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

Okinawa Prefecture is a 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 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

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 neighboring municipalities are

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...

to the south,

Ginowan ( ryu, ジノーン, translit=Jinōn) is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2012, the city has an estimated population of 94,405, with 40,041 households and a population density of 4,838.8 persons per km2. The total area is 19.5 ...

to the north, and

Nishihara Nishihara (written: 西原) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Clarence K. Nishihara, American politician *, Japanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor *, Japanese chemist *, Japanese long-distance runner ...

to the east. As of November 2012, 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 a ...

of 113,718 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 5,956.9 persons per km². The total area is 19.09 km².

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

base

Camp Kinser Camp Kinser is a United States Marine Corps logistics base in Okinawa, Japan. Overview Camp Kinser is a major logistics base for Marine Corps Forces on Okinawa. Its flagship command is the 3rd Marine Logistics Group. It sits adjacent to the Eas ...

is located on the city's coast.

Etymology

The name "Urasoe" is made up of two

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

characters. The first, , means "a coastal area", and the second, , means "ruling" or "uniting". The name is a reference to "ruling over many areas".

Geography

Urasoe sits to the south of

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

. Urasoe is rugged and hilly to the east, and the city slopes gently to the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

in the west. Urasoe, while formerly agricultural, has become heavily urbanized due to its proximity to the prefectural capital of

Neighboring municipalities

Transportation

The city is served by

Naha Airport is a second class airport located west of the city hallAIS Japan
in

Okinawa Expressway The is an expressway on Okinawa Island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The expressway has a length of . The West Nippon Expressway Company is the owner and operator of this expressway. It is signed E58 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of E ...

. Also it has three stations of

Okinawa Urban Monorail The , also known as , is a monorail line serving the cities of Naha and Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan. Operated by , it opened on 10 August 2003, and is the only public rail system in Okinawa Prefecture. Yui Rail is the first rail line on Okinawa sin ...

(Yui Rail): Kyozuka, Urasoe-Maeda and Tedako-Uranishi.

History

Urasoe was the original capital of the Okinawan kingdom of

Chūzan was one of three kingdoms which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century. Okinawa, previously controlled by a number of local chieftains or lords, loosely bound by a paramount chieftain or king of the entire island, split into these three more so ...

for several centuries until it was supplanted by Shuri in the late 14th or early 15th century.

Shunten , also known as , was a legendary ruler of Okinawa Island. Shunten is the earliest chief in Okinawa for whom a name is known. He is said to have taken power after defeating an usurper to the throne by the name of Riyū who had overthrown the 25th ...

(1166 – 1237), the first known king of the Chuzan Kingdom, located in the central region of the island of Okinawa, ruled from Urasoe, as did his son and grandson. For much of the 14th century, Urasoe Castle was the largest on the island of Okinawa. The castle now contains the remains of several kings of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Urasoe was completely razed during the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

in 1945 at the end of

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 ...

. 45% of the population, 4,117 residents, died during the battle. The village office of Urasoe was re-established in 1946 to conduct basic administrative functions, settle refugees returning to the village, and restore agricultural land. The village saw a significant increase in U.S. military presence in 1950 in the western coast of the village, which eventually became

. The population of Urasoe rapidly from 1956, and the city became a bedroom community of Naha in this period. Urasoe was elevated to city status on July 1, 1970.

Economy

The beer company

Orion Breweries is the fifth-largest beer brewery in Japan, headquartered in Urasoe, Okinawa Prefecture. The company commands approximately 1% of the Japanese beer market, and controls 60% of the beer market on Okinawa. History Founded in 1957 in Nago, Okin ...

has its headquarters in Urasoe.

Notable residents

Urasoe is the hometown of Japanese actress, musician and former idol Yukie Nakama.

References

External links

Urasoe City official website
* {{Authority control Cities in Okinawa Prefecture Capitals of former nations