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 central

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

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 of 139,578 in 57,593 households, and a population density of 2000 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Yaizu is a noted port for commercial fishing.

Geography

Yaizu is located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, on a heavily indented coastline of

Suruga Bay Suruga Bay (駿河湾, ''Suruga-wan'') is a bay on the Pacific coast of Honshū in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is situated north of a straight line from Omaezaki Point to Irōzaki Point at the tip of the Izu Peninsula and surrounded by Honshū ...

, facing the Pacific Ocean. The climate, tempered by the warm Kuroshio Current offshore is maritime temperature, with hot, humid summers and short cool winters.

Surrounding municipalities

*Shizuoka Prefecture **

Suruga-ku, Shizuoka is one of three wards of Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan, located in the southern part of the city. The north east of Suruga-ku faces Aoi-ku; the north west faces Shimizu-ku; the south west faces Yaizu city and south east faces Suruga Bay. Suruga- ...

** Shimada **

Fujieda is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 145,032 in 59,480 households, and a population density of 750 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Fujieda is a member of the World Health O ...

Yoshida Yoshida (written: 吉田 lit. "lucky ricefield") is the 11th most common Japanese surname. A less common variant is 芳田 (lit. "fragrant ricefield"). Notable people with the surname include: *Ai Yoshida, Japanese sailor *, Japanese idol, singer ...

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Yaizu has been increasing over the past 70 years.

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters ( Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Yaizu is 16.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2176 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.3 °C.

History

Yaizu is an ancient settlement, with Yaizu Shrine claiming to have been founded in the 5th century during the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

, and numerous

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

tumuli are found within the city limits. During the Edo period, Yaizu developed as a port under Tanaka Domain, and fish from Yaizu was frequently supplied to the retired '' shōgun'' Tokugawa Ieyasu at nearby Sunpu Castle. In the October 1, 1886, establishment of the modern municipalities system after the Meiji Restoration, Yaizu Village was established within Mashizu District, Shizuoka prefecture. Mashizu District merged into neighboring Shida District in 1896. The following year, in 1897, author

Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...

began his residence in Yaizu. Yaizu was elevated to town status on June 28, 1901. Yaizu Fishing Cooperative was established in 1903, and started to take frozen catch from Yaizu to Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market from 1908. Shipbuilding facilities, primarily for the production of fishing vessels, was established in 1924. The Yaizu Fishing Cooperative began the first wireless communication with its fishing fleet in Japan in 1925, but overfishing soon led to collapse of

bonito Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists of ...

stocks in 1926, resulting in a five-year fishing moratorium. After the start of World War II, the Yaizu fishing industry was again hit hard by the requisition of entire Yaizu fishing fleet (113 vessels) and crewmen by Imperial Japanese Navy in 1941. Only 10 vessels survived the war. Yaizu was elevated to city status on March 1, 1951. On November 1, 1953, Toyota Village merged into Yaizu City. The city name gained international prominence over the Daigo Fukuryū Maru Incident, in which a Yaizu-based fishing vessel was irradiated by

atomic testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954. The city further expanded on January 1, 1955, by annexation of the neighboring villages of Higashi Mashizu, Kogawa, Ōtomi, and Wada, and on April 1, 1957, when Hirohata Village was divided between Yaizu and Fujieda cities. Yaizu port underwent a major expansion in March 1968. The city was the site of the

2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident On January 31, 2001, Japan Airlines Flight 907, a Boeing 747-400 en route from Haneda Airport, Japan, to Naha Airport, Okinawa, narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with Japan Airlines Flight 958, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 en route from Gimha ...

on January 31, 2001. On November 1, 2008, the town of Ōigawa (from Shida District) was merged into Yaizu.
Ministry of Land & Infrastructure

Government

Atami has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 21 members. The city contributes three members to the Shizuoka Prefectural Assembly.

Economy

The economy of Yaizu is dominated by the commercial fishing industry. Yaizu Port was first in Japan in terms of tonnage of

and tuna in 2002, and third in terms of

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

. Local industries are centered on food processing, including the production of ''

katsuobushi is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'', sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes. ''Katsuobushi'' or similarly prepared fish is also known as . Shaved ''katsuobushi'' and dried ke ...

'', '' shiokara'', '' tsukudani'', and ''

kamaboko is a type of cured , a processed seafood product common in Japanese cuisine. is made by forming various pureed deboned white fish with either natural or man-made additives and flavorings into distinctive loaves, which are then steamed u ...

'' (especially '' narutomaki''). Agricultural products include

green tea Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...

, melons, tangerines, and tomatoes. Yaizu is also the home of the

Hasegawa Hasegawa (written: 長谷川 literally "long valley river") is a Japanese surname. Hasegawa may refer to: People A * Akiko Hasegawa, Japanese voice actress and singer * Ariajasuru Hasegawa (born 1988), Japanese-Iranian footballer B * Bo ...

plastic model kit manufacturing company.Hasegawa website
Retrieved 6 September 2011. Yaizu is also home to one of

Sapporo Brewery is a Japanese beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo is the oldest brand of beer in Japan. It was first brewed in Sapporo, Japan, in 1876 by brewer Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Toky ...

's Largest factories, as well as the company's new product development division.

Transportation

Railway

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

- Tōkaidō Main Line ** -

Highways

* Tōmei Expressway *

Education

Shizuoka University of Welfare is a private university in Yaizu, Shizuoka, Yaizu city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, established in 2004. Departments The university specializes in social welfare programmes, and currently has five departments: * Department of Psychology in So ...

*Yaizu has 13 public elementary schools and ten public middle schools operated by the city government and three public high schools operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. The city also has one private high school. The prefectural also operates as fisheries vocational school in Yaizu.

Military facilities

Shizuhama Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in the city of Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, in central Japan. It is the smallest air base in Japan with a functional runway. History Shizuhama Air Base was established in December 1944 as the Fujied ...

Sister city relations

Notable people from Yaizu

Midorifuji Kazunari is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yaizu, Shizuoka. Known for being a '' katasukashi'' specialist, he debuted in sumo wrestling in September 2016 and made his ''makuuchi'' debut in January 2021. His highest rank has been ''maegashir ...

, sumo wrestler * Itsuko Hasegawa, architect * Tetsuya Ishida, artist *

Yoshikiyo Kuboyama is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Kuboyama was born in Yaizu is a city located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 139,578 in 57,593 households, and a population density of 200 ...

, professional soccer player *

Tomohiro Matsunaga is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. Matsunaga was born in Shizuoka. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he won silver in his category (55 kilograms). Matsunaga has also competed in 2 SASUKE competitions (21-22), where he failed the Second Sta ...

, Olympic silver-medalist wrestler * Taisuke Muramatsu, professional soccer player * Katayama Shinji, sumo wrestler * Masaharu Suzuki, professional soccer player

References

External links

*
Yaizu City official website
* {{Authority control Cities in Shizuoka Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan