270px, Miyazu 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 Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , 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 16,988 in 8348 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 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, 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 ...

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 h ...

to the east. Located in Miyazu City is

Amanohashidate Amanohashidate (天橋立 ja, Heaven's bridge) 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 s ...

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 *

Kyōtango is a 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 located on the coast o ...

Maizuru is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 78,644 in 34817 households and a population density of 230 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Maizuru is located in northern Kyoto Pref ...

Fukuchiyama 250px, Fukuchiyama Castle 250px, Fukuchiyama city center is a city in northern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 76,037 in 36412 households and a population density of 140 persons per km². The total area of ...

* Yosano *

Ine INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional Elec ...

Climate

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

''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 22 August 2018, 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

The area of present-day Miyazu was part of ancient

Tango Province 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 Gokishichi ...

, and was then location of the

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

and the

Tango Kokubun-ji is a Shingon-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 connection, the ...

during the late

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

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 Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

. The area came under the control of the

Isshiki clan is a Japanese kin group of the Sengoku period. 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 The clan clai ...

during the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

and then to

Hosokawa Tadaoki was a Japanese samurai warrior of the late Sengoku period and early Edo period. He was the son of Hosokawa Fujitaka with Numata Jakō, and he was the husband of a famous Christian convert (Kirishitan), Hosokawa Gracia. For most of his life, he ...

in 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 ...

. During 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 ...

, it was largely under 70,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

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 th ...

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 ...

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 th ...

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. H ...

. 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 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, 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 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. Overview Kyoto Prefecture is a stronghold of the Japanese Communist Party, which continued with the revolutionary government of Torazō Ninagawa over the seventh term over 28 years. The t ...

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

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 Alliance Inc. Willer Train ...

–

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 Wille ...

* - - - - 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 comme ...

* - - -

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 * E9 Expressway (Japan)

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

Seaport

*Port of Miyazu Miyazu Fishing Port 2021-04 ac

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Local attractions

Ama-no-Hashidate Amanohashidate (天橋立 ja, Heaven's bridge) 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 s ...

（one of the

Three Views of Japan The is the canonical list of Japan's three most celebrated scenic sights, attributed to 1643 and 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 national elec ...

） *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 historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth. ''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retrieved 2013-5-14. The term gave rise t ...

'' of

） *Seikiro Ryokan（ Japan Heritage・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 Cities in Kyoto Prefecture Miyazu, Kyoto Populated coastal places in Japan {{Kyoto-geo-stub