is a city located in

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...

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 ...

. It has been one of the largest and most important

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

s of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or

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』� ...

, which date from the fifth century and include

Daisen Kofun The are a group of ''kofun'' ()—megalithic tombs—in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Originally consisting of more than 100 tombs, only less than 50% of the key-hole, round, and rectangular tombs remain. The , the largest ''kofun'' in Japan ...

, the largest grave in the world by area. Once known for

swords A sword is a cutting and/or thrusting weapon. Sword, Swords, or The Sword may also refer to: Places * Swords, Dublin, a large suburban town in the Irish capital * Swords, Georgia, a community in the United States * Sword Beach, code name for ...

, Sakai is now famous for the quality of its

cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware), includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffie ...

. , the city had an estimated population of 819,965, making it the fourteenth most populous city in Japan (excluding Tokyo).

Geography

Sakai is located in southern Osaka Prefecture, on the edge of

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. ...

and directly south of the city 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 2. ...

Neighboring municipalities

Osaka Prefecture *

Matsubara is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,811 in 57351 households and a population density of 7100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Matsubara is located in the cente ...

Habikino 270px, Habikino city office is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 109,479 in 50918 households and a population density of 4100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is known ...

Ōsakasayama 260px, Sayama Pond is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 158,465 in 26128 households and a population density of 4900 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Ōsakasayama is locate ...

Kawachinagano is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 101,649 in 47493 households and a population density of 930 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kawachinagano is located in the sout ...

* Izumi * Takaishi

Climate

Sakai 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 Sakai is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

According to Japanese census data, the population of Sakai increased rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, and has been relatively stable since.

History

Origins

The area that would later become known as Sakai has been inhabited since approximately 8,000 BC. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or

, which date from the 5th century. The largest of these, Daisen Kofun, is believed to be the grave of the

Emperor Nintoku , also known as was the 16th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Due to his reputation for goodness derived from depictions in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, he is sometimes referred to as the . While his existence ...

and is the largest grave in the world by area. During the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

between 300 and 500 AD, the Mozu Tumulus Cluster was built from over one hundred burial mounds. The name "Sakai" appears in Fujiwara Sadoyori's poetry by 1045. Most of the current city is located 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 t ...

; however, the wards of Mihara, Higashi and a portion of Kita are located within ancient

Kawachi Province was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in the past, with Kawachi ...

. Tradition holds that 10,000 homes burned to the ground in 1399. File:Daisenryo Kofun haisho-3.jpg,

File:Daisenryo Kofun zenkei-2.jpg,

Mozu Tombs The are a group of ''kofun'' ()—megalithic tombs—in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Originally consisting of more than 100 tombs, only less than 50% of the key-hole, round, and rectangular tombs remain. The , the largest ''kofun'' in Japan ...

File:Ohtori shrine004.jpg,

Ōtori taisha is a Shinto shrine located in Nishi-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Izumi Province. The shrine's main festival is held annually on August 13. Shine name and legend The shrine has been called variously as ...

File:Yamato Takeru(bronze statue,Osaka)01.jpg,

Yamato Takeru , originally , was a Japanese semi-legendary prince of the Yamato dynasty, son of Emperor Keikō, who is traditionally counted as the 12th Emperor of Japan. His name written in kanji can vary, in the '' Nihon Shoki'' it is spelled 日本武尊 a ...

Middle Ages

Medieval Sakai was an autonomous city run by merchant oligarchs. During the

Muromachi 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

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 ...

s from about 1450 to 1600, Sakai developed into one of richest cities in Japan as a port for foreign trade. It was a leading producer of textiles and ironwork.The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History edited by Peter Clark https://books.google.com/books?id=z09oAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA331&lpg=PA331&dq=Gaspar+Vilela+sakai+consuls In those days, it was said that the richest cities were ''Umi no Sakai, Riku no Imai'' (tr. "along the sea, Sakai; inlands, Imai"; the latter is now a part of

Kashihara, Nara is a city located in Nara Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 124,829, with 52,034 households. Population density is around 3,176.79 persons per km2, and the total area is 39.52 km2. The city was founded on Februa ...

). The famous

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

Buddhist priest

Ikkyū was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals,Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry "Ikkyū" by James H. Sanford as well a ...

chose to live in Sakai because of its free atmosphere. The first reliable account of the city is dated to the 1480s and contains publicly issued legal notices, which suggests that the city had a governing council at that point. By the 1530s, the population was around 40,000 residents, almost all of which earned a living through commercial enterprises and some of whom were the wealthiest people in Japan. At this time, Sakai was administered by an oligarchy of powerful merchants. The government had ten divisions ''machi'' that were subordinate to the representative council of wealthy townsmen known as the ''egoshu''.An Introduction to the History of Japan by Katsuro Hara https://books.google.com/books?id=k-lBAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA241&lpg=PA241&dq=sakai+japan+autonomous+merchant

Sen no Rikyū , also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on ''chanoyu,'' the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of '' wabi-cha''. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects ...

, known as the greatest master of the

tea ceremony An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transla ...

, was originally a merchant of Sakai. Because of the close relationship between the tea ceremony and

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

and because of the prosperity of its citizens, Sakai was one of the main centers of the

in Japan. In the Sengoku period, Christian missionaries, including

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 1 ...

in 1550, visited Sakai and documented its prosperity.

Gaspar Vilela Gaspar Vilela or Gaspar Villela (Avis, 1526 — Goa, Portuguese India, 4 February 1572), was a priest and Jesuit missionary, and his activity in Japan influenced the Portuguese and Christian presence. Early years Born in 1526 in the village of ...

described the town as the safest place in the area when he visited in 1561. He also mentioned that the city was "governed by consuls like Venice in Italy". After the coming of Europeans, Sakai became a manufacturing base of matchlock firearms and a ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'',

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

, was one of their important customers. During his ambitious attempt to unify Japan, Nobunaga attempted to take the autonomy privilege from Sakai. Sakai's citizens denied his order and pitched a desperate battle against his army. Most citizens fled and Sakai was burned and seized by Nobunaga. After the assassination of Nobunaga in 1582,

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

, seized power and abolished the autonomous system of Sakai, forcing many merchants to move to his stronghold in Osaka. File:Old house of gunsmiths in Sakai.jpg, Old house of gunsmiths in Sakai File:Gunsmith Storefront in Sakai Osaka by Akisato Rito 1796.jpg,

Gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very h ...

storefront in Sakai, Osaka File:Toyotomi Hideyoshi c1598 Kodai-ji Temple.png,

In 1615, Sakai was razed to the ground in the SummerCampaign of the

Siege of Osaka The was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege ...

between the

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary un ...

and

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

. Sakai was restored as an important trade center 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 ...

but was involved only in inland trade due to the ''

sakoku was the Isolationism, isolationist Foreign policy of Japan, foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of 265 years during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countri ...

'' policy of 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 ...

, which isolated Japan from the outside world. It was also known for its ''

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

'' brewing and its cutlery industries. After the isolation policy was abandoned during the

Bakumatsu period was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji govern ...

, Sakai was the location of the

Sakai Incident 270px, Monument to the Tosa samurai at Myōkoku-ji in Sakai The was a diplomatic incident that occurred on March 8, 1868, in Bakumatsu period Japan involving the deaths of eleven French sailors from the French corvette ''Dupleix'' in the port o ...

, involving a clash between French sailors and Japanese gendarmes resulting in multiple casualties. When the Western powers demanded the opening of Osaka a port for foreign trade, both Sakai and Hyōgo were named as candidates; however, Sakai's proximity and ease of access to

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 ci ...

and the presence of many imperial tombs led to the selection of Hyōgo. File:Sakai_Incident_Tosa_Domain_1868_Le_Monde_Illustré.png,

Sakai incident 270px, Monument to the Tosa samurai at Myōkoku-ji in Sakai The was a diplomatic incident that occurred on March 8, 1868, in Bakumatsu period Japan involving the deaths of eleven French sailors from the French corvette ''Dupleix'' in the port o ...

（1868）

Modern Sakai

Following 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 ...

, Sakai was transformed into an industrial center as part of the

Hanshin Industrial Region The is one of the largest industrial regions in Japan. Its name comes from the ''on''-reading of the kanji used to abbreviate the names of Osaka (大阪) and Kobe (神戸), the two largest cities in the megalopolis. The GDP of this area (Osaka a ...

, with industries centering on textiles and brick making. From 1876 to 1881, Sakai was part of

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

. The city of Sakai was proclaimed on April 1, 1889 with the creation the modern municipalities system. It was one of the first 31 cities to be created in Japan. The

1934 Muroto typhoon In September 1934, a violent typhoon caused tremendous devastation in Japan, leaving more than 3,000 people dead in its wake. Dubbed the , the system was first identified on September 13 over the western Federated States of Microne ...

killed over 300 people in Sakai. Another major disaster was in 1945, when the city was heavily bombed on six occasions during

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 ...

with over 1800 civilian deaths. Following the February 2005 annexation of the town of Mihara (from Minamikawachi District), Sakai became a

designated city A , also known as a or , is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are delegat ...

in April 2006 giving it a greater measure of self-determination in governmental affairs.

Government

Sakai 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 52 members. Sakai contributes eight members to the

Osaka Prefectural Assembly The is the legislature of Osaka Prefecture. As in all prefectures, it is elected to four-year terms by single non-transferable vote in multi- and single-member districts and is responsible for enacting and amending prefectural by-laws, approving ...

. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Osaka 15th district, Osaka 16th district and Osaka 17th districts 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 ...

Local administration

Sakai has seven

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

(''ku''):

Cityscape

File:Sakaihigashi2020.jpg, Sakai City Downtown（2020） File:Sakaishi2020.jpg, Sakai City

Skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skylines ...

（2020） File:Old Sakai Port202002.jpg, Old Sakai Port（2020） File:大仙公園日本庭園 (48814715927).jpg, Daisen Park（2019） File:Sakaihigashi Station20161016.jpg,

Sakaihigashi Station is a passenger railway station located in Higashi-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Nankai Electric Railway. It has the station number "NK56". Lines Sakaihigashi Station is served by the Nankai Koya ...

（2016） File:Sakai City public office001.jpg, Sakai City Hall（2009）

Economy

Sakai was traditionally dependent on heavy industry and its port. However, after the period of high economic growth after War War II, along with the development and expansion of the Osaka metropolitan area, Sakai also has lso increased become a satellite city (

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

) for Osaka metropolis, as represented by the development of Senboku New Town.

Shimano , originally and later , is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company for cycling components, fishing tackles and rowing equipment, who also produced golf supplies until 2005 and snowboarding gear until 2008. Named after founder Shozaburo ...

, a major manufacturer of cycling and fishing products, is based in Sakai.

Kura Sushi is a Japanese sushi restaurant chain. Its headquarters are in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. It has 451 locations in Japan, 22 in Taiwan, and 30 in the United States. While it is a conveyor belt sushi chain, it relies on a high level of automation al ...

, the

conveyor belt sushi , also called rotation sushi, is a type of sushi restaurant common in Japan. In Australasia, it is also known as a sushi train. Plates serving the sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant and moves past eve ...

chain, has its headquarters in Sakai.
Address in Japanese
"大阪府堺市中区深阪1-2-2"

Education

Universities

Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), also abbreviated to , is one of the largest public universities in Japan. The main campus is among big Kofun tombs in Sakai, Osaka. The university will merge with Osaka City University to form Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) in A ...

Hagoromo International University is a private university in Sakai, Osaka, Japan. The school was founded in 1964 as a women's junior college. After becoming coeducational in 2000, it became a four-year college in 2002. Academic Faculties This university has following faculties. ...

Kansai University , abbreviated as or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university with its main campus in Suita, Osaka, Japan and two sub-campuses in Sakai and Takatsuki, Osaka. Founded as Kansai Law School in 1886, It has been recognized as one of t ...

Sakai Campus * Poole Gakuin University *

Taisei Gakuin University is a private university in Sakai, Osaka, 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, whi ...

Tezukayama Gakuin University is a private university with campuses in the cities of Ōsakasayama and 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 ke ...

Osaka Butsuryo University Osaka Butsuryo University (Japanese: 大阪物療大学, ''Ōsaka Butsuryō Daigaku'') is a private university in Sakai, Osaka. It was founded in 1933 as Butsuryo Gakuin, and established as a university in 2011. History * 1933 - Founded as Buts ...

Osaka Junior College of Social Health and Welfare is a junior college in Sakai-ku, Sakai Sakai, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Midori Gakuen network. The origin of the institute was the Osaka Childcare Laboratory, established in 1979. In 1985, a professional school Profes ...

* Sakai Women's Junior College

Primary and secondary schools

Sakai has 98 public elementary schools and 43 public middle schools operated by the city government. The city also has one private elementary school, three private combined middle/high schools and one private combined elementary/middle/high school. The city has 23 public high schools operated by the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education, and four private high schools. The city operates two and the prefecture operates four special education schools for the disabled. The city previously had a North Korean school, ., script-title=ja:ウリハッキョ一覧 , publisher=Chongryon
, date=November 6, 2005 , accessdate=October 15, 2015

.

Transportation

Airways

Airport

Sakai does not have an airport. The nearest major airport is Kansai International Airport.

Railways

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 ...

–

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, Wakayama, Wakayama, Japan and has a 1.7 km branchlin ...

* - - - - - - Nankai group logo

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, Izumiōtsu ...

* - - - - - Nankai group logo

Kōya Line * - - - - - ] - - -

Semboku Rapid Railway Co., Ltd. -

Semboku Rapid Railway The is a railway line in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator . The line connects Izumi-Chūō Station and Nakamozu Station, with through operations to and from the Nankai Kōya Line up to Namba Station in south ...

* - - - ] -

Subway

Osaka Metro The is a major rapid transit system in the Osaka Metropolitan Area of Japan, operated by the Osaka Metro Company, Ltd. It serves the city of Osaka and the adjacent municipalities of Higashiosaka, Kadoma, Moriguchi, Sakai, Suita, and Yao. O ...

Midōsuji Line The is a rapid transit line in Osaka, Japan, operated by Osaka Metro. Constructed under Midōsuji, a major north-south street, it is the oldest line in the Osaka subway system and the second oldest in Japan, following the Tokyo Metro Ginza Lin ...

* - -

Tramway

;

Hankai Tramway is a company which owns two tramway lines in the cities of Osaka and Sakai, Osaka, Japan. The parent company is Nankai Electric Railway Co., Ltd. Lines Current *Hankai Line (Ebisucho - Hamadera eki-mae) 14.1 km * Uemachi Line (Tennoji ek ...

Hankai Line The is a tramway in the cities of Osaka and Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Hankai Tramway Co., Ltd. owns and operates the line. The line's name comes from (the kanji character for ''saka'' is also pronounced ''han'') and (whose kanji contribu ...

：（ Sumiyoshi）- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bus

* Nankai Bus Company, Limited **

Nankai wing Bus kanaoka Company, Limited Nankai () is a family of schools in China founded by Yan Xiu (严范孙) (1860–1920) and Zhang Boling (张伯苓) (1876–1951). The schools include: * Nankai High School in Tianjin (天津南开中学) (1904). * Nankai University in Tianj ...

Kintetsu Bus is a bus company in the Kintetsu Group. Major routes Expressway bus routes *Osaka/Kyoto - Sendai (Forest) *Osaka/Kyoto - Tokyo/Ueno/Yokohama (Flying Liner) *Osaka/Kyoto - Shinjuku/Hachioji ("Twinkle") *Osaka/Kyoto - Nagasaki (Oranda) *Osaka/ ...

* Osaka City Bus

Highways

Expressways

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 ...

Sakai Senboku Road The is a toll road in Osaka Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the West Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO West Japan). The route is signed E90 under Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's "2016 Proposal for Realization of ...

Minami-Hanna Road is a national expressway in the Kinki region of Japan. It is owned and operated by West Nippon Expressway Company. The route is signed E91 under Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expr ...

Hanshin Expressway The is a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan. Operated by , it opened in 1962. Portions of the Hanshin Expressway about east of Fukae Station collapsed during the Kobe earthquake on 17 January 1995. These section ...

** 4 Bayshore Route ** 6 Yamatogawa Route ** 15 Sakai Route

Japan National Route

* * *

International relations

Sister cities

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States (1967) *

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives from ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

, China (1983) *

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand (1994)

Friendship cities

Tanegashima is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New ...

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, Japan (1986) * Higashiyoshino,

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 ...

, Japan (1986) *

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

, Vietnam (2019)

Notable people from Sakai

, founder of

Tea ceremony An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transla ...

Kataoka Ainosuke VI is a Japanese actor, kabuki actor and TV host. His ''yagō'' is ''matsushimaya''. His '' mon'' is the ''Oikake Go-mai Ichō''. His current stage name is Ainosuke Kataoka. He is a renowned '' tachiyaku'', specializing in both the ''aragoto'' and ' ...

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

actor, actor,

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

and

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Comed ...

. *

Yuki Morisaki is a Japanese chef, entertainer, and representative of Unity Magenta who is represented by Horipro is a large Japanese talent agency. History It was founded in 1960 as Hori Productions (ホリプロダクション ''Hori Purodakushon'') an ...

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

and

Reon Kadena , also known as Leon Kadena or Minamo Kusano, is a Japanese glamour photography, glamor-model and actor, actress. Life and career Kadena was born in Osaka Prefecture on February 19, 1986. The former gravure idol had her first collection of nude p ...

glamour model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

and actress *

, the 16th

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

Gyōki was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province (now Sakai, Osaka), the son of Koshi no Saichi. According to one theory, one of his ancestors was of Korean descent. Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-dera, ...

, Japanese

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

of the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and poet. *

, Japanese tea master *

Tsuda Sōgyū was a Japanese tea master. Biography Tsuda Sōgyū belonged to the influential family of merchants of Sakai whose business name was Tennōjiya. Together with his father, Tsuda Sōtatsu, he built the Tennōjiya into one of the most prosperous ...

, Japanese tea master *

Imai Sōkyū was a 16th century merchant in the Japanese port town of Sakai, and a master of the tea ceremony. His ''yagō'' was Naya. Biography A relative of the Amago and Sasaki samurai clans, Sōkyū originally came from Yamato Province. After settling ...

, Japanese tea master and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

Ōuchi Yoshihiro , also known as Ouchi ''Sakyo-no-Tayu,'' was a Muromachi period samurai clan head and military leader. Yoshirio was the second son of Ōuchi Hiroyo, and a member of the Ōuchi clan which served under Ashikaga Takauji. The Ōuchi became known as ...

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 ...

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

clan head and military leader *

Kenzō Tange was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five cont ...

, Japanese award-winning architect *

Takeno Jōō was a master of the tea ceremony and a well-known merchant during the Sengoku period of the 16th century in Japan. His name has come down in Japanese cultural history because he followed Murata Jukō as an early proponent of wabi-cha, and was ...

Oreskaband is an all-female ska band from Sakai, Japan. As well as performing regularly within Japan, they have toured in North and South America, as well as Europe. History Origins (2003-2006) Oreskaband began in 2003 when the members were still in midd ...

, all-female

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band *

Nobuaki Kakuda is a retired karateka and kickboxer. Early life After attending university, Kakuda opened a karate dojo in Kobe but was forced to shut it down after two years. He subsequently worked as a dishwasher, ramen chef, and construction worker. At age ...

karateka (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

and

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

* Hiroki Suzuki, Japanese actor and singer *Kentaro Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda, the members of the music group

Kobukuro , a Japanese band, formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda. Members * * The band's visual appearance is unusual; there are only two people, ...

Akiko Yosano Yosano Akiko (Shinjitai: , seiji: ; 7 December 1878 – 29 May 1942) was the pen-name of a Japanese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer, active in the late Meiji era as well as the Taishō and early Shōwa eras of ...

, poet and novelist *

Ryumon Yasuda was a Japanese painter and sculptor. Biography Yasuda was born as Juemon Yasuda in Ryumon Village, Naga District (now Kinokawa City) in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan in 1891. He was inspired to pursue arts after seeing Hishida Shunsō's "The Fall ...

, painter and sculptor *

Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a l ...

worked in Shin-nittetsu Sakai and played on its club team before he was scouted by the

Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stad ...

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duo (attended Hatsushiba High School in Higashi-ku) *Akio Mori, a well known K-1 kickboxer known as

Musashi (kickboxer) , better known by the name , is a Japanese former professional karateka and kickboxer. He is a four-time K-1 Japan tournament champion, a former World Association of Kickboxing Organizations, WAKO Heavyweight Muay Thai champion and two-time K-1 W ...

Akira Nagata is a Japanese singer, actor, and voice actor. He is a member of the boy band Run&Gun. He was part of the casts of Musical Air Gear with his fellow band members, a voice actor for Lovely Complex, and he also portrays Seigi Ozaki in the tokusatsu ...

, actor and singer/vocalist, member of

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

group

Run&Gun Run&Gun (stylized as RUN&GUN) is a Japanese boy band and performance troupe associated with Yoshimoto Kogyo. The group was formed in 2001 by Antinos Records. The members consist of Yuya Miyashita, Kosuke Yonehara, and Akira Nagata; Ryuji Kami ...

* CIMA, Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

Local attractions

* Mozu Kofun Cluster *

Kurohimeyama Kofun The is a Kofun period keyhole-shaped burial mound, located in Mihara ward of the city of Sakai, Osaka in the Kansai region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1957 with the area under protection expanded ...

* Yotsu-ike Site *

Dotō The , is a Nara period Buddhist relic located in the Dotō neighborhood of Naka-ku, in the city of Sakai, Osaka, Japan. It is also referred to as the after the temple on whose grounds it is located. It was designated as a National Historic Sit ...

Sakai City Museum is located within Daisen Park, in Sakai-ku, Sakai City, in Osaka Prefecture. The exhibition hall of approx. 1,330 square meters is divided up into areas for ancient times, the middle ages, early modern, and modern times. The museum was opened in ...

Sakai Matsuri {{nihongo, ''Sakai Matsuri'', 堺まつり} or Sakai Festival, is one of the three largest annual events in Sakai City, along with the Sakai Citizen’s Olympics, and the Sakai City Agricultural Festival. The Sakai Matsuri has been held annuall ...

Tsukuno Danjiri Matsuri Danjiri Matsuri are cart-pulling Matsuri, 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 h ...

References

External links

Sakai City official website
* * {{Authority control Cities in Osaka Prefecture Environmental model cities Planned cities in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan