Wakayama City Hall is the capital

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 ...

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefect ...

in the

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metr ...

of 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 351,391 in 157066 households 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 1700 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Wakayama is located at the northwest corner of Wakayama Prefecture, bordered by Osaka Prefecture to the north and the Kii Channel and

Kitan Strait The or separates Awaji Island from Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan and connects the 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 ...

to the west. It is located on the mouth of the Kinokawa River with the main urban center of the city on the river's left bank.

Neighboring municipalities

Wakayama Prefecture *

Kainan file:Kainan kuroe02s3200.jpg, 270px, Street in Konoe neighborhood of Kainan is a Cities of Japan, city located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,811 in 22129 households and a population density of 110 per ...

* Kinokawa *

Iwade Iwade is a village and civil parish north of the town of Sittingbourne in the English county of Kent. History Iwade was established in the late Medieval period, when it was a settlement linking Watling Street to the coast via Key Street (a ...

Osaka Prefecture * Hannan * Misaki Hyōgo Prefecture *

Sumoto, Hyōgo 270px, Sumoto City Hall 270px, Sumoto Castle is a city located on Awaji Island, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 42,094 and a population density of 230 persons per km².The total area of the city is . Geogra ...

(separated by the

)

Climate

Wakayama has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Wakayama is 15.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1713 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.4 °C. The area is subject to

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

s in summer.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Wakayama peaked in the 1980s and has been declining slowly since.

History

The area of the modern city of Wakayama was the center of ancient

Kii Province , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato ...

, and the

Iwase-Senzuka Kofun Cluster ) is a cluster of Kofun period burial mounds that is located in the Wakayama, in the Kansai region of Japan. One of the largest concentrations of burial mounds in Japan, it consist of over 900 tumuli. It is designated as a National Historic S ...

is one of the largest clusters of '' kofun''

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s in Japan. The area the home of the ''Kii

Kuni no miyatsuko , also read as "kokuzō" or "kunitsuko", were officials in ancient Japan at the time of the Yamato court. Yamato period Kuni no miyatsuko governed small territories (), although the location, names, and borders of the provinces remain unclear. Ku ...

'', a local king ruling the Kinokawa River Valley prior to the rise of the Yamato State. During the

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, Nara, Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remai ...

priests from

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...

built the Kimii-dera temple. From 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 ...

, Waka-no-ura was a port on the Kinokawa River, and

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and '' daimyō'' ( feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the C ...

constructed the predecessor of Wakayama Castle during his conquest of Kii Province during the

Sengoku period The was a period in 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 feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

. 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 ...

, the

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, ...

at the base of Wakayama Castle grew and prospered under the rule of the Kii Tokugawa clan as the center of

Kishū Domain , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato ...

. 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 ...

, Wakayama was granted city status on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The city suffered 1208 deaths and 1560 critically wounded in the July 9, 1945

Bombing of Wakayama during World War II A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

, which destroyed more than half of the urban area. On April 1, 1997, Wakayama attained

core city In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city ...

status, with increased local autonomy.

Government

Wakayama 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 38 members. Wakayama contributes 15 members to the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between Wakayama 1st district and Wakayama 2nd 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

Wakayama is the main commercial city of northern Wakayama and is the largest city in Wakayama Prefecture. Primary industries include agriculture, notably rice and citrus fruits, 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 ...

. Secondary industries are centered around electronics and heavy industry.

Nippon Steel was formed in 2012 by the merger of the old Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal. was established in 1970 by the merger of Fuji Iron & Steel and Yawata Iron & Steel. Nippon Steel is the world's third largest steel producer by volume as of 2019. ...

remains a major employer, although the city suffered considerably when former Sumitomo Steel shifted much of its production to China. Other major employers include

Kao Corporation is a chemical and cosmetics company headquartered in Nihonbashi-Kayabacho, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. History Kao was established in 1887 by Tomiro Nagase as a manufacturer of domestic toiletry soap. Until 1954, they were known as , and finally ...

and

Mitsubishi Electric , established on 15 January 1921, is a Japanese multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi. The products from MELCO include elevators a ...

Education

Colleges and Universities

* Wakayama University * Wakayama Medical University *

Wakayama Shin-ai University Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city), the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan *Wakayama Station, a train station in Wakayama, Wakayama *Wakayama University , or , is a national university loc ...

* Wakayama College of Science Studies * Tokyo Health Care University School of Nursing * Takarazuka University of Medical and Health Care MedicalSchool

Primary and secondary education

Wakayama has 50 public elementary schools, 19 public middle schools and one public high school operated by the city government and one private elementary school and three private middle schools. The Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education operates two public middle schools and 10 public high schools. There are also four private high schools.In addition, there is one elementary school and one high school run by Wakayama University. The prefecture also operates five special education school for the handicapped, and one more is operated by Wakayama University. The city has one North Korean school, .

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, and ...

– Hanwa Line * - - - JR logo (west)

–

Kisei Main Line The is a railway line that parallels the coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the '' kanji'' characters from the names of the old provinces of and . The line is operated b ...

* - - - - JR logo (west)

– Wakayama Line * - - - - Ryobi Group logo

Wakayama Electric Railway Kishigawa Line * - - - - - - - - - Nankai group logo

Nankai Electric Railway is a private railway in Japan, founded in 1884. The name ''Nankai'' (which means "South Sea") comes from the company's routes along the Nankaidō, the old highway that ran south from the old capital, Kyoto, along the sea coast. Nankai predates ...

Nankai Main Line The is one of the two main railway lines of Japanese private railway company Nankai Electric Railway, together with Kōya Line. The route is from Namba Station in south downtown of Osaka to Wakayamashi Station in Wakayama via Sakai, Izumi� ...

* - -

Wakayamako Line The is a railway line operated by Japanese private railway company Nankai Electric Railway that runs in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, between and stations. The purpose of the line is to provide a railway link to Wakayama Port that has ferry ...

* -

Kada Line is a railway line in Wakayama Prefecture owned by Nankai Electric Railway. This line connects to the Nankai Main Line The is one of the two main railway lines of Japanese private railway company Nankai Electric Railway, together with Kōya L ...

* - - - - - - - -

Highway

Hanwa Expressway * E24 Expressway (Japan)

Keinawa Expressway * * *

Sister cities

Wakayama has sister-city relationships with four overseas municipalities: *

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley (California), Central Valley r ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, United States * Jeju,

Jeju Province Jeju Province, officially Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, is one of the nine provinces of South Korea. The province comprises Jeju Island (; ), formerly transliterated as Cheju or Cheju Do, the country's largest island. It was previously kn ...

, South Korea * Richmond,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, Canada *

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

, Shandong, China Wakayama City formed a sister-city relationship with the city of

mainly due to the efforts of , who was an escaped medic in the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

and stayed in China after the war. He married and runs his own clinic in China. In 1976, he visited Wakayama after nearly 40 years.

Local attractions

* Wakayama Castle * Kimiidera * Hinokuma Shrine * Itakiso Shrine *

Kamayama Shrine 270px, Kamayama ''Kofun'' is a Shinto shrine in the city of Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. History The main ''kami'' enshrined at the Kamayama Shrine is , the eldest brother of Emperor Jimmu, the legendary first emperor of Japan. Per t ...

Kishū Tōshō-gū is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Wakayama Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. It enshrines the deified first Shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu. It is also known as the History The Kishū Tōshō-gū was established by To ...

*Wakayama Marina City *The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama * Wakayama is home to one of Japan's three

Melody Road ''Melody Road'' is Neil Diamond's 32nd studio album, and first album of original music recorded since 2008's well-received '' Home Before Dark'', which debuted on the US album charts at #1. It was produced by Don Was and Jacknife Lee. After 40 y ...

s, which is made from grooves cut into the pavement, which when driven over causes a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the car body. Wakayama Prefecture is famous across Japan for its

umeboshi Umeboshi ( Japanese: 梅干し, pronounced , literally 'dried ume') are pickled (brined) '' ume'' fruits common in Japan. The word ''umeboshi'' is often translated into English as 'salted Japanese plums', 'Japanese plums' or 'preserved plums ...

(salty pickled plums) and mikan (mandarins). File:Wakanoura Art Cube Wakayama Japan01n.jpg, Art Cube of Wakanoura File:Kimiidera Wakayama03n4272.jpg, Kimiidera File:121013 The museum of modern art, wakayama01s3.jpg, The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama

References

External links

Wakayama City official website

Wakayama City official website

Wakayama City official Youtube channel

Wakayama City Tourist Association

Waiker's Guide Map to Wakayama
* {{Authority control Cities in Wakayama Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan