270px, Kaizuka CIty Hall 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

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

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 83,995 in 37,778 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 1900 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kaizuka is located in the southern part of Izumi Region in

, bordered by

Osaka Bay Osaka Bay (大阪湾 ''Ōsaka-wan'' ) is a bay in western Japan. As an eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea, it is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Kii Channel and from the neighbor western part of the Inland Sea by the Akashi Strait. ...

to the northwest. The Kogi River flows from east to west, the Tsuda River forms the line between this city and

Kishiwada is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 190,853 in 88598 households and a population density of 2600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is well known for its Danjiri Matsu ...

City, and the Mide River is a city boundary with

Izumisano Izumisano ( ja, 泉佐野市, Latn, ja, Izumisano-shi, ) is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 98,840 in 47658 households and a population density of 1700 persons per km². The total area of the c ...

City.

Nankai Main Line The is one of the two main railway lines of Japanese private railway company Nankai Electric Railway, together with Kōya Line. The route is from Namba Station in south downtown of Osaka to Wakayamashi Station in Wakayama via Sakai, Izumiōtsu ...

and

Hanwa Line The is a commuter rail line in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The 61.3 km (38.1 mi) line runs between Osaka and Wakayama, Wakayama, Wakayama, Japan and has a 1.7 km branchlin ...

run from south to north, and the

Mizuma Railway The is a Japanese railway line between Mizuma Kannon Station and Kaizuka Station, all within Kaizuka, Ōsaka. This is the only railway line of a private railway company operates. The company also operates bus services. The company or the l ...

runs from east to west.

Mount Izumi Katsuragi is a mountain in the Kongō Range straddling the border between Osaka and Wakayama Prefectures in Japan. Its peak elevation is .According to the , the summit is 858 meters in elevation, and many sources use them. However, other sources indicate t ...

is partly in Kaizuka territory.

Neighboring municipalities

Osaka Prefecture *

Kumatori 270px, Eiraku Dam in theOkuyama-Ameyama Nature Park is a town located in Sen'nan District, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 43,154 in 18377 households and a population density of 2500 persons per km2. The tota ...

Wakayama Prefecture * Kinokawa

Climate

Kaizuka 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 to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kaizuka is 14.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1475 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kaizuka has increased steadily over the last century..

History

The area of the modern city of Izumisano was within ancient

Izumi Province :''The characters ''泉州'' are also used for the name of the Chinese city of Quanzhou''. was a province of Japan in the area of southern Osaka Prefecture. Tango bordered on Kii to the south, Yamato and Kawachi to the west, and Settsu to t ...

. The area was a stronghold of

Ishiyama Hongan-ji The was the primary fortress of the Ikkō-ikki, leagues of warrior priests and commoners who opposed samurai rule during the Sengoku period. It was established in 1496, at the mouth of the Yodo River, on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea. At the t ...

during the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under 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 ...

, much of the city area was controlled by the

Osaka machi-bugyō were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually '' fudai'' daimyō, but this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not daimyō.Beasley, William G. (1955 ...

and by

Kishiwada Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Izumi Province in what is now the southern portion of modern-day Osaka Prefecture. It was centered around Kishiwada Castle and was controlled by the ''fudai daim ...

. After 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 town of Kaizuka established within Minami District with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, along with the villages of Asogou, Shima, Kijima and Nishi-Katsuragi. Kita-Kogi and Minami-Kogi (within Hine District) were also formed. On April 1, 1896 the area became part of

Sennan District, Osaka is a district located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. As of 2009, the district has an estimated population of 70,631 and a density of 991 persons per km2. The total area is 71.27 km2. At one time Peach Aviation had its head office in a locatio ...

. Kaizuka annexed Asogou, Shima, Kita-Kogi, and Minami-Kogi on April1, 1931, Kijima on April 15, 1935 and Nishi-Katsuragi on April 1, 1939. Kaizuka was elevated to city status on October 1, 1943.

Government

Kaizuka 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 18 members. Kaizuka contributes one member to the

Osaka Prefectural Assembly The is the legislature of Osaka Prefecture. As in all prefectures, it is elected to four-year terms by single non-transferable vote in multi- and single-member districts and is responsible for enacting and amending prefectural by-laws, approving ...

. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Osaka 19th 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

Kaizuka has been famous for its production of wooden combs since ancient times. Made of

boxwood ''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...

, this remains an important handicraft and is the motif of the city's mascot character. The city economy is a mixture of industrial (textiles, steel wire and rope) and agriculture (onions, eggplant). Many residents commute to larger cities to the north, including

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and incl ...

and Osaka. Taking advantage of the city's proximity to

Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport ( ja, 関西国際空港, Kansai Kokusai Kūkō) commonly known as is the primary international airport in the Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and K ...

, the Nishikinohama Industrial Park was constructed by reclaiming the offshore area of on the right bank of the mouth of the Kogi River.

Education

Kaizuka has 11 public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government and three public high schools operated by the Osaka Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private high school. The Osaka Kawasaki Rehabilitation University is also located in Kaizuka.

Transportation

Airport

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 ...

–

* -

Nankai Electric Railway is a private railway in Japan, founded in 1884. The name ''Nankai'' (which means "South Sea") comes from the company's routes along the Nankaidō, the old highway that ran south from the old capital, Kyoto, along the sea coast. Nankai predates a ...

* -

- Mizuma Line * - - - - - - - - -

Highway

Hanshin Expressway The is a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan. Operated by , it opened in 1962. Portions of the Hanshin Expressway about east of Fukae Station collapsed during the Kobe earthquake on 17 January 1995. These section ...

Hanwa Expressway The is a national expressway in the Kinki region of Japan. It is owned and operated by West Nippon Expressway Company. Naming Hanwa is a kanji acronym of two characters. The first character represents Osaka (大阪) and the second character re ...

Kansai-Kūkō Expressway The (lit. Kansai Airport Expressway) is a 4-laned national expressway in Izumisano, Osaka, Japan. It is owned and operated by West Nippon Expressway Company. Route description The expressway is a short connector route linking the Sky Gate Bri ...

* *

Local attractions

*Mizuma-dera *Koon-ji *Gansen-ji *

Kumano Kodo literally means 'Bear Field'. It is a name adopted by various places in Japan. * Kumano Shrine * Kumano Shrines Grand Shrines * Kumano Kodō, ancient pilgrimage routes * Kumano Region * Kumano River * Kumano, Mie, a city in Mie Prefecture * Ja ...

*Okumizuma Onsen *Nishikinohama Beach

Sports

The city is promoting volleyball because it used to be the home of called led by .Hirofumi Daimatsu - International Volleyball Hall of Fame
/ref>

Sister city relations

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

, United States (since 1965) *

Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

, Jersey

Notable people from Kaizuka

Atsushi Kotoge (born October 18, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former one-time GHC Tag Team Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and record eleven-time GHC Junior Heavyweight T ...

, professional wrestler *

Aya Hisakawa is a Japanese voice actress and singer. In addition to releasing various solo CDs, Hisakawa is well known for her voice roles in anime and video games. Some of her major roles are Retsu Unohana in ''Bleach'', Sailor Mercury in ''Sailor Moon'', Sk ...

, voice actress, singer

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Osaka Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan