270px, Sumoto City Hall 270px, Sumoto Castle 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 de ...

located on Awaji Island,

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, ...

, 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 ...

of 42,094 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

of 230 persons per km².The total area of the city is .

Geography

The city of Sumoto occupies the middle of Awaji Island, sandwiched between Awaji and Minamiawaji. with the Gulf of Harima on 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 Osa ...

to the west and

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 ...

to the east. The Sumoto River flows into Osaka Bay in the center of the city area, part of which are within the borders of the Setonaikai National Park

Surrounding municipalities

Hyogo Prefecture * Awaji * Minamiawaji

Climate

Sumoto has a humid subtropical climate (

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, nota ...

''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is somewhat lower in the winter.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sumoto has been declining steadily over the past 60 years.

History

The city of Sumoto is situated in ancient Awaji Province, and developed as a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

around 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 ...

Sumoto Castle. It was ruled as part of Tokushima Domain 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 character ...

. 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 r ...

, it became part of Tsuna District, Hyōgo. The town of Sumoto was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system April 1, 1889. It was raised to city status on February 11, 1940. On February 11, 2006, the town of Goshiki (from Tsuna District) was merged into Sumoto

Government

Sumoto 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 multi ...

city council of 18 members. Sumoto contributes one member to the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Hyōgo 9th district of the lower house 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 paral ...

Economy

The local economy is largely rural, and is based on agriculture and

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 oft ...

. Sumoto has traditionally been famous for its production of Awaji onions, Naruto oranges and Kobe Beef.

Education

Sumoto has 13 public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Department of Education. The city also operates one combined elementary/middle school. There are also one private combined middle/high school.

Transportation

Railway

Sumoto does not have any passenger rail service.

Highways

Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway *

Other

Jointly with Minami Awaji and Awaji, the city operates a low-cost electric bike rental scheme, designed to attract visitors to stay for more than one day in order to explore the island.

Sister City relations

* -

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

* -

Hawaii County, Hawaii Hawaii County ( haw, Kalana o Hawaiʻi) (officially known as the County of Hawaii) is a county in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is coextensive with the Island of Hawaii, often called the "Big Island" to distinguish it from ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

* -

Van Wert, Ohio Van Wert is a city in and the county seat of Van Wert County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio approximately 77 mi (123 km) SW of Toledo and 34 mi (54 km) SE of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The po ...

Local attractions

* Sumoto Castle - A castle ruin, one of the Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles. * Awajishima Historical Museum *

Yura Fortress 200px, ruins of Oishi Battery No.1 thumbnail, 200px, ruins of Miyama Battery was the name of a group of coastal fortifications built to guard the entrance to Osaka Bay and thus the city of Osaka from attack from the sea. These gun batteries ...

* Wellness Park Goshiki Takataya Kahei Park

Notable people from Sumoto

* Mao Daichi, actress * Mao Miyaji, actress

References

External links

Sumoto City official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumoto, Hyogo Cities in Hyōgo Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Sumoto, Hyōgo