is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Chita District is a rural district located in southwestern Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Chita Peninsula. As of 1 October 2019, the district had an estimated population of 160,542 and a population density of 968 persons per km2. Its total area was 165.84 ...

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 17,393 in 7338 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 453 persons per km². The total area of the town was .

Geography

Minamichita is located in the extreme southern tip of

Chita Peninsula Chita Peninsula (知多半島 ''Chita Hantō'') is a peninsula to the south of Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It runs approximately north-south. To the west is Ise Bay, while to the east it encloses Mikawa Bay. It faces the Atsumi ...

in southern Aichi Prefecture, including a number of islands in

Mikawa Bay Mikawa Bay (Landsat photo) Mikawa Bay (三河湾 ''Mikawa-wan'') is a bay to the south of Aichi Prefecture, Japan, surrounded by Chita Peninsula to the west and Atsumi Peninsula to the east and south. Its area is approximately 604 km2. Pollu ...

. The town is bordered by Mikawa Bay to the east, and

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie and Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the smaller Mikawa Bay by two channels: th ...

to the west. Part of the town's area are within the borders of the

Mikawa Wan Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. The park includes the coastal areas of Atsumi Peninsula, the Pacific shoreline of Chita Peninsula as well as islands and ...

Neighboring municipalities

*Aichi Prefecture ** Mihama

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Minamichita had been declining steadily over the past 70 years.

Climate

The town 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 Minamichita 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

The area of Minamichita was part of

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were ...

and controlled by

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated at ...

under 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 ...

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 a major port on the coastal trade route between Edo and Osawa. 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 ...

, it was organized into villages within

Chita District, Aichi is a rural district located in southwestern Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Chita Peninsula. As of 1 October 2019, the district had an estimated population of 160,542 and a population density of 968 persons per km2. Its total area was 165.84 ...

with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The modern town of Minamichita was established on June 1, 1961, through the merger of the towns of Utsumi, Mihama, and Morozaki, and the villages of Shinojima and Himakajima, all within Chita District. During March 2006, discussions were held to

merge Merge, merging, or merger may refer to: Concepts * Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road * Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program * Merger (politics), the comb ...

Minamichita with the town of Mihama to the north to form the new city of “Minamicentrair” after the popular nickname for

Chūbu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chubu ("ce ...

, but the merger proposal was strongly opposed by the majority of the inhabitants of Minamichita, and the merger did not take place.

Economy

Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum 2018 (049)

The

primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in de ...

dominates the economy of Minamichita, notably

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

and agriculture. Secondary industries include food processing, and seasonal tourism to beach resorts. The Yamadera

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

(山寺窯) was located in Utsumi, today part of Minamichita. The kiln was active in the years Meiji 40 (1907) - Taishō 3 (1914). It produced Utsumi ware (内海焼).http://minamichita.ed.jp/kyoikucho/2018/07/16/no-%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%99%EF%BC%93%EF%BC%99%E3%80%80%E3%80%80%E5%86%85%E7%94%B0%E5%AE%B6%E4%BC%81%E7%94%BB%E5%B1%95%E3%80%80%E3%80%8C%E5%9B%9B%E4%BB%A3%E4%BD%90%E4%B8%83%E3%81%A8%E5%86%85%E6%B5%B7/

Education

Minamichita has six public elementary schools and five public junior high schools operated by the town government, and one high school operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Meitetsu , referred to as , is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Some of the more famous trains operated by Meitetsu include the ''Panorama Car'' and the '' Panorama Car Super'', both of which off ...

– Chita New Line *

Highways

Minamichita Road The is a 4-laned expressway, toll road in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is managed by Aichi Prefectural Road Public Corporation. Overview Officially the road is designated as Aichi Prefectural Route 7. The road is designated (motor vehicles mus ...

Seaports

*Morogizaki Port

Local attractions

*Minamichita Onsen - hot spring resort *

Himakajima is an inhabited island in Mikawa Bay in Aichi Prefecture, Japan off the coast of the Chita Peninsula, which is administered by the town of Minamichita, Aichi. All of the island is within the borders of the Mikawa-wan Quasi-National Park. It dr ...

- island in Mikawa Bay *

Shinojima is an inhabited island in Mikawa Bay on the Pacific coast of Japan. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Izu Shotō'',"''Japan Encyclopedia,''. The island is administered as part of the town of Minamichita in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the i ...

- island in Mikawa Bay Kankonouen.JPG, Sightseeing farm Flower garden CITTA NAPOLI.jpg, Citta Napoli Himakajima7.JPG, Himakajima File:Shinojima1.jpg, Shinojima Hazumisaki3.JPG, Cape Hazu

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Aichi Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan