270px, Kan'onji City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Kan'onji city center 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

Kagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the southwest and Tok ...

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 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 57,921 in 25510 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 490 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kan'onji is located at the western end of Kagawa Prefecture. It faces the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

to the west and borders

Tokushima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, E ...

across the

Sanuki Mountains The are a mountain range running along the southern border of Kagawa and the northern border of Tokushima prefectures on the island of Shikoku, Japan. The highest peak is at 1059.9 m.Ibuki island in the Seto Inland Sea between Shikoku and

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

. Some coastal parts of the city are within the borders of the

Setonaikai National Park is a Japanese national park, comprising areas of Japan's Seto Inland Sea, and of ten bordering prefectures. Designated a national park in 1934, it has since been expanded several times. It contains about 3,000 islands, known as the Setouchi Isl ...

Neighbouring municipalities

Kagawa Prefecture * Mitoyo Tokushima Prefecture * Miyoshi Ehime Prefecture *

Shikokuchūō is a city located in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 83,635 in 28876 households and a population density of 200 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Shikokuchūō is the leading producer of pape ...

Climate

Kan'onji 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 Kan'onji is 15.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1439 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kan'onji has been relatively steady since the 1960s.

History

The area of Kan'onji was part of ancient

Sanuki Province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sanuki''" in . Sanuki bordered on Awa to the south, and Iyo to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, ...

and has been inhabited since prehistoric times. A number of

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s from the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

have been identified, including the

Ōnohara Kofun cluster The is a group of '' kofun'' burial mounds located in the city of Kan'onji, Kagawa Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku of Japan. The tumuli were collectively designated a National Historic Site in 2015 with the area under protection expanded ...

. Historical documents indicate that the

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

Kotohiki Hachiman-gū Kotohiki may refer to: * Kotohiki Beach, a beach in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan * Kotohiki Park, a park in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan * Kayoko Kotohiki, a character in the novel ''Battle Royale'' {{disambiguation ...

was founded in 703 and that the

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

of Kannon-ji (from which the city derives its name) was founded by the

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon sec ...

in 803. During 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 ...

, the city area was part of the holdings of

Marugame Domain 270px, Kyōgoku Akiyuki 270px, Marugame Castle was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Marugame Castle, and was ruled throughout mu ...

under 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 village of Kan'onji was established within Toyota District with the creation of the modern municipalities system on December 16,1878. It was elevated to town status on February 15, 1890. In 1899, Toyota district was merged with Mino District to form

Mitoyo District, Kagawa was a district located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 93,984 and a density of 322.96 persons per km2. The total area was 291.01 km2. Mergers * Mitoyo District was created by the merge ...

. Kan'onji was elevated to city status on January 1, 1955. On October 11, 2005, the towns of Ōnohara and Toyohama (both from Mitoyo District) merged with Kan'onji.

Government

Kan'onji 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 ...

city council of 22 members. Kan'onji contributes three members to the Kagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kagawa 3rd 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 economy of Kan'onji is primarily food-related, with the city being the largest producer of lettuce in Japan.

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

sardines "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the I ...

, and food-processing, notably the frozen food industry, is also prominent.

Education

Kan'onji has ten public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and one private middle school. The city has two public high schools operated by the Kagawa Prefectural Board of Education.The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railways

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately pa ...

* - -

Highways

Takamatsu Expressway The is an expressway in the Shikoku region of Japan. The expressway is numbered E11. Overview The expressway is an important route connecting the greater Osaka area with Takamatsu, the capital of Kagawa Prefecture. Beyond Takamatsu, the rout ...

* *

Sister city relations

* -

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, United States, since January 27,1988 * -

Jimo District Jimo District (), formerly Jimo City (), is a District of Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Locat ...

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, China, friendship city since July 27,2000.

Local attractions

* Jinne-in, 68th temple on the

Shikoku Pilgrimage The or is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (''Kōbō Daishi'') on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long histor ...

* Kannon-ji, 69th temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage *

, National Historic Site *Kotohiki Park, which is part of the

, includes a coin-shaped sand drawing which models the

Kan'ei Tsūhō The Kan'ei Tsūhō (Kyūjitai: 寛永通寳; Shinjitai: 寛永通宝) was a Japanese mon coin in use from 1626 until 1868 during the Edo period. In 1636, the ''Kan'ei Tsūhō'' coin was introduced by the Tokugawa shogunate to standardise and mai ...

Noted people from Kan'onji

Masayoshi Ōhira was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1978 to 1980. Ōhira's time in office was cut short when he died in office; he remains the most recent Japanese Prime Minister to die in office. Early life Masayoshi Ōhira was bo ...

, Prime Minister of Japan *

Yoshinori Ohno Yoshinori Ohno (大野功統 ''Ōno Yoshinori'', born October 16, 1935) was Japan's Minister of State for Defense in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's third Cabinet from 2004 to 2005. He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. Person ...

, politician, former Minister of Defense

External links

Kan-onji City official website

References

Cities in Kagawa Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Kan'onji, Kagawa {{Kagawa-geo-stub