persons per km² in 65,931 households. The total area of the city was . Ōgaki was the final destination for the haiku poet

Matsuo Bashō born then was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest ma ...

on one of his long journeys as recounted in his book ''

Oku no Hosomichi ''Oku no Hosomichi'' (, originally ), translated as ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and ''The Narrow Road to the Interior'', is a major work of ''haibun'' by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, considered one of the major texts of Japanese l ...

''. Every November the city holds a Bashō Festival.

Geography

Ōgaki is located in the northwest area of the Nōbi Plain in Gifu Prefecture and is known as being the most centrally-located city in Japan. As a result of its 2006 merger with the town of Kamiishizu (from Yōrō District), and the town of Sunomata (from Anpachi District), the city consists of three disconnected regions, with Sunomata in the east, the original Ōgaki in the center, and Kamiishizu in the southwest. The main river flowing through the city is the

Ibi River The is a tributary of the Kiso River located in Gifu and Mie Prefectures in Japan. Along with the Nagara and Kiso rivers, the Ibi is the third of the Kiso Three Rivers of the Nōbi Plain. It is one of Japan's first-class rivers. The former T ...

; however, the Nagara River forms the border between Ōgaki and the neighboring cities of

and Hashima.

Neighbouring municipalities

*Gifu Prefecture **

** Hashima **

Mizuho Mizuho () literally means "abundant rice" in Japanese and "harvest" in the figurative sense. It was also an ancient name of Japan. It might refer to: Places * Mizuho, Gifu, a city in Gifu * Mizuho, Tokyo, a town in Tokyo * Mizuho Plateau in Ant ...

** Anpachi, Gōdo and Wanouchi ( Anpachi District) ** Ikeda (

Ibi District is a district located in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. , the district has an estimated population of 72,109. The total area is 876.65 km2. The area of the former village of Tokuyama in this district will be flooded by the Tokuyama Dam. Towns ...

) **

Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

and Tarui ( Fuwa District) **

Yōrō was a after ''Reiki'' and before '' Jinki.'' This period spanned the years from November 717 through February 724. The reigning empress was . Change of era * 717 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previou ...

( Yōrō District) *

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

Inabe 260px, Mount Ryu and Mount Fujiwara with Sunflower field is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 43,114 in 17314 households and a population density of 200 persons per km². The total area of the city ...

* Shiga Prefecture **

Maibara is a city in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 38,259 in 14761 households and a population density of 150 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Maibara is located in northcentral Shiga Pr ...

Taga Taga may refer to: Places ;Japan * Taga District, Ibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture * Hitachi-Taga Station in Ibaraki Prefecture * Yamashiro-Taga Station in Kyoto Prefecture * Taga, Shiga in Shiga Prefecture *Taga-taisha, a Shinto shrine in Shiga Prefec ...

( Inukami District)

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōgaki has increased gradually over the past 40 years.

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and mild winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Ōgaki is 14.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1871 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.7 °C.

History

The area around Ōgaki was part of traditional Mino Province. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, the area developed as a castle town for Ōgaki Domain under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. In the post-

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

cadastral reforms, the town of Ogaki was established within Anpachi District, Gifu Prefecture with the creation of the modern municipalities system on July 1, 1889. It was raised to city status on April 1, 1918. The city suffered severe flooding during the

1934 Muroto typhoon In September 1934, a violent typhoon caused tremendous devastation in Japan, leaving more than 3,000 people dead in its wake. Dubbed the , the system was first identified on September 13 over the western Federated States of Microne ...

, and was largely destroyed in six air raids in 1945.

Municipal timeline

* April 1918: Gained city status * April 1928: Merged with parts of the village of Kitakuise, Anpachi District (specifically the localities of Kido, Minamiisshiki, Kasagi, Kasanui and Gama) * December 1934: Merged with village of Minamikuise, Anpachi District * June 1935: Merged with village of Tagishima, Anpachi District * June 1936: Merged with village of Yasui, Anpachi District * February 1940: Merged with villages of Urū and Shizusato, Fuwa District * October 1947: Merged with villages of Ayasato, Fuwa District, and Sumoto, Anpachi District * June 1948: Merged with village of Asakusa, Anpachi District * October 1948: Merged with village of Kawanami and the Maze part of Maki, Anpachi District * April 1949: Merged with village of Nakagawa, Anpachi District * April 1951: Merged with village of Wagō, Anpachi District * June 1952: Merged with village of Mitsukoshi, Anpachi District * October 1954: Merged with village of Arasaki, Fuwa District * September 1967: Merged with town of Akasaka, Fuwa District * April 1988: Established city constitution * March 27, 2006: Merged with towns of Kamiishizu, Yōrō District, and Sunomata, Anpachi District

Government

Ōgaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

city legislature of 22 members.

Economy

Ibiden is a Japanese electronics company headquartered in Ogaki, Gifu prefecture that manufactures electronics-related products, such as printed circuit boards and IC packaging. The company also makes ceramics products, including particulate filte ...

, a global electronic components manufacturer, is headquartered in the city.

Education

Universities and colleges

Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences , IAMAS is a public university at Ōgaki, Gifu, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Jap ...

(IAMAS) *

Gifu Keizai University , formerly , is a private university at Ogaki, Gifu, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of ...

* Ogaki Women's College *Institute for Fashion Studies (IFS) *Ogaki Nursing College (moved to Ogaki Medical Association March 31, 2006) *Nihon Information Processing College *Nihon General Business College *Nihon-Chūō Nursing College Ogaki *Nihon-Chūō Gakuen Culinary College

Primary and secondary education

Ōgaki has 22 public elementary schools and ten public middle schools operated by the city government and one private middle school. The city has nine public high school operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education, and two private high schools. The prefecture also operates one special education school. *Ogaki Kita Senior High School *Ogaki Higashi Senior High School *Ogaki Minami Senior High School *Ogaki Nishi Senior High School *Ogaki Technical High School *Ogaki-Shogyo Business High School *Nihon University Ogaki Senior High School *Hirano Gakuen *Ogaki Sakura High School *Ogaki School for Handicapped (primary through senior high)

International schools

* Escola Brasileira Prof. Kawase - Brazilian primary schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.

Transportation

Railway

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

** - - * Tarutetsu logomark

Tarumi Railway The is a Japanese railway line in Gifu Prefecture, between Ōgaki Station, Ōgaki and Tarumi Station, Motosu. It is the only railway line operates. There was a freight rail service that transported cement for Sumitomo Ōsaka Cement of Sumitom ...

Tarumi Railway Tarumi Line The is a Japanese railway line in Gifu Prefecture, between Ōgaki Station, Ōgaki and Tarumi Station, Motosu. It is the only railway line operates. There was a freight rail service that transported cement for Sumitomo Ōsaka Cement of Sumitom ...

** - * Yoro Railway Logo

Yōrō Railway Yōrō Line The is a railway line of a Japanese private railway operator . The line traverses the northeastern side of the Yōrō Mountains and connects Kuwana Station in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture and Ibi Station in Ibigawa, Gifu Prefecture. The northern por ...

** - - - - - - *Seino Railway (freight railway) **Seino Ichihashi Line: Mino Akasaka Station, Otomezaka Station, Saruiwa Station, Ichihashi Station **Seino Hirui Line: Mino Akasaka Station, Mino Okubo Station, Hirui Station

Highway

* 22px

Meishin Expressway The , or Nagoya-Kōbe Expressway is a toll expressway in Japan. It runs from a junction with the Tōmei Expressway in Komaki, Aichi (outside Nagoya) west to Nishinomiya, Hyōgo (between Osaka and Kobe). It is the main road link between Osaka and ...

- Ogaki IC * 22px

Tōkai-Kanjō Expressway The (lit. Tōkai Ring Expressway) is a toll road in the Tōkai region of Japan. It is owned and managed by Central Nippon Expressway Company. Naming Officially, the route is designated as National Route 475. On some signs, the expressway is re ...

- Ogaki-nishi IC * * * *

Twin towns – sister cities

Ōgaki is twinned with: *

Glen Eira The City of Glen Eira is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and has an estimated population of 153,858 (51.6% female and 48.4% male). It was formed in 1994 ...

, Australia *

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

, China *

Hioki is a city in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. As of May 1, 2010, the city had a population of 51,819

, Japan

Friendship cities

* Beaverton, United States *

Changwon Changwon () is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea. With a population of 1.07 million , Changwon is South Korea's ninth-most populous city. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south ...

, South Korea *

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, United States *

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, Japan *

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

, Belgium *

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Germany

Local attractions

* Akasaka-juku, the 56th

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the Nakasendō *

Kokubun-ji were Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). History Shōmu (701 – 756?) decreed both a ''kokubun-ji'' for monks and a for nuns to be established in each ...

ruins * Basho's

Haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

Journey Memorial *

Ōgaki Castle 270px, Ōgaki Castle in 1933 270px, Edo period layout map of Ōgaki Castle is a flatlands-style Japanese castle located in the city of Ōgaki, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. During the Sengoku period, Ōgaki Castle was home to several of Toyotomi Hidey ...

*Softopia Japan *Sumiyoshi Lighthouse *

Sunomata Castle 250px, Tenshu is a Japanese castle in Ōgaki in Gifu Prefecture at the confluence of the Sai and Nagara rivers. It is also called the , due to the legend that it was built in one night. The castle was constructed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, at the ...

Notable people

*, kendo teacher *, Japanese businessman *, professional wrestler *

Ikutaro Tokoro was a doctor practicing Western medicine and also a patriot in the closing days of the Tokugawa shogunate. He is well known as the doctor who saved the life of Inoue Kaoru, who was severely wounded by would-be assassins. He was also a staff offic ...

, patriot in the closing days of

*, architect known for the construction and design of

National Diet Building The is the building where both houses of the National Diet, National Diet of Japan meet. It is located at Nagatachō, Tokyo, Nagatachō 1-chome 7–1, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Sessions of the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives ta ...

* Yasufumi Tanahashi, politician *

Shigeki Hosokawa is a Japanese actor and former model. Biography Shigeki Hosokawa attended Ogaki Municipal North Elementary School and Ogaki Municipal North Junior High School. He then graduated from Ogaki Public High School in 1988. He had his first acting r ...

, actor * Yoshiyuki Ishihara, professional baseball player * Shōta Ōno, professional baseball player *

Yoshitoki Ōima is a Japanese manga artist and writer, best known for her manga series '' A Silent Voice'' and ''To Your Eternity''. Life Ōima was born on March 15, 1989 in Ōgaki, Japan as the third daughter of a sign language interpreter mother and has ...

, manga artist

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogaki, Gifu Cities in Gifu Prefecture