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

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...

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 46,976 in 20601 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 68 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Takashima is located on the western shore of

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13th ol ...

in the northwestern portion of Shiga Prefecture. The Adogawa and Ishida rivers form alluvial fans in the eastern part of the city on the shores of Lake Biwa, whereas the inland areas rise to the Nosaka and

Hira Mountains The are a mountain range to the west of Lake Biwa on the border of Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The range runs north to south. It is narrowest in the southern part of the range, running east to west, and broadest at the nort ...

. The former Makino town region of the city has the Kaizu Osaki, which has been selected as one of Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots, and the area is also well known for its Asian fawn lily colonies. The inland areas of the city are noted for very heavy snow accumulation in winter.

Neighboring municipalities

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Ōtsu is ...

** Nagahama * Kyoto Prefecture **

Sakyō-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is located in the northeastern part of the city. History The meaning of ''sakyō'' (左京) is "on the Emperor's left." When residing in the Kyoto Imperial Pa ...

** Nantan *

Fukui Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gi ...

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

** Tsuruga ** Wakasa ** Mihama ** Ōi

Climate

Takashima 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 Takashima is 13.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1801 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Takashima population statistics
/ref> the population of Takashima has remained relatively steady over the past 60 years.

History

Takashima is part of ancient

Ōmi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the '' Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countr ...

and has been settled since at least the

Yayoi period The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon ...

. The Kofun period

Emperor Keitai (died 10 March 531) was the 26th legendary emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 継体天皇 (26)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but h ...

was born in what is now Takashima, and there are many burial tumuli within the city limits. The city is located on the shortest route between the

Asuka Asuka may refer to: People * Asuka (name), a list of people * Asuka (wrestler), professional wrestler * Asuka (wrestler, born 1998), professional wrestler also known as Veny outside of Japan Places In Japan * , an area in Yamato Province (now ...

and

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 ...

capitals of Japan and 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 ...

coastline and was thus an important thoroughfare for both domestic and international travel and commerce in the ancient period. It was also the site of a major battle of the

Jinshin War The was a war of succession in Japan during the Asuka period of the Yamato state. It broke out in 672 following the death of Emperor Tenji. The name refers to the ''jinshin'' (壬申) or ninth year of the sixty-year Jikkan Jūnishi calendrica ...

. From the late

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. ...

and into the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

and beyond, the area came under then control of the powerful

Sasaki clan are a historical Japanese clan. Overview After World War II the clans of Sasaki-rokkaku were combined, the clans were spread out between South Eastern Asian islands and the head of the clan left Japan and eventually moved to the United State ...

and was ruled by a cadet branch of the clan, the Takashima clan, from their stronghold at Shimizuyama Castle. The clan was destroyed by

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 ...

in the wars of 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 ...

and after the establishment 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 ...

, much of the city area came under the control of the 20,000 '' koku''

Ōmizo Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in northwestern Ōmi Province, in the Kansai region of central Honshu. The domain was centered at Ōmizo ''jin'ya'', located in what is now the ...

. The village of Ōmizo was established within

Takashima District, Shiga was a district located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 55,348 and a density of 108.24 persons per km2. The total area was 511.36 km2. On January 1, 2005, the former town of Takashima a ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was elevated to town status on November 1, 1902. After merging with neighboring Takashima and Mizuo villages on April 29, 1943, it was renamed the town of Takashima. On January 1, 2005, Takashima merged with the towns of Adogawa, Imazu, Makino and Shin'asahi, and the village of Kutsuki (all from Takashima District) to form the city of Takashima.

Government

Takashima 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 18 members. Takashima contributes two members to the Shiga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Shiga 1st district Shiga 1st district (滋賀県第1区, ''Shiga-ken dai-ikku'' or simply 滋賀1区, ''Shiga-ikku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the national Diet of Japan. It is located in Western Shiga and co ...

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 paralle ...

Economy

The economy of Takashima is centered on agriculture and light manufacturing.

Education

Takashima has 13 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government. There are two public high schools operated by the Shiga Prefectural Department of Education, and one private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

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, an ...

–

Kosei Line The is a commuter rail line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was completed in 1974 by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) to provide faster access from the Kansai region t ...

* - - - - -

Highway

Meishin Expressway * * *

Sister city

* Petoskey, Michigan, United States (1976)

Local attractions

* Shimizuyama Castle ruins, National Historic Site * Tōju Shoin, National Historic Site

Notable people

Kakuzo Kawamoto was a Japanese business executive and politician. Career Kakuzo Kawamoto was born in Takashima District, Shiga on March 27, 1917. He graduated from Hikone Commercial College (later, Shiga University) in 1937. In 1946, he founded Yamashiro Orimo ...

, politician *

Yasuzo Shimizu was a Japanese educator and Protestant Christian missionary in China. He established the Chongzhen School for the poor in Beijing, and the Obirin University in Tokyo. General Yasuzo Shimizu was born in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, and became a Chris ...

, educator and Christian missionary

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Shiga Prefecture Takashima, Shiga