270px, Hongan-ji Hidaka-betsuin 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

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

, Japan. , 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 22,401 in 10822 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

of 520 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Gobō is located at the mouth of the Hidakagawa River, almost in the center of the coastline of Wakayama Prefecture. The terrain is long from north to south, and the part facing the

Kii Channel The , also called the Kii Strait, is a strait separating the Japanese island of Shikoku from the Kii Peninsula on the main island of Honshū. This strait connects the Inland Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The name of the strait derives from Ki ...

is almost flat, but the east side of the city is mountainous. Due to the influence of the

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

, the city enjoys a mild climate.

Neighboring municipalities

Wakayama Prefecture * Mihama * Hidaka * Hidakagawa * Inami

Climate

Gobō has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Gobō is 15.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1878 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.1 °C. The area is subject to

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

s in summer.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Gobō population statistics
/ref> the population of Gobō has been declining steadily over the past 40 years.

History

The area of the modern city of Gobō was within ancient

Kii Province , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Prov ...

. The village of Gobō was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It took its name from a branch temple of Nishi Hongan-ji, the Hidaka-Gobō, which had been built at this location in 1528, and which was known locally as "Gobō-sama". The village was raised to town status on February 1, 1897. Gobō merged with the villages of Fujita, Noguchi, Nada and Shioya to form the city of Gobō on April 1, 1954.

Government

Gobō 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 multi ...

city council of 14 members. Gobō contributes one member to the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Wakayama 3rd district Wakayama 3rd district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It is located in Wakayama Prefecture and consists of Arida, Gobo, Shingu, and Tanabe cities and the Arida, Hidaka, Higashimu ...

of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

In ancient times, Gobō developed as a distribution center for timber transported by the Hidaka River and as a fishing port.

Commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

, especially for

horse mackerel Horse mackerel is a vague vernacular term for a range of species of fish throughout the English-speaking world. It is commonly applied to pelagic fishes, especially of the Carangidae (jack mackerels and scads) family, most commonly those of the gen ...

, abalone and

spiny lobster Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family (Palinuridae) of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, So ...

remains important, as does agriculture, especially the production of cut flowers. Gobō's slogan is "''Hanamaru Gobō''", linking the city with flowers. The city's greenhouses produce a wide range of blooms, supplying the Japanese market, and its official flower is the '' Hibiscus hamabo'', a kind of

hollyhock ''Alcea'' is a genus of over 80 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, commonly known as the hollyhocks. They are native to Asia and Europe. The single species of hollyhock from the Americas, the streambank wild hollyhock, ...

growing up to in height, and bearing yellow flowers in the summer. The hibiscus are found at the mouth of the Hidaka River with its warmer

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

. In terms of industry, Hidaka Port corporate site and Gobo Industrial Park in the Shioya district in the southern part of the city, forming the industrial area. This includes the production of mahjong tiles by Taiyo Kagaku, which has a near monopoly on the Japanese domestic market. The

Kansai Electric , also known as , is an electric utility with its operational area of Kansai region, Japan (including the Keihanshin megalopolis). The Kansai region is Japan's second-largest industrial area, and in normal times, its most nuclear-reliant. Befo ...

Gobō Thermal Power Plant is located in Gobō.

Education

Gobō has six public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government and four public high schools operated by the Wakayama Prefectural Department of Education. The city also has one private/middle school. The prefecture also operates one vocational education school.

Transportation

Railway

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, an ...

–

Kisei Main Line The is a railway line that parallels the coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the ''kanji'' characters from the names of the old provinces of and . The line is operated by Ce ...

* -

Kishū Railway - Kishū Railway Line * - - - -

Highway

Hanwa Expressway * *

Local attractions

Gobō has "Gobō Synthesis Sport Park". This park has a baseball ground and multipurpose ground, training place and more. It is a popular relaxation spot among the locals.

References

External links

* * Cities in Wakayama Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Gobō, Wakayama {{Wakayama-geo-stub