is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

located in Watarai District,

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefectur ...

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 n ...

. , the town 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 usi ...

of 15,353 in 5844 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 RosenberPopu ...

of 380 persons per km². The total area of the town was .

Geography

Tamaki is an inland municipality, located in eastern

Kii Peninsula The is the largest peninsula on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is named after the ancient Kii Province. Overview The area south of the “ Central Tectonic Line” is called , and is home to reef-like coral communities which are among ...

, near the geographic center of Mie Prefecture. Springtime in Tamaki-chō features cherry blossoms, rice fields, persimmon trees, nurseries and vegetable fields growing ''daikon'', cabbage and more. There are many forests which have been designated as wildlife protection areas.

Neighboring municipalities

Mie Prefecture *

Ise Ise may refer to: Places *Ise, Mie, a city in Japan ** Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie * Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria * Ise, Norway, a village in Norway * Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan * River Ise, a tributary of ...

* Watarai * Taki *

Meiwa was a after '' Hōreki'' and before '' An'ei.'' This period spanned the years from June 1764 through November 1772. The reigning empress and emperor were and . Change of era * 1764 : The era name became ''Meiwa'' (meaning "Bright Harmony") b ...

Climate

Tamaki 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 Tamaki is 15.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1856 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.1 °C.

Demographics

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

History

The area of present-day Tamaki was part of ancient

Shima Province was a province of Japan which consisted of a peninsula in the southeastern part of modern Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shima''" in . Its abbreviated name was . Shima bordered on Ise Province to the west, and on Ise Ba ...

, but was transferred to Ise Province in 1582. Tamaki was the site of a

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 ...

Japanese castle are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such ...

Tamaru Castle was a Japanese castle located in Tamaki, northern Mie Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Tamaru Castle was home to the Kuno clan, '' daimyō'' of Tamaru Domain and one of the hereditary ''karō'' to Kii Domain. The ruins are ...

, which dominated the surrounding area, including access to the

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie, Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . ...

s. The castle was initially built by

Kitabatake Chikafusa was a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors. Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor G ...

of the Kitabatake Clan in 1336, to serve as a base of operations for

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional orde ...

's Southern Court during the conflict between the Northern and Southern Court known as the

Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...

. The castle was destroyed in the early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

. Tamaru Town was created within Watarai District of Mie Prefecture with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It merged with the neighboring village of Higashitokida and assumed its present name on April 10, 1955.

Government

Tamaki 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 13 members. Tamaki, collectively with the other municipalities of Watari District, contributes two members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Mie 4th 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 paral ...

Economy

The town serves as a commercial center for the surrounding region. "Tamaki Pork" is a local speciality.

Education

Tamaki has four public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school. There is one special education school for the handicapped operated by the Mie Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR Tōkai – Sangū Line *

Highway

* 24px, link=, alt=E23 Ise Expressway

Sister city relations

* –

Nanjō is a city located in the southern part of Okinawa Island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Translated literally, the name Nanjō means "southern castle". Many castle ruins, called gusuku in the Okinawan language, can be found throughout the city ...

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

(since 1993)

References

External links

Tamaki official website
{{Authority control Towns in Mie Prefecture Tamaki, Mie