is a city in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. It is located in the southeastern Kyushu region in the central part of

Ōsumi Peninsula 261x261px, Satellite image of Ōsumi Peninsula The projects south from the Japanese island of Kyūshū and includes the southernmost point on the island, Cape Sata. Its east coast lies on the Pacific Ocean, while to the west it faces the Satsuma ...

. Kanoya is the most populous city in Japan without any connection to

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

services, after the abolition of the Ōsumi Line in 1987.

Geography

Kanoya is located approximately at the heart of Ōsumi Peninsula with its city limits running approximately east and west and north and south. The Takakuma Mountains stretch out into the northwestern part of the city and the Kimotsuki Mountains in the southeast. Between both mountain ranges lie the Kasanohara and Kanoyahara plateaus. The Kimotsuki Plains spread through the alluvial plains of the Kimotsuki River that runs through central Kanoya. In the western part of the city is Kinko Bay which runs down the coast line.

Bordering municipalities

Kanoya is bordered by the cities of Tarumizu, Kirishima, and Soo, the towns of Higashikushira,

Kinko FedEx Office Print & Ship Services Inc. (doing business as FedEx Office; formerly FedEx Kinko's, and earlier simply Kinko's) is an American retail chain that provides an outlet for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground (including Home Delivery) shippin ...

, and Kimotsuki in Kimotsuki District, and the town of

Osaki Osaki is a type of spirit possession of a fox told about in legends of Japan. They are also called osaki-gitsune. They can also alternatively be written 尾先. Other ways of writing them include 尾裂, 御先狐, 尾崎狐, among others. Conce ...

in Soo District. File:Kanoya City Central 2009.JPG, View of downtown Kanoya from Kanoya City Hall File:ISS034-E-027139.jpg, An image taken from the International Space Station showing Kanoya and its surroundings on January 10, 2013

Climate

Kanoya has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa'') with hot summers and mild winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, and is heavier in summer, especially the months of June and July. The average annual temperature in Kanoya is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . Its record high is , reached on 18 August 2020, and its record low is , reached on 25 January 2016.

Demographics

, the city has an estimated population of 104,148. Within Kagoshima Prefecture, Kanoya is the third most populous city next to

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

(the prefectural capital) and Kirishima. In 2006, the original city of Kanoya was expanded following the merger of the two towns of

Aira ''Aira'' is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to western and southern Europe, central and southwest Asia, plus Africa. The common name, shared with the similar related genera '' Deschampsia'' and ''Koeleria'', is hair-g ...

and Kushira in Kimotsuki District, and Kihoku in Soo District. The original Kanoya City was established as a municipality on May 27, 1941 (Navy Memorial Day). Kanoya is also popularly called the "Town of Roses".

Specialties

Kanoya's specialties include

Berkshire pig The Berkshire is an English breed of pig. It originated in the county of Berkshire, for which it is named. It is normally black, with some white on the snout, on the lower legs, and on the tip of the tail. It is a rare breed in the United Kin ...

, peanuts,

broiler A broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaught ...

s, and sweet potatoes. Kanoya is home to the Kanoya National Institute of Fitness and Sports (NIFS), as well as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Kanoya Air Base (

JMSDF , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

Kanoya Air Field is a military aerodrome of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force . It is located southwest of the city of Kanoya in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Runway 08R/26L is equipped with ILS. On April 6, 2016 a U-125 airplane operated by the Flight Ch ...

Education

National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya is a national university in Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan, founded in 1981. Four alumni participated in the swimming and volleyball events in the Beijing Olympics, including Athens Olympics swimming gold medalist Ai Shibata. Four players parti ...

Notable people from Kanoya, Kagoshima

* Sunshine Ikezaki (Real Name: Satoru Ikezaki,

Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...

: 池崎慧, ''Ikezaki Satoru''), Japanese comedian * Yuka Nishida (

: 西田優香, ''Nishida Yuka''), Japanese judoka * Sayuri Kokushō (

: 国生さゆり or 國生さゆり, ''Kokusho Sayuri''),

Japanese actress The following is a list of Japanese actresses in surname alphabetical order. Names are displayed given name first, per Wikipedia manual of style. To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing that they are Japanese ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, and

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as " ...

Taiga Satoru Taiga Satoru, born Satoshi Kawasaki (January 3, 1950 – July 16, 2009), was a sumo wrestler from Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan. He made his professional debut in March 1965, and reached the top division in July 1969. His highest rank was ''maega ...

(Real Name: Satoshi Kawasaki,

: 川崎悟司, ''Kawasaki Satoshi''), Japanese sumo wrestler * Yamato Maeda (

: 前田大和, ''Maeda Yamato''), Japanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

(

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

) *

Sakura Yokomine is a Japanese professional golfer. She is one of the leading players on the LPGA of Japan Tour and was in the top twenty of the February 2006 debut edition of the Women's World Golf Rankings. She finished T-11 at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tour ...

(

: 横峯さくら, ''Yokomine Sakura''), Japanese professional golfer (

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

and

LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the most important women's tour, but ...

)

References

External links

*
Kanoya International Exchange Association
* {{Authority control Kanoya, Kagoshima Cities in Kagoshima Prefecture