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

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to t ...

, 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 a ...

of 16,872 in 8566 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 180 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Katsuura City is famous for Katsuura Fishing Port, which features one of the top three largest morning markets in Japan.

Geography

Katsuura is located on the southeast coast of Chiba Prefecture in the approximate center of the

Bōsō Peninsula The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula covers ...

, approximately 55 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba and within 70 to 80 kilometers of downtown Tokyo. It is bordered by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

to the east. Cape Hachiman juts prominently into the Pacific Ocean and features lush

sub-tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...

. Two-thirds of the city is mountainous and the rolling peaks of the

Bōsō Hill Range The is a mountain range on the Bōsō Peninsula of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The highest point in the Bōsō Mountain Range is at Mount Atago, with an altitude of . The hill range runs from roughly in a line from Mobara or Ōamishirasato to Ki ...

give way to sandy hills closer to the coast. Parts of the city are within the Minami Bōsō Quasi-National Park.

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture * Kamogawa *

Isumi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 37,206 in 17,004 households and a population density of 240 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Isumi is located on the east coast ...

* Ōtaki * Onjuku

Climate

Katsuura features a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa'') due to its proximity to the

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

. Summers and

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

s are relatively mild and have a narrow annual

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various Conversion of units of temperature, temp ...

range. Katsuura, along with Chōshi City, has the coolest summers in Chiba Prefecture. August is the hottest month with an average temperature of , and some days exceed degrees. January is the coldest month with an average temperature of .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Katsuura has been gradually decreasing over the past 70 years and is now less than it was a century ago.

History

The area around Katsuura was part of Isumi District of former

Kazusa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. The province was located in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula, whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa province ...

. 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 characte ...

, most of the area was ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia' ...

'' under direct control of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

and administered by ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as '' gokenin.'' Howev ...

'' retainers. Katsuura Village was founded on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The name originated from a location of the same name in the

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 ...

. Katsuura was elevated to town status on March 12, 1890. On April 1, 1937, it expanded through annexation of neighboring Toyohama Village. On February 11, 1955, it expanded further through merger with the neighboring town of Okitsu, and the villages of Ueno and Sono. Katsuura was elevated to city status on October 1, 1958. In August 1931 the English aviator

Francis Chichester Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE (17 September 1901 – 26 August 1972) was a British businessman, pioneering aviator and solo sailor. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the worl ...

crashed his seaplane at Katsuura, hitting cables while doing a demonstration flight for the populace. A local crowd pulled him from the wreckage, and he was healed of serious injuries at a nearby hospital.

Government

Katsuura 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 14 members. Katsuura contributes one member to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Chiba 11th district Chiba 11th district (千葉県第11区, ''Chiba-ken dai-jūikku'' or simply 千葉11区, ''Chiba-jūikku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is located in the eastern portion of Chi ...

of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Katsuura is historically known as a fishing port, and currently has the second largest catch in Chiba Prefecture after Chōshi City. There are nine active fishing ports in Katsuura, with the Port of Katsuura being the largest. The catch of ''katsuo'' bonito in 1990 was the largest ever recorded in Japan.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

is also important to the economy, and the town has facilities for public beaches, golfing and other leisure activities. Katsuura is home to small-scale ''

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

'' production, and ''

koshihikari is a popular cultivar of Japonica rice cultivated in Japan as well as Australia and the United States. ''Koshihikari'' was first created in 1956 by combining 2 different strains of ''Nourin No.1'' and ''Nourin No.22'' at the Fukui Prefectur ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

, blueberries,

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus '' Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwi ...

, and

shiitake The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a Medicinal fungi, medicinal mushroom in some forms of tradition ...

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

are also produced in the area.

Education

University

International Budo University (IBU) is a private university in Katsuura, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, established in 1984. The university has a specialized curriculum in physical education, specifically the budō Japanese martial arts, sports, and physical culture. In addi ...

Primary and Secondary

Katsuura has five public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the city government. The city does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railroad

JR East –

Sotobō Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, on the eastern (i.e., outer) side of the Bōsō Peninsula. It connects Chiba Station in Chiba to Awa-Kamogawa Station in Kamo ...

* - - -

Highway

* *

Sister city relations

* -

Nishitokyo () is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 206,047, and a population density of 13,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Nishitokyo is located at t ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan * -

Nachikatsuura, Wakayama 270px, Nachikatsuura town hall is a town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,420 in 7622 households and a population density of 79 persons per km². The total area of the town ...

* -

Katsuura, Tokushima 270px, Katsuura Town Hall 270px, Hinamatsuri Festival 270px, Kakurin-ji is a town located in Katsuura District, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 4,884 in 2159 households and a population density of 70 p ...

Noted people from Katsuura

Eisuke Mori is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party. He is a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) and is the former Minister of Justice under Aso's Administration. A native of Katsuura, Chiba and grad ...

, politician * Hitomi Takagaki, writer *

Yoshihiro Maru is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Career In , Hiroshima Toyo Carp selected him in the third round. He missed time his ...

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

Gallery

File:Bronze statue of "Youjuin".jpg, Bronze statue of Youjuin in Cape Hachiman. Katsuura lighthouse.jpg, Katsuura lighthouse File:Katsuura street 01.JPG, A street in Katsuura File:Katsuura street 02.JPG, A street in Katsuura File:Katsuura street 03.JPG, A street in Katsuura

Katsuura Beach

File:Shinto temple on Katsuura beach.JPG, Shinto shrine on Katsuura beach File:Katsuura beach 01.JPG, Katsuura shipyard File:Katsuura beach 02.JPG, Katsuura beach File:Katsuura beach 04.JPG, Katsuura beach

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture Port settlements in Japan