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 the western portion of

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

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 48,484 in 17,916 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 510 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is known for production of

green tea Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...

. The city's slogan is "Green for the Next Generation".

Geography

Kikugawa is situated on the Makinohara Plateau of east-central Shizuoka. The Kikugawa River flows through the city. The area enjoys a warm

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters, and is subject to frequent fogs.

Surrounding Municipalities

Shizuoka Prefecture *

Kakegawa is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,925 in 45,519 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kakegawa is in the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture. It is border ...

Omaezaki 270px, Omaezaki City Hall is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Omaezaki is located at the tip of Omaezaki Peninsula on Japan's Pacific coast. , the city had an estimated population of 32,422 in 12,095 households and a population ...

* Shimada *

Makinohara 270px, Makinohara City Hall is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 45,813 in 16980 households and a population density of 410 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geogra ...

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kikugawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Kikugawa has been relatively steady over the past 30 years.

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (

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''). The average annual temperature in Kikugawa is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

History

With the establishment of the modern municipalities system of the early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

on April 1, 1889, the area around modern Kikugawa was consolidated into eleven villages within Kitō District, Shizuoka Prefecture from 38 hamlets within former

Tōtōmi Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...

. Kikugawa Station on the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

train between

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

and

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview ...

opened on April 16, 1889 leading to an influx of population and development. Kitō District merged with neighboring Sano District to form

Ogasa District, Shizuoka was a rural district located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of the end of 2003 (the last data available before its dissolution), the district had an estimated population of 82,248 and a population density of 472.47 persons per km2. ...

in 1896. Through the Taishō and

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

s, Kikugawa developed as a center of

production and the tea trade. Kikugawa Town was created on January 1, 1954 through the merger of former Horinouchi Town with four surrounding villages. The modern city of Kikugawa was established on January 17, 2005, from the merger of the former town of Kikugawa, absorbing the town of Ogasa (both from Ogasa District).

Government

Kikugawa 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 legislature of 17 members. The city contributes one member to the Shizuoka Prefectural Assembly.

Economy

The economy of Kikugawa is primarily agricultural, with major crops including green tea,

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

, cantelope and

aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wid ...

. Light industries include agricultural equipment manufacturing and automobile components manufacturing.

Education

Kikugawa has nine public elementary schools and three public junior high schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. The city also have one private junior high school and two private high schools. The prefecture also operates a vocational school, the Shizuoka Prefectural Agriculture and Forestry College. Kikugawa has three international schools:
Colégio Nippo-Objetivo de Kikugawa (Centro de Ensino Nippo-Brasileiro)
- Brazilian primary schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015. * Centro Educacional Sorriso de Criança - Brazilian primary school * Escola Brasileira Sol Nascente - Brazilian primary school

Transportation

Railway

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

** Kikugawa Station

Highway

Tōmei Expressway The is a national expressway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is designated as E1 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering", because it parallels Nati ...

Kikugawa Interchange *

Local attractions

*Kuroda Daikan Yashiki, an Important Cultural Property * Kikugawa fortification ruins, a group of Sengoku-period ruins, National Historic Site

Notable people from Kikugawa

Yū Koyama is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from the University of Shizuoka he moved to Tokyo and in 1968 took a job with Saito Productions, the company run by Takao Saitō. In 1971 he worked with Kazuo Koike at Studio Ship. Koyama debuted in ...

- manga artist * Kaduya Shinba - politician *

Miuna Saito was a Japanese female idol music group that is a part of Hello! Project. On November 5, 2014, Country Musume was renamed .Kikugawa City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Shizuoka Prefecture Kikugawa, Shizuoka