260px, Hasunuma Seaside Park 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 50,321 in 22,397 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 . The total area of the city is .

Geography

Sanmu is located in the northeastern part of Chiba prefecture, about from the prefectural capital of Chiba and about from the center of Tokyo. It is included in the urban employment area of Tokyo metropolis. Most of the city is located in the flatlands of the Kujūkuri Plain, which runs from the center to the south of

Kujūkuri Beach is a sandy beach that occupies much of the northeast coast of the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The beach is approximately long, making it the second longest beach in Japan. Kujūkuri Beach is a popular swimming and surfing dest ...

, one of Japan's leading sandy beaches, and faces the Pacific Ocean for about .

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture *

Tōgane is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 57,780 in 26,907 households and a population density of 650 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Tōgane is home to the ''Kurenai-kai'' Sch ...

* Yachimata *

Tomisato file:Gas holder tomisato.JPG, 260px, Chiba Gas LNG storage tank in Tomisato is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 49,914 in 23,753 households and a population density of 930 perso ...

* Kujūkuri * Shibayama * Yokoshibahikari

Climate

Sanmu has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sanmu is 14.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1550 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sanmu peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

History

The area of Sanmu was part of ancient

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 ...

. The city of Sanmu was established on March 27, 2006, from the merger of the towns of

Sanbu is a district located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of January 2013, the district had a population of 49,488 and a population density of 369 persons per km2. The total area is . Towns and villages * Kujūkuri * Shibayama * Yokoshibahikari Eleva ...

Matsuo Matsuo may refer to: Places * Matsuo, Chiba * Matsuo, Iwate *Mount Matsuo *Matsuo Station (disambiguation) * Siege of Matsuo *Matsuo mine , was an iron and sulphur mine located in the village of Matsuo, Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku region of n ...

and Narutō, and the village of Hasunuma (all from Sanbu District). The ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

'' for the city name are the same as for the former town of Sanbu, but is pronounced differently. Sanmu was damaged by a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

as a result of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

, with 43 buildings destroyed and 438 buildings partially destroyed, but with only one fatality.

Government

Sanmu 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 20 members. Sanmu 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

Due to mixed plantings of

Japanese red pine ''Pinus densiflora'', also called the Japanese red pine, the Japanese pine, or Korean red pine, is a species of pine tree native to East Asia. Distribution and habitat ''P. densiflora'' has a home range that includes Japan, the Korean Peninsula, ...

Japanese cypress ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and orname ...

, and

Japanese cedar ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L ...

, Sanmu was a center of wood production until 1923 at the end of the Taishō period. Many in the town remain active in the

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...

and carpentry trade.

Small-scale agriculture A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

in Sanmu produces a variety of fruits and vegetables, but the town is noted for carrots,

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

s. The town also attracts tourists to its numerous strawberry farms. Sanmu serves as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for nearby Chiba and Tokyo, and housing development continues in the city.

Education

Sanmu has 13 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education

Transportation

Railway

JR East –

Sōbu Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It connects Tokyo with the east coast of Chiba Prefecture, passing through the cities of Funabashi, Chiba, and Chōshi. Its name derives from the ol ...

* - -

JR East –

Tōgane Line The is a railway line in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Ōami Station in the city of Ōamishirasato and Narutō Station in the city of Sanmu. Services Some trains run from t ...

Highway

* * * *

Noted people from Sanmu

Itō Sachio was the pen-name of , a Japanese ''tanka'' poet and novelist active during the Meiji period of Japan. Biography Itō was born in what is now Sanmu city, Chiba prefecture, as the younger son to a farming family. He attended the ''Meiji Hōritsu ...

, Writer *

Kumiko Asō , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress. She is also a model and has participated in several commercials. Career In 1995, Asō made her film debut in ''Bad Guy Beach''. With her role in the 1998 film '' Dr. Akagi'', she receive ...

, actress * Aoi Yuki, actress

Gallery

File:Kujyūkuri-Beach01.JPG, Aerial view of Sanmu and

File:Chiba-r111.JPG, Street view of Sanmu File:Naruto Sta. reform.jpg,

Narutō Station a junction passenger railway station in the city of Sanmu, Chiba Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Narutō Station is served by the Sōbu Main Line and Tōgane Line, and is located 76.9 km from the weste ...

File:Choshoji hondo 2.jpg,

Hondō Main hall is the building within a Japanese Buddhist temple compound ('' garan'') which enshrines the main object of veneration.Kōjien Japanese dictionary Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, this single English t ...

of Fudō-in Chōshō-ji File:Choshoji niomon.jpg,

Niōmon is the Japanese name of a Buddhist temple gate guarded by two wooden warriors called Niō (lit. Two Kings). The gate is called Heng Ha Er Jiang (哼哈二将) in China and Geumgangmun (금강문) in Korea. The two statues are inside the two pos ...

of Fudō-in Chōshō-ji

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan