Mishima City Hall Mishima, 20110918 a

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 eastern

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. , the city had an estimated population of 109,803 in 49,323 households, and a population density of 1800 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Mishima is located in far eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, at the northern end of

Izu Peninsula The is a large mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The penins ...

and in the foothills of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

Surrounding municipalities

*Shizuoka Prefecture **

Numazu is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 189,486 in 91,986 households, and a population density of 1,014 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Numazu is at the nor ...

Susono 270px, Susono with Mount Fuji is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 51,216 in 21,858 households, and a population density of 370 persons per km². The total area of the city is . ...

** Kannami ** Shimizu ** Nagaizumi *

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

Hakone is a List of towns in Japan, town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many o ...

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Mishima population statistics
/ref> the population of Mishima has remained stable over the past 25 years.

Climate

Mishima 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 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, nota ...

''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from June to September. The average annual temperature in Mishima is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

History

Mishima is an ancient town, which developed around the important

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...

of . Under the ''

Ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki' ...

'' administration system established in 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). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

, Mishima was made capital of

Izu Province was a province of Japan in the area of Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Izu''" in . Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The mainland portion of Izu Province, comprising th ...

. It was also the location of the ''Kokubun-ji'' for Izu Province. 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 character ...

, Mishima prospered from its location on the Tōkaidō highway connecting

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

, and Mishima-shuku was one of the 53 post stations on that road. 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' ...

'' territory ruled by a ''

daikan ''Daikan'' (代官) was an official in Japan that acted on behalf of a ruling monarch or a lord at the post they had been appointed to. Since the Middle Ages, ''daikan'' were in charge of their territory and territorial tax collection. In the Edo ...

'' appointed directly by 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 ...

. 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 ...

, Mishima became part of the short-lived Nirayama Prefecture in 1868. This merged with the equally short-lived Ashigara Prefecture in 1871, and became part of Shizuoka Prefecture from 18 April 1876. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system of 1889, the area was reorganized as Mishima Town within Kimisawa District. In 1892,

Prince Komatsu Akihito was a Japanese career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, who was a member of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the ''shinnōke'' branches of the Imperial Family of Japan, which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne. Biography Early ...

established a villa in Mishima. Its gardens, the ''Rakujūen'', are a noted visitor attraction in Mishima to this day. In 1896, Kimisawa District became part of

Tagata District, Shizuoka is a rural district located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of July 2012, the district has an estimated population of 38,332 and a population density of . The total area is . The district's administrative centre is the city hall at Mishima City ...

. Mishima received its first train connection in 1898 when the predecessor of the

Izuhakone Railway The is a private railway company in Kanagawa Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The company also operates excursion ships, and the group companies operate buses and taxis. The company has its roots in founded in 1893. Izuhakone Railway ...

established what is now

Shimo-Togari Station is a railway station in the town of Nagaizumi, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tōkai). Lines Shimo-Togari Station is served by the JR Tōkai Gotemba Line, and is located 55.6 kilometers from the o ...

. The

Sunzu Line The is a commuter railway line of the Izuhakone Railway, a private railroad in Japan. The line connects Mishima Station in the city of Mishima with Shuzenji Station in the city of Izu, both within Shizuoka Prefecture. The name "Sunzu" comes ...

began operations from 1906. However, Mishima's fortunes revived strongly only after the

Tanna Tunnel is a railroad tunnel in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan operated by JR Central’s Tōkaidō Main Line. This 7.8 km long tunnel shortened the trunk route between Tokyo and Kobe by omitting a detour round the mountains between Atami and Numazu. ...

was completed in 1934, connecting the town to the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

railway between Tokyo and Shizuoka. Mishima developed rapidly afterwards, merging with neighboring Kitakami Village in 1935 and Watada Village in 1941. Mishima Town was elevated in status to a city on 29 April 1941. It became a stop on the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 19 ...

from 1969, leading to an expansion in population, as the line made it possible to

commute Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to: * Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work Mathematics * Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...

to Tokyo.

Government

Mishima 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 legislature of 22 members. The city contributes two members to the Shizuoka Prefectural Assembly.

Economy

Mishima is a major industrial center within Shizuoka Prefecture. In addition to a railroad repair facility operated by

JR Central 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 r ...

, the city hosts factories from: * Toray * DMW Corporation * Toshiba TEC Corporation * Yokohama Rubber Company * CFS Corporation (HAC Drugstores) *

Company Ltd

Education

Mishima has 14 public elementary schools, and seven public middle schools operated by the city government and three public high schools operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. There are one private junior high school and two private high schools. In addition,

Juntendo University is a private university in Japan. Its headquarters are on its campus in Bunkyo, Tokyo, for the School of Medicine and in Inzai, Chiba, for the School of Health and Sports Science. The university was established in 1838 for medical and in 1946 f ...

and the

Graduate University for Advanced Studies is one of the national universities of Japan, headquartered in Shonan Village (湘南国際村) in the town of Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture. , as it is generally called in its abbreviated form, was established in 1988, with Dr. Saburo Nagak ...

each have a facility at Mishima. The College of

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...

for

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. It is one of Japan's leading private universit ...

is located in Mishima. A former private junior college, Fujimigaoka Women's Junior College, was operating between 1966 and 2009.

Sister City relations

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

, United States, since 24 July 1957 *

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. Th ...

, New Zealand, since 29 April 1991 *

Lishui Lishui (; Lishuinese: ''li⁶ syu³'' ) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It borders Quzhou, Jinhua and Taizhou to the north, Wenzhou to the southeast, and the province of Fujian to ...

, Zhejiang, China, since 12 May 1997

Transport

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 ...

–

** *

–

** Mishima Station * IzuHakoneRailway mark

–

** Mishima – – – –

Highways

Tōmei Expressway The is a national expressway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is designated as E1 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering", because it parallels N ...

Shin-Tōmei Expressway The , literally meaning New Tōmei, is a national expressway in Japan running parallel to the Tomei Expressway as an alternate route. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is also numbered E1A under the "2016 Proposa ...

Izu-Jūkan Expressway * *

Government facilities

Mishima is home to the

National Institute of Genetics The National Institute of Genetics ("Japanese Institute of Genetics") is a Japanese institution founded in 1949. It hosts the DNA Data Bank of Japan The DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) is a biological database that collects DNA sequences. It i ...

Local attractions

Mishima Taisha The is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Mishima in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Izu Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on August 16, and features '' yabusame'' performances. Ens ...

* Ryūtaku-ji Rinzai Zen temple *

Izu Kokubun-ji 270px, Main Hall of the modern Izu Kokubun-ji is a Buddhist temple located in what is now the city of Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan. It is the modern successor of one of the provincial temples established by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 ...

ruins, A National Historic Site *

Yamanaka Castle was a Sengoku period ''yamajiro''-style Japanese castle, built by the Later Hōjō clan, Odawara Hōjō clan in Tagata District, Shizuoka, Tagata District, Izu Province, in what is now eastern Mishima, Shizuoka, Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japa ...

ruins, A National Historic Site *

Sano Art Museum The is a private art museum, located in the Nakata neighborhood of the city of Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan. The museum was founded in 1966 by Mishima-born Sano Ryūichi, founder of the chemical company Tekkōsha and recipient of t ...

* Rakuju-en Gardens * The Mishima Summer Festival takes place from 15 to 17 August every year

Notable people from Mishima

EVIL Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

(Real Name: Takaaki Watanabe,

Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...

: 渡辺高章, ''Watanabe Takaaki''), Japanese professional wrestler * Sagatsukasa Hiroyuki (Real Name: Hiroyuki Isobe,

: 磯部洋之, ''Isobe Hiroyuki''),

sumo wrestler A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official t ...

* Makoto Ōoka, poet and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...

* Yukiko Sakamoto,

Japanese politician Politics of Japan are conducted in a framework of a dominant-party bicameral parliamentary constitutional monarchy, in which the Emperor is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government and the head of the Cabinet, which ...

Nobuyoshi Sano , better known as sanodg, is a Japanese video game composer, musician and record producer. He is best known for scoring tracks for the ''Ridge Racer'' and ''Tekken'' series, as well as ''Drakengard''. Biography Early life In elementary schoo ...

, composer and musician *

Naohiro Takahara is a Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan's national football team. Currently, he is the manager for Okinawa SV. Club career Takahara was born in Mishima on 4 June 1979. After graduating from high school, he joined Júbil ...

, professional

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby l ...

(

Okinawa SV , commonly known as Okinawa SV (沖縄SV, ''Okinawa Esufau'') is a Japanese football club based in the cities of Tomigusuku and Uruma, which are located in Okinawa Prefecture. Okinawa plays from the 2023 season in the Japan Football League, Jap ...

, Kyushu Soccer League) *

Yoshiaki Koizumi is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer, and business executive. He is a senior executive officer at Nintendo, where he is known for his work within their ''Mario'' and ''The Legend of Zelda'' series. Since 2013, Koizumi is a ...

, videogame designer, director and producer * Tsutomu Kouno, videogame designer * Tomomi Takahashi,

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 t ...

(

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

–

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

) * Kyohei Uchida, professional

( AC Nagano Parceiro,

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

) *

Michi Takahashi Michi Takahashi (real name: Michiyo Takahashi, Christian name: Saint Mary Chiara, maiden name: Yoshimura, born July 22, 1963) is a teddy bear artist in Japan. She is well known in the teddy bear industry in the world as the pioneer teddy bear arti ...

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

artist *

Kazuma Suzuki is a Japanese stage, film, television actor, film director, fashion designer, and former model. Career During his high school years, Suzuki was scouted at Harajuku and made his debut as a model in the fashion magazine ''POPEYE''. From there h ...

, Japanese

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

, television actor, film director, fashion designer, and former model *

Mirai Aoshima is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 6-dan, and a chess player holding the title of FIDE Master. Early life Mirai Aoshima was born on February 27, 1995, in Mishima, Shizuoka. He learned how to play shogi when he was about six years ...

, Japanese

professional shogi player A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players. There are two categories of professional player ...

ranked 6-

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

and

chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pre ...

(

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

) * Shohei Matsunaga, former professional

(

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

) *

Hikari Takagi is a Japanese football player. She plays for Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara and Japan national team. Club career Takagi was born in Mishima on May 21, 1993. After graduating from Waseda University, she joined Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamiha ...

, professional

(

Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara is a women's football club who play in the WE League. Its hometown is the city of Sagamihara, Kanagawa. History In the 2016 season, Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara finished the first place in the 2016 L. League Division 2 and clinched the pr ...

, Nadeshiko League and the

Japan national football team The , nicknamed the , represents Japan in men's international football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan. Japan was not a major football force until the end of the 1980s, wi ...

) *

Hiroshi Takano (born December 14, 1964) is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist, music arranger, guitarist and producer. In the end of 1980s and early 1990s, he recorded some successful records which were produced by Todd Rundgren. He has contributed to the w ...

, Japanese singer, composer, lyricist, music arranger, guitarist and producer

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Cities in Shizuoka Prefecture