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

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...

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 ...

. It is the smallest and least populous city in Shimane Prefecture. The city was founded on April 1, 1954. As of 2017, the city has 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 24,009 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 89 persons per km². The total area is 158.41 km². The city's economy is primarily focused on commerce. 180503 Go-no-kawa Gotsu Shimane pref Japan11s3

180503 Go-no-kawa Gotsu Shimane pref Japan11s3

Overview

The city lies on the sea, and offers beautiful and uncrowded beaches. The

Gōnokawa River The is a river that runs through Hiroshima and Shimane prefectures in Japan. It is the largest river in the Chūgoku region. It is also called the Gōgawa River () and, in Hiroshima, the Enokawa River (). The mainstream originates from Mount Asa ...

flows through the city, from the mountains to the sea. The river is the site of festivals, fireworks, and excellent fishing. On October 1, 2004, the town of Sakurae (from Ōchi District) was merged into Gōtsu. Overlooking Gōtsu City is Hoshitaka Mountain, or "Star Mountain", so named for the star pattern carved into the face of the mountain. According to Gōtsu legend, the star was formed by a meteor that had fallen many years ago. A piece of this meteor was saved, and a special shrine was built at the foot of the mountain to honor the meteor. In the winter, snowfall on the mountain creates a beautiful star-shaped pattern, visible from anywhere in the city. In the spring, white azaleas bloom to form a white star, while the area bordering the star remains green. In the summer, in celebration of the Japanese Obon Festival, the star is lit up at night. Under the auspices of the Japanese Ministry of Education and the

Jet Programme The , or , is a Japanese government initiative that brings college (university) graduates—mostly native speakers of English—to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and Sports Education Advisors (SEAs) in Japanese kindergartens, elementa ...

, Gōtsu hosts four native English speakers each year, who teach English in the area's public schools. Gōtsu's Sister City in the United States is

Corona, California Corona (Spanish for "Crown") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 157,136, up from 152,374 at the 2010 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and north ...

(located near Los Angeles).

History

Burial mounds from the middle third of the Middle

Yayoi period The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...

were discovered in Gōtsu in 1973. On May 27, 1905, the Russian transport vessel Irtysh of the

Russian Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

sustained damaged from Japanese warships in the waters off

Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese archipelago situated in-between the Tsushima Strait and Korea Strait, approximately halfway between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula. The main island of Tsushima, once a single island, was divided into two in 1671 b ...

. After drifting to within 2 km of the coast Gōtsu's Waki district the ship began to sink. Gōtsu residents rescued over 200 Russian soldiers. The event has been memorialized since the following year and is now known as the Russia festival. In 1959, the former chairman of the Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation Ryoichi Sasakawa erected a 2.9 meter tall

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

. Sekishuken Laboratory in Gōtsu researches the history of the Sekishuken breed of dogs. The ancestor of all living

Shiba Inu The is a breed of hunting dog from Japan. A small-to-medium breed, it is the smallest of the six original and distinct spitz breeds of dog native to Japan. Its name literally translates to "firewood dog". A small, alert, and agile dog that c ...

, Ishi, was from the Sekishuken breed, indigenous to western Shimane.

Transportation

The city was previously connected by train at Gōtsu station on the JR Sankō Line but the station closed on March 31, 2018 with the discontinuation of the entire line from Gōtsu to Miyoshi.

International relations

Friendship cities

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

External links

*
Gōtsu City official website
Cities in Shimane Prefecture {{Shimane-geo-stub