is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 72,243 in 36029 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Amakusa covers the majority of two main islands, Kamishima (上島, "Upper Island") and Shimoshima (下島, "Lower Island") (天草諸島), and six smaller inhabited islands and numerous uninhabited

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s located the central-west Kumamoto Prefecture, in between the

Yatsushiro Sea The , also called the , is a shallow semi-enclosed inland sea separating the island of Kyūshū from the Amakusa Islands. It lies mostly within Kumamoto Prefecture and at the southern end of the sea it also borders Kagoshima Prefecture. To the n ...

and the

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

. Large parts of the city are within the borders of the Unzen-Amakusa National Park.

Neighboring municipalities

Kumamoto Prefecture * Kamiamakusa * Reihoku

Climate

Amakusa has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, and is heaviest from May to August. The average annual temperature in Amakusa is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Amakusa was on 20 August 2013; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 25 January 2016.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Amakusa in 2020 is 75,783 people. Amakusa has been conducting censuses since 1920. Amakusa has the distinction of being the fastest depopulating city in Japan since the last census (2005).

History

The area of Amakusa was part of ancient

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

, During the

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

it was ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil war ...

'' territory under direct control of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

and administered from the office of the

Nagasaki bugyō were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually '' fudai'' ''daimyōs'', but this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not ''daimyōs''.Beasley, Wi ...

. After the

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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the villages of Takahama, Fukurengi, Shimoda and Oe were established in Amakusa District, Kumamoto with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On September 21, 1956, these villages merged to form the town of Amakusa. The city of Amakusa was established on March 27, 2006, from a merger between the former cities of Hondo and Ushibuka, and the towns of

Amakusa , which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Geography The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima, which is 26.5 miles long and 13.5 mil ...

, Ariake, Goshoura, Itsuwa, Kawaura, Kuratake, Shinwa and Sumoto from Amakusa District.

Government

Amakusa 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 26 members. Amakusa, together with the town of Reihoku contributes three members to the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Kumamoto 4th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Amakusa has a rural economy dominated by agriculture and commercial fishing. Tourism also plays a major role. Amakusa Airlines is headquartered in Amakusa.

Education

Amakusa has 17 public elementary schools and 13 public junior high schools operated by the city government and four public high school operated by the Kumamoto Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school. The prefecture also operates one school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Airports

* Amakusa Airfield

Railways

Amakusa has no passenger railway service. The nearest train station is Misumi Station on the

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Misumi Line in Uki City.

Highways

* * *

Sister city relations

Encinitas, California Encinitas ( Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. Located in Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between Solana Beach and Carlsbad, and a ...

, United States

Local attractions

Sightseeing

*Alegria Gardens *Amakusa Christian Museum *Amakusa Dolphin Marine Land *Ōe Catholic Church * Sakitsu Church *Shimoda Onsen hot springs * Tanasoko Castle ruins, National Historic Site * Unzen-Amakusa National Park File:Amakusa Christian Museum.jpg, Amakusa Christian Museum File:OeCatholicChurch.jpg, Ōe Catholic Church File:SakitsuCatholicChurch.jpg, Sakitsu Catholic Church File:下田温泉街 20140901.jpg, Shimoda Onsen hot springs

Notable people from Amakusa

* Michiko Ishimure, writer *

Kundō Koyama (born 1964) is a Japanese writer. He is best known for scripting the television series ''Iron Chef'' and the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film recipient ''Departures (2008 film), Departures''. Koyama has also worked under the pen ...

, film writer * Tochihikari Masayuki, sumo wrestler *Kenta Matsumoto, vocalist and bassist of WANIMA *Koushin Nishida, guitarist of WANIMA *

Hiroyuki Sonoda was a Japanese politician who served in the Diet of Japan, Diet (national legislature) as a member of the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives for Kumamoto 4th district; following the 2017 general election when Kumamoto los ...

, statesman * Sunao Sonoda, statesman * Yoshiki Tanaka, novelist

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Cities in Kumamoto Prefecture Amakusa, Kumamoto Populated coastal places in Japan