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 of

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

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 31,385 in 15638 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 240 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Yawatahama is located in the western part of Ehime Prefecture on the island of

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'' (), '' ...

, at the base of the Sadamisaki Peninsula. It faces the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

to the north, and faces

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

to the west across the Bungo Channel. The coastline is a ria coastline, with steep slopes, creating a scenic landscape where capes and coves intersect. For a long time, the city's naturally good harbor has served as an important one for Ehime Prefecture and Shikoku. Flat land is exceedingly sparse and the hilly terrain has been used for

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

production.

Neighbouring municipalities

Ehime Prefecture * Ōzu *

Ikata is a small peninsula town located in Nishiuwa District, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 8,497 in 15638 households and a population density of 90 persons per km². The total area of the town is Following a rec ...

* Seiyo

Climate

Yawatahama 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 snowfall. The average annual temperature in Yawatahama is 15.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1644 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Yawatahama has been decreasing steadily since the 1950s.

History

The area of Yawatahama was part of ancient

Iyo Province was a province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa to the east, and Tosa to the south. Its abbreviated form name was . In term ...

, and its name appears in early

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 ...

documents. According to legend, the name "Yawatahama" (八幡浜) comes from long ago when debris from a festival at the Usa Jingū, Usa Hachiman shrine (八幡) in

Usa, Ōita is a city located in Ōita Prefecture, Japan at the tip of Kunisaki Peninsula in northern Kyushu. Notable for the Usa Jingū, the head shrine of all 40,000 Hachiman shrines across Japan, the city annually attracts as many as 1.8 million worshi ...

, floated up on the beach (浜) in what is now Yawatahama.Yawatahama City History before 1950
/ref> In 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 characteriz ...

, the area was part of the holding of the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

Uwajima Domain 270px, Date Munenari 270px, Uwajima Date Museum was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Uwajima Castle, and was ruled throu ...

. 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 ...

, the town of Yawatahama was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. However, even before that time, Yawatahama was linked to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and Oita via steamships and the area was referred to as the "

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

of Shikoku" due to rapidly increasing industrialization. The first bank in Ehime was opened in Yawatahama in 1878. In addition, in 1889, Yawatahama was the first city in Shikoku to burn an electric light.

Town mergers

*February 11, 1935 - Yawatahama combined with Senjo, Hitada, and Kamiyama and was elevated to city status. *February 1, 1955 - A locality of Futaiwa, as well as Hizuchi, Maana, and Kawakami were added.1950s Yawatahama City History
/ref> *March 31, 1955 - Nishiuwa District's Isotsu, Miyauchi, Kawanoishi, and Kisuki towns merge under the name Honai. *March 28, 2005 - Yawatahama absorbed the town of Honai (from Nishiuwa District)

Government

Yawatahama 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 16 members. Yawatahama together with Ikata, contributes two members to the Ehime Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Ehime 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 paralle ...

Economy

Major industries include citrus farming, fisheries, fisheries-related food processing, and shipbuilding.

Mandarin orange The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-coloured ...

cultivation is started in the middle of the Meiji era, and has a history of 100 years. The fishery industry is thriving with trawl fishing as the core, as well as

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

. The fish market in Yawatahama is the largest in Shikoku.Yawatahama's marine product industry extends beyond just fresh fish. The town also specializes in fish products including fish paste and fishcakes made from pureed white fish. This is known as '' kamaboko''. Yawatahama, along with

Uwajima 270px, Uwajma City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Uwajma city center 270px, Japan National Route 320 in Uwajma city center is a city located in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 70,440 in 35429 households and a ...

, have numerous shops selling a variety of ''kamaboko''. One local delicacy is ''jakoten'' (じゃこ天), or ''kamaboko'' fried

tempura is a typical Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood, meat and vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. The dish was introduced by the Portuguese in Nagasaki through fritter-cooking techniques in the 16th century. The word ''tem ...

-style.Yawatahama's mikan production is governed by the Nishiuwa

Agricultural cooperative An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperati ...

, which is responsible for the distribution and branding of Yawatahama mikans. This cooperative distributes the fruits nationwide under such brand names as "Hinomaru" (日の丸) and "Kawakami" (川上). However agricultural production is declining due to aging demographics and

rural depopulation Rural flight (or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In industrializing economies like Britain in the eighteenth century or East Asia in the ...

Education

Yawatahama has 14 public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has three public high schools operated by the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education.

High schools

*Yawatahama High School *Yawatahama Technical High School *Kawanoishi High School

Junior high schools

*Atago Junior High School *Yashiro Junior High School *Matsukaya Junior High School *Ōshima Junior High School *Honai Junior High School

Transportation

Railways

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately pa ...

* - -

Highways

Matsuyama Expressway The is a national expressway in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The expressway is numbered E11 between Kawanoe Junction and Matsuyama Interchange and E56 between Matsuyama and Uwajima-Kita Interchanges under the MLIT's "2016 Proposal for Realization ...

* *

Ports

* Port of Yawatahama - which provides regular ferry services to the cities of

Usuki, Ōita is a city located on the east coast of Ōita Prefecture, Japan. It is famous for its Usuki Stone Buddhas, a national treasure, and its soy sauce production. Recently it has become known for having the look and feel of a Japanese castle tow ...

and

Beppu, Ōita is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

Noted people from Yawatahama

Moriyuki Kato was a governor of Ehime Prefecture. He was first elected in 1999 and held the position until he was defeated by Tokihiro Nakamura in 2010. A native of Yawatahama, Ehime and graduate of the University of Tokyo, he joined the Ministry of Educatio ...

, the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Ehime Prefecture *

Chūhachi Ninomiya was a Japanese aviation pioneer. He is remembered for his unique aircraft designs - the "Karasu-gata mokei hikouki" ("Crow-type model aircraft", 1891) and the "Tamamushi-gata hikouki" (" Jewel beetle type flyer", 1893). He designed a flying machi ...

, a Japanese aviation pioneer *

Maedayama Eigorō was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ehime Prefecture. He was the sport's 39th ''yokozuna.'' Career He was born in Nishiuwa District. On his school excursion to Ōita in the spring of 1926, he met future ''yokozuna'' Futabayama Sa ...

, a sumo wrestler who was the sport's 39th

Yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

Jōkō Ninomiya is the founder and director of Enshin Karate. He presides over the Enshin organization from the headquarters (honbu) in Denver, Colorado. His title as head of the Enshin organization is "Kanchō" ( Grandmaster). Early history Joko Ninomiya ...

, founder and director of

Enshin Karate is a style of " full contact karate", or Knockdown karate, founded in 1988 with dojo and students in various countries around the world. Overview The core emphasis in Enshin is use of the Sabaki Method, a system of techniques employed with ...

References

External links

Yawatahama City official website

Yawatahama Sea Road

Yawatahama Mountain Biking
{{Authority control Cities in Ehime Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan