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 in southern

Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori Prefecture to the nor ...

, Japan. The city was officially founded on August 3, 1940. As of October 1, 2016, the city has 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 60,101 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 580 persons per km². The total area is 103.61 km². The JR Uno Line connects it to

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

. Before the

Great Seto Bridge The is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Built over the period 1978–88, it is one of the three routes of the Honshū–Shikoku Bri ...

was opened, there was a train ferry between Uno Port in Tamano and Takamatsu on

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'' (), ...

. Then, Tamano was the major entrance to Shikoku. Today there still exist many ferry lines between Uno port and Takamatsu, and also the islands of

Shōdoshima Shōdoshima or is an island located in the Inland Sea of Japan. The name means "Island of Small Beans". There are two towns on the island: Tonoshō and Shōdoshima, composing the district of Shōzu. The island is famous as the setting for t ...

and

Naoshima is an island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa Prefecture. The island is best known for its many contemporary art installations and museums. The administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands nearby. As of 2020, the town has an estimated ...

. Its major industry is

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguishe ...

construction and metal refining, another important industry being fishing. One of the largest shipbuilding yards in Japan, operated by

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding () is a Japanese company. It is listed on the Nikkei 225. Mitsui E&S is one of the companies of the Mitsui Group. Established in 1917 as the Shipbuilding Division of Mitsui & Co. with the first shipyard at Tamano. In 1937 the shipyards bec ...

, is located in Tamano.

Geography

Climate

Tamano 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''). The average annual temperature in Tamano is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Tamano was on 19 August 1995; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 26 February 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Tamano in 2020 is 56,531 people. Tamano has been conducting censuses since 1920.

Sister Cities

Tamano has three international sister cities. They are: * Tongyeong,

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. *

Jiujiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into h ...

, China. *

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and ...

, United States.

Notable people from Tamano

* Yukari Ichijo,

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

* Hisaichi Ishii, manga artist * Ukita Kōkichi, aviation pioneer *

Taiyo Sugiura (born March 10, 1981) is a Japanese actor. Early life Sugiura was born in Okayama, Japan. He has a brother, Takao (太雄), who is two years younger. Sugiura attended Neyagawa 1st Junior High School (Neyagawa Middle School) and Osaka Sangyo Uni ...

, actor *

Tetsuo Takashima Tetsuo Takashima (高嶋哲夫 ''Takashima Tetsuo'', born July 7, 1949) is a contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres that include science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction. B ...

, author *

Katsuya Terada , is a Japanese illustrator and cartoonist from the town of Tamano, Okayama. His alias is the portmanteau . Terada's prolific visual arts practice uniquely straddles the lines between manga, fine art, and digital design. His work ranges widely ...

, artist *

Hiroshi Yagi is a retired Japanese baseball player for the Hanshin Tigers. He was an All-Star in 1990 and a member of the Tigers' 2003 championship team. In the later years of his career, he was known as the team's "God of Pinch Hitting". After retiring ...

, baseball player

References

External links

* * Cities in Okayama Prefecture {{Okayama-geo-stub