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

Tokushima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, E ...

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 54,989 in 26,206 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 410 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Naruto is located in the northeastern tip of Tokushima Prefecture on the island of

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'' (), '' ...

. It is bordered by the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

to the north and the

Kii Channel The , also called the Kii Strait, is a strait separating the Japanese island of Shikoku from the Kii Peninsula on the main island of Honshū. This strait connects the Inland Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The name of the strait derives from Ki ...

to the east and faces Awaji Island across the Naruto Strait, which is famous for its

whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

s. The city is located in the easternmost part of the

Sanuki Mountains The are a mountain range running along the southern border of Kagawa and the northern border of Tokushima prefectures on the island of Shikoku, Japan. The highest peak is at 1059.9 m.Matsushige Matsushige may refer to: *Matsushige, Tokushima 270px, Tsukimigaoka-Kaihin-Koen is a town located in Itano District, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,770 in 6794 households and a population density of 10 ...

* Kitajima * Itano Kagawa Prefecture * Higashikagawa

Climate

Naruto 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 Naruto is 16.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1637 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.3 °C. Due to the

climate, rainfall is low despite being in Tokushima Prefecture.On August 6, 1923, a temperature of 42.5 ℃, which was the highest recorded temperature in Japan for many decades, was unofficially recorded in Naruto.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Naruto has remained relatively steady over the past 50 years. In the quinquennial census of June 1, 2019, the city had a

of 56,222 (2005: 63,200).

History

As with all of Tokushima Prefecture, the area of Naruto was part of ancient Awa Province. 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 ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Tokushima Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Awa Province and Awaji Province in what is now Tokushima Prefecture and Awaji Island of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Tokushima ...

ruled by the

Hachisuka clan The are descendants of Emperor Seiwa (850-880) of Japan and are a branch of the Ashikaga clan through the Shiba clan (Seiwa Genji). History Ashikaga Ieuji (13th century), son of Ashikaga Yasuuji, was the first to adopt the name Shiba. The Shiba ...

from their seat at

Tokushima Castle was an Edo period Japanese castle located in the city of Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1957. Its Omotegoten Gardens are designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty. Hi ...

. The villages of Seto (瀬戸村), Naruto (鳴門村 Muya (撫養村), and Satoura (里浦村) were established within

Itano District, Tokushima is a district located in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the district has an estimated population of 97,263 and a population density of . The total area is . Matsushige is home to Tokushima Airport is a joint civil-militar ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889. Seto became a town on November 1, 1938, Naruto on April 1, 1940, and Muya on March 15, 1947. The four municipalities merged on March 15, 1947 to form the city of Narunan (鳴南市), which was renamed Naruto two months later on May 15, 1947.

Government

Naruto 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 22 members. Naruto contributes three members to the

Tokushima Prefectural Assembly is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, E ...

. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Tokushima 2nd 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

Naruto has a mixed economy of agriculture,

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 ...

, food processing and pharmaceuticals. In the past, the salt industry was thriving. Naruto was the origin of the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Group and the Naruto Salt Industry, both of which still have a number of facilities in the city.

Education

Naruto has 13 public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Tokushima Prefectural Department of Education. The Naruto University of Education is located in the city.

Transportation

Railway

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has i ...

–

Kōtoku Line The is a railway line in northeastern Shikoku, Japan that connects the prefectural capitals Takamatsu ( Kagawa) and Tokushima (Tokushima). Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) owns and operates the line, whose name comes from the characters in t ...

* -

–

Naruto Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). It connects Ikenotani Station and Naruto Station in Naruto, Tokushima. History In 1916 the Awa Electric Railway Co. opened a line from Nakahara to Naruto, includ ...

* - - - - - -

Highways

Tokushima Expressway The is a national Expressways of Japan, expressway in the Shikoku region of Japan. The expressway is numbered E11 between Naruto and Tokushima Junctions and E32 between Tokushima and Kawanoe-Higashi Junctions under the MLIT's "2016 Proposal for Re ...

Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway The is a tolled expressway that connects Hyōgo and Tokushima prefectures in Japan by crossings of the Akashi Strait and Naruto Strait. Built between 1970 and 1998, it is one of the three routes of the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company ...

* *

Sister city relations

* -

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

since 1974 * -

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, China, friendship city since 1999 * -

Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie (), also known in Tujia language as ''Zhangx jif avlar'' /dzaŋ˩ ji˥ a˩.la˥/, is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, China. It comprises the district of Yongding, Wulingyuan and counties of Cili ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

, China, friendship city since 2011

Local attractions

* Ryōzen-ji, 1st temple on the

Shikoku Pilgrimage The or is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (''Kōbō Daishi'') on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long histor ...

* Gokuraku-ji, 2nd temple on the

Tōrin-in is a sub-temple of the temple complex of Myōshin-ji in Kyoto, Japan. As such, it is affiliated with the Myōshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. Name The temple is named for Donglin Temple () at the base of Mountain Lu near Jiujiang in ...

* Ōasahiko Jinja, ''

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 Awa Province *

Naruto whirlpools The are tidal whirlpools in the Naruto Strait, a channel between Naruto in Tokushima and Awaji Island in Hyōgo, Japan. The strait between Naruto and Awaji island has a width of about . The strait is one of the connections between the Paci ...

Ōtsuka Museum of Art The in Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture is an art museum founded in 1998 and is one of the largest exhibition spaces in Japan. Established by Otsuka Pharmaceutical as a celebration of its 75th anniversary, it houses over a thousand full-size cer ...

Ōnaruto Bridge The is a suspension bridge on the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway connecting Minamiawaji, Hyogo on Awaji Island with Naruto, Tokushima on Ōge Island, Japan. Completed in 1985, it has a main span of . Although it is one of the largest bri ...

Bandō prisoner-of-war camp The was a prisoner-of-war camp during World War I in the western suburbs of what is now Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, Japan. From April 1917 until January 1920, just under a thousand of the 3,900 soldiers of the Imp ...

, National Historic Site File:Big Naruto Bridge04n3872.jpg,

File:The Otsuka Museum of Art20s3203-B-T.jpg,

File:140712 Baruto-no-niwa in Bando Naruto Tokushima pref Japan02n.jpg, The museum of the history of

"Baruto-no-niwa" File:Naruto Whirlpools taken 4-21-2008.jpg,

Sports

Naruto has the home stadium of professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J2 League. The team is located in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima. The name, "Vorti ...

and of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team

Tokushima Indigo Socks The are a baseball team in the Shikoku Island League plus of Japan. Established in 2005, the Indigo Socks mainly play their home games at Tokushima prefecture Kuramoto stadium in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. They won the 2011, 2013, 2014 20 ...

Traditional arts

* Ōtani-yaki

References

External links

* * * *
Kitaro Shikoku Peace Bell Project
Cities in Tokushima Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan {{Tokushima-geo-stub