is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

, Japan. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 16,988 in 8348 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 98 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Miyazu is located in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture at the base of the

Tango Peninsula was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyoto Prefecture. Tango bordered on Tanba to the south, Tajima to the west, and Wakasa to the east. Its abbreviated form name was . It was also referred to as or . In terms of the Gokishichid ...

, facing

Wakasa Bay is a bay located in the Chūbu region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Kyoto Prefecture, and Fukui Prefecture. Geography Wakasa Bay is the area south of the straight line from Cape Kyoga on the west of Tango Peninsula to Cape Echizen on the e ...

of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

to the east. Located in Miyazu City is

Amanohashidate is one of Japan's three scenic views. The sandbar is located in Miyazu Bay in northern Kyoto Prefecture. It forms part of the Tango-Amanohashidate-Ōeyama Quasi-National Park. Location A thin strip of land connects two opposing sides of Mi ...

or the "bridge to heaven", said to be one of Japan's three most beautiful sights. The naturally formed land bridge is long and covered in pine trees.

Neighboring municipalities

Kyoto Prefecture *

Fukuchiyama file:Fukuchiyama City Hall.jpg, Fukuchiyama City Hall file:福知山駅プラットフォームより View toward northeast from platform of Fukuchiyama station 2011.1.10 - panoramio.jpg, Fukuchiyama city center is a Cities of Japan, city in north ...

* Ine *

Kyōtango is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 52,683 in 22,886 households and a population density of 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kyōtango is locate ...

Maizuru is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 78,644 in 34,817 households and a population density of 230 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Maizuru is located in northern Kyoto Prefectu ...

* Yosano

Climate

Miyazu has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfa''), featuring a marked seasonal variation in temperature and precipitation. Summers are hot and humid, but winters are relatively cold with occasional snowfall. The average annual temperature in Miyazu 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 . Its record high is , reached on 23 August 2024, and its record low is , reached on 12 February 1984.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Miyazu in 2020 is 16,758 people. Miyazu has been conducting censuses since 1920. The city's population peaked in 1945 and has declined gradually in the decades since. It is now less than half what it was post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

The area of present-day Miyazu was part of ancient

Tango Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northern Kyoto Prefecture. Tango bordered on Tanba Province, Tanba to the south, Tajima Province, Tajima to the west, and Wakasa Province, Wakasa to the east. Its abbreviated form name ...

, and was then location of the

provincial capital A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

and the

Tango Kokubun-ji is a Kōyasan Shingon-shū sect Buddhist temple in the Kokubu neighborhood of the city of Miyazu, Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the few surviving provincial temples established by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710–794). Due to this co ...

during the late

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

and

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. The area came under the control of the

Isshiki clan is a Japanese kin group of the Sengoku period.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Isshiki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 16 retrieved 2013-5-25. History ...

during the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

and then to

Hosokawa Tadaoki was a Japanese samurai lord and daimyo of the late Sengoku period and early Edo period. He was the son of Hosokawa Fujitaka and Numata Jakō, and the husband of the famous Christian convert Hosokawa Gracia. For most of his life, he went b ...

in the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. During the

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, it was largely under 70,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

Miyazu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Tango Province in what is now the northern portion of modern-day Kyoto Prefecture. It was centered around the Miyazu Castle which was located in what is now the ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

and ruled by a cadet branch of the

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...

from

Miyazu Castle is a flatland-style Japanese castle located in Miyazu, Kyoto, Miyazu, northern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Miyazu Castle was home to a branch of the Matsudaira clan, Honjō-Matsudaira, ''daimyō'' of Miyazu Domain. ...

. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the town of Miyazu was established within Yosa District with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Miyazu became a port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom in July 1899.US Department of State. (1906)
''A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements'' (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759
On June 1, 1954, Miyazu merged with the neighboring villages of Kunda, Yoshizu, Fuchu, Hioki, Seya, Yoro, and Higatani to form the city of Miyazu. The village of Yura was annexed on September 20, 1956.

Government

Miyazu 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 14 members. Miyazu, together with the town of Yosano contributes one member to the

Kyoto Prefectural Assembly The is the prefectural parliament of Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture ...

. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Kyoto 5th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Miyazu has an economy based on agriculture, regional commerce, and seasonal tourism.

Education

Miyazu has six public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the town government and two public high schools operated by the Kyoto Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private high school.

Transportation

Railways

Kyoto Tango Railway The , or , is a railway system in Kyoto Prefecture and Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan operated by Willer Trains Inc. headquartered in Miyazu, Kyoto. Company The operating company Willer Trains Inc. is a subsidiary of Willer Express, Willer Alliance Inc ...

–

Miyazu Line The is a railway line of the Kyoto Tango Railway in Kyoto Prefecture and Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Trains on the line are operated by Willer Trains Inc. as part of its Kyoto Tango Railway system. The and the are the aliases assigned by Will ...

* - - - - Kyoto Tango Railway Logo 02

–

Miyafuku Line The is a railway line of Kyoto Tango Railway in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Trains on the line are operated by Willer Trains Inc. as part of its Kyoto Tango Railway system. History Building of the line was approved in 1953, with construction commen ...

* - - -

Highways

Kyoto Jūkan Expressway The is a national expressway in Kyoto Prefecture. It is owned and operated primarily by the West Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO West Japan) and the Kyoto Prefecture Road Corporation. The route is signed E9 under Ministry of Land, Infrastructu ...

: (

)- Miyazu-Amanohashidate IC * JP Expressway E9

San'in Kinki Expressway: Yoza-Amanohashidate IC - ( Yosano) * *

Seaport

*Port of Miyazu Miyazu Fishing Port 2021-04 ac

Sister cities

Local attractions

Ama-no-Hashidate is one of Japan's Three Views of Japan, three scenic views. The shoal, sandbar is located in Miyazu Bay in northern Kyoto Prefecture. It forms part of the Tango-Amanohashidate-Ōeyama Quasi-National Park. Location A thin strip of land connect ...

(one of the

Three Views of Japan The is the canonical list of Japan's three most celebrated scenic sights, attributed to a 1643 book by the scholar Hayashi Gahō. In 1915, modeled on the old Three Views of Japan, Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha (株式会社実業之日本社) held a n ...

) *Catholic Miyazu Church *

Kono Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Ōgaki neighborhood of the city of Miyazu in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Tango Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on April 24.The shrine is also called the , and ...

(''

Ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...

'' of

) *Seikiro Ryokan (

Japan Heritage is a programme sponsored by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, aimed at valorization by local governments and other bodies, that sees individual Cultural Property (Japan), Cultural Properties across different categories as well as other n ...

・No43.Tango Chirimen Textile Road) *

, National Historic Site File:Amanohashidate view from Kasamatsu Park01s3s4410.jpg,

File:カトリック宮津教会正面.jpg, Catholic Miyazu Church File:Kono-jinja (Miyazu) otorii.JPG,

File:Seikiro Ryokan in Miyazu in 2018 ac (1).jpg, Seikiro Ryokan File:Tango Kokubunji-ato, kondou-1.jpg, Tango Provincial temple File:Hioki townscape 2017-04 ac (1).jpg, ResortMansion of Hioki Area

Festival＆Events

*Miyazu matsuri

References

External links

Miyazu City official website
in Japanese

in English {{Authority control Cities in Kyoto Prefecture Miyazu, Kyoto Populated coastal places in Japan