is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in Kanzaki District,

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

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 town 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 11,275 in 4917 households 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 53 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Ichikawa is located in the center of Hyōgo Prefecture, with the Ichikawa River flowing through the center of town. Mt. Kasagata (elevation 939m), which rises in the northeastern part of the town, is also called "Harima Fuji" for its silhouette.

Neighbouring municipalities

Hyōgo Prefecture *

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...

* Kasai * Fukusaki * Kamikawa *

Taka The Bangladeshi taka ( bn, টাকা, sign: , code: BDT, short form: Tk) is the currency of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at . Issuance of bank notes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while ...

Climate

Ichikawa has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ichikawa is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1606 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ichikawa has declined steadily over the last 30 years.

History

The area of the modern town of Ichikawa was within ancient

Harima Province or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During the ...

. In 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 ...

, it was divided between

Himeji Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Harima Province in what is now the southern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Himeji Castle, which is located in what is now the ...

and ''

tenryō 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 ...

'' territory under direct administration of 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 ...

. Following 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, the villages of Amaji, Kawanabe, Seka and Tsurui were created within

Kanzaki District, Hyōgo is a district located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 67,363 and a density of 185.93 persons per km2. The total area is 362.31 km2. Towns and villages * Fukusaki * Ichikawa * Kamikawa ...

. The four villages merged on March 31, 1955 forming the town of Ichikawa.

Government

Ichikawa 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 ...

town council of 12 members. Ichikawa, together with the other municipalities of Kanzaki District, contributes one member to the

Hyogo Prefectural Assembly The is the prefectural parliament of Hyogo Prefecture. The assembly's 87 members are elected every four years in 40 districts by single non-transferable vote. Nine of the electoral districts correspond with the wards of Kobe city and the rema ...

. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Hyōgo 12th district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

The manufacturing of

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Wood (golf), Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; iron (golf), irons, the most versatile class ...

s in Japan began in Ichikawa in 1945. Currently there are about 20 different companies in Ichikawa contributing to the Japanese golf equipment industry. Products from the town are exported overseas. There is also a large golf course in the center of the town, called Forest Ichikawa Golf Club. In addition to golf equipment manufacturing, Ichikawa is home to ''Tazumi no Tamago,'' or Tazumi's Eggs, a chicken farm that produces organic eggs. The eggs are sold in various restaurants and markets in Ichikawa.

Education

Ichikawa has four public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by th
Ichikawa Board of Education
There is one public high school operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Department of Education."Ichikawa Town Board of Education Website" (in Japanese). Japan: Ichikawa Town. Retrieved 13 April 2022. https://www.fureai-cloud.jp/ichikawa * Ichikawa High School * Ichikawa Junior High School * Amaji Elementary School * Kawanabe Elementary School * Tsurui Elementary School * Seka Elementary 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, and ...

–

Bantan Line The is a railway line that connects Himeji and Wadayama station in Asago City, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The line is operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and serves as a connector between the Sanyo Main Line and the Sanin Main ...

* -

Highway

Bantan Renraku Road The is a toll road in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is signed E95 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering." Junction list * IC - Interchange (road), interchange, SIC - smart interchange, JCT - Interchange (road)#Between tw ...

Sister city relations

* -

Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition to ...

in the

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 ...

, from October 24, 2002

References

External links

*
Ichikawa official website
Towns in Hyōgo Prefecture Ichikawa, Hyōgo {{Hyogo-geo-stub