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 ...

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefectur ...

, 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 usi ...

of 47,272 in 22,599 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 RosenberPopu ...

of 270 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Shima hosted the 2016 G7 Summit.

Geography

Shima is located on the southern half of Shima Peninsula in far eastern Mie Prefecture, facing

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie and Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the smaller Mikawa Bay by two channels: ...

of the Pacific Ocean. The city has a complicated rias coast with two large inlets: Matoya Bay and Ago Bay. Matoya Bay is famous for

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

cultivation and Ago Bay is famous for

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

cultivation. Both are sightseeing spots and all of the city is within the borders of the Ise-Shima National Park. Shima has three inhabited islands; Watakano Island, Kashiko Island and Masaki Island. Watakano Island is located in Matoya Bay, and the others are in Ago Bay.

Neighboring municipalities

Mie Prefecture *

Ise Ise may refer to: Places *Ise, Mie, a city in Japan ** Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie * Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria * Ise, Norway, a village in Norway * Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan * River Ise, a tributary of ...

* Toba * Minamiise

Climate

Shima 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 to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Shima is 16.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1965 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Shima has decreased rapidly over the past 20 years.

History

All of Shima was within the borders of ancient Shima Province. With the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the town of Waga and villages of Katada, Fuseda, Koshiga, and Goza were established. The town of Shima was established on December 1, 1954 by ten merger of these municipalities. Shima was raised to city status on October 1, 2004, from the merger of the former town of Shima with the towns of Ago, Daiō, Hamajima and Isobe (all from Shima District). Recently there has been anger from its famous divers aimed at its sexist new tourist mascot.

Government

Shima 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. Shima contributes two members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Mie 4th district of the lower house 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 paral ...

Economy

Commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must oft ...

and tourism play important roles in the local economy.

Education

Shima has seven public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Mie Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private high school.

Transportation

Railway

20px

Kintetsu Railway , referred to as , is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railway network connects Osaka, Nara, Ky ...

- Shima Line * - - - - - - - -

Highways

* Iseshima Skyline * *

Local attractions

Two of Japan's fifteen climbable lighthouses are located in Shima: Anorisaki and Daiosaki. Each was featured in the location shooting of two prominent films of the 1950's, Anorisaki in Kinoshita's Times of Joy and Sorrow (1957) and Daiosaki in Ozu's Floating Weeds (1959).

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Mie Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan