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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 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 to the north, Nar ...
,
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 n ...
. , 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 usi ...
of 190,853 in 88598 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 RosenberPopu ...
of 2600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is well known for its
Danjiri Matsuri Danjiri Matsuri are cart-pulling festivals held in Japan. The Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is probably the most famous. There are other Danjiri Matsuri held in the City of Kobe and Haruki Town, but they are less popular and spectacular. The highlight ...
.


Geography

Kishiwada is located southwestern part of Osaka Prefecture, and forms a long and narrow area (7.6 km east–west, 17.3 km north–south) from
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 Izumi Mountains.


Neighboring municipalities

Osaka Prefecture * Izumi * Kaizuka * Tadaoka Wakayama Prefecture * Kinokawa * Katsuragi


Climate

Kishiwada 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 Kishiwada 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.


Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kishiwada population statistics
/ref> the population of Kishiwada has increased steadily over the past century, but the population curve has flattened since the year 2000.


History

The area of the modern city of Kishiwada 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 ...
. The city has been settled since ancient times, and has numerous ''
kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典� ...
''
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 including the Mayuyama Kofun. During the
Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...
, Kusunoki Masahige assigned his general Wada Haruji to govern an area called "Kishi" in Izumi Province in 1337. The Kishiwada "shōen", or landed estate, appears in documents from around 1400. The settlement developed into a
castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, a ...
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 ...
, as it occupied a very strategic location, approximately half way in-between the cities of
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
and Wakayama and just south of the port of
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 inclu ...
. It is located on the Kishu Kaido, the main route connecting the capital area of Japan with Kii Province, and its coastal location was important for transportation from the eastern
Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...
to
Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Set ...
and
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...
.
Kishiwada Castle is a Japanese castle located in the city of Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Kishiwada Castle was home to the Okabe clan, ''daimyō'' of Kishiwada Domain. The Honmaru Garden of the castle is designated as a ...
, was rebuilt by
Koide Hidemasa was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Kagami Kenkichi"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 544. He was a tutor of the young Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai ...
at its present site in 1597. 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 ...
it was the center of
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 dai ...
, which was ruled by the Okabe clan from 1640 to 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 ...
. In 1703, the city began its Danjiri festival. The town of Kishiwada was official founded on within Hine District with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1896, the area became part of Sennan District, Osaka. It was promoted to city status on November 1, 1922 as the 87th city to be founded in Japan and the 3rd in Osaka. On April 1, 2002, Kishiwada became a Special city with increased local autonomy.


Government

Kishiwada 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 multi ...
city council of 24 members. Kishiwada contributes two members to the Osaka Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Osaka 18th 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 paral ...
.


Economy

Since the Edo period, cotton has been cultivated throughout the city, and cotton cloth and cotton yarn have been spun. The textile industry has been the center of the industry since modern times, but many factories have disappeared due to competition by overseas products. In 1966, the city began reclaiming its coastal areas to build
industrial park An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...
s and to attract heavy industry. Kishiwada became famous for its glass lens production, peaking around the year 1980 with about 70 lens factories.


Education

Kishiwada has 24 public elementary schools, 12 public middle schools and two high schools operated by the city government and three public high school operated by the Osaka Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private high school. The prefecture also operated one special education school for the handicapped.


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, and i ...
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, Japan and has a 1.7 km branchline in a southern Os ...
* - -
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 ...
-
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, Izumi ...
* - - -


Highway

*
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 ...
*
Bayshore Route The signed as Route B, is one of the routes of the tolled Shuto Expressway system in the Greater Tokyo Area. The Bayshore Route is a stretch of toll highway that runs from the Kanazawa ward of Yokohama in the west, northeast to the city of ...
* *


Local attractions

*
Kishiwada Castle is a Japanese castle located in the city of Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Kishiwada Castle was home to the Okabe clan, ''daimyō'' of Kishiwada Domain. The Honmaru Garden of the castle is designated as a ...
* Mayuyama Kofun * Dai-itoku-ji * Kishiwada Danjiri Museum * Kishiki Jinja * Senko-ji * Kumeda-dera, Kumeda pond and Kumeda Kofun * Ogami-jinya and Ogami Falls * Tonboike Park * Kishiwada Velodrome


Events

* January: Long Distance Relay Race, Kumeda-ji Senbon Duki (Rice cake making) * February: Senshu Marathon * April: Kishiwada-jo Spring Festival * July: Kishiwada Port Festival and Fireworks * September: Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri, Kishiwada and Haruki. * October: Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri, Mountain districts. * November: Chuo-koen Sports Carnival, Nigiwai Festival, Chuo-koen Agricultural Festival, Ushitaki-yama Red Maple Festival.


Notable people from Kishiwada

* Keiji Inafune, video game producer and artist. *
Rome Kanda is a Japanese ''tarento'', comedian and actor who resides in the United States. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Born in Kishiwada, Osaka, Japan, Kanda spent his early career as an actor with his debut movie ''Tokyo P ...
, ''
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 " ...
'', comedian, and actor. * Magnitude Kishiwada, a professional wrestler best known for his work in
Osaka Pro Osaka Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 1998 by Super Delfin. The promotion held a major flagship event called the Osaka Hurricane each year from 2003 to 2012 and also hosted the fourth edition of the Supe ...
and Dragon Gate. *
Kazuhiro Kiyohara is a Japanese television personality, YouTuber and former professional baseball player. He played in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league for 23 seasons. He retired following the 2008 season. Born in Kishiwada, Osaka in 1967, his family w ...
, baseball player. *
Michiko Koshino , born in 1943, is a fashion designer. She has high-end stores in Japan and a restaurant in London. Michiko Koshino was born in Osaka, Japan to Ayako Koshino, her father died fighting during the Second World War. Her two older sisters Hiroko K ...
, fashion designer. *
Ryuichi Moriya (born February 28, 1985 in Kishiwada, Osaka) is an athlete from Japan, who competes in archery. 2008 Summer Olympics At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the ...
, World Championship Medalist in Olympic Archery and Japan Olympic Team member. * Yutaka Ooe, enka singer. *
Nozomu Sahashi ; previously Saruhashi (Japanese)) is the founder of the now-defunct Nova Corporation, previously the major eikaiwa (private school for conversational English) provider in Japan. After graduating from high school, Sahashi went to Paris to attend u ...
, founder of
Nova Corporation NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a Canadian petrochemical company that has been in operation since 1954. NOVA was formed as provincial crown corporation called the Alberta Gas Trunk Line Company Limited to manage Alberta's natural gas collection sy ...
. *
Tomohiro Nishikado is a Japanese video game developer and engineer. He is the creator of the arcade shoot 'em up game '' Space Invaders'', released to the public in 1978 by the Taito of Japan, often credited as the first shoot 'em up and for beginning the gold ...
, game designer programmer and creator of ''
Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter an ...
''. *
Miki Matsubara was a Japanese composer, lyricist, and singer from Nishi-ku, Sakai, Osaka, Japan. She participated in the opening and ending theme songs of the TV anime "Gu-Gu Gummo" under the name of "Susie Matsubara." Her 1979 debut song " Mayonaka no Do ...
, composer, lyricist and singer


References


External links


Kishiwada City official website


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