is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Kanzaki District,

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

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 town 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 11,275 in 4917 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 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 * Fukusaki *

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 * Kamikawa *

Taka The taka (, , sign: , code: BDT, short form: Tk) is the currency of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at . Issuance of banknotes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while the 2 and 5 govt. notes are the responsibility of the ...

Climate

Ichikawa 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 ''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 th ...

. In 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 divided between

Himeji Domain was a Han (Japan), 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 ...

and ''

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 administration 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 ...

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

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

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 Hyōgo 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 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

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. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

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 * Amaji Elementary School * Ichikawa High School * Ichikawa Junior High School * Kawanabe Elementary School * Seka Elementary School * Tsurui 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, ...

– Bantan Line * -

Highway

Bantan Renraku Road *

Sister cities

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 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, since October 24, 2002

References

External links

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