270px, Aerial view of SukumoBay 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 Kōchi Prefecture,

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 n ...

. , 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 19,292 in 9966 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 67 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Sukumo is located in far western Kochi Prefecture on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

. The islands of Okinoshima and Urugushima, the only inhabited islands within Kochi prefecture and located within the city limits. Parts of the city are within the borders of the

Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park is a national park at the southwestern tip of the island of Shikoku, Japan. The park is spread over small areas on the western side of Shikoku between Ehime and Kōchi prefectures. The main feature of the park is Cape Ashizuri, the southernmo ...

Neighbouring municipalities

Kōchi Prefecture * Tosashimizu * Shimanto City * Ōtsuki * Mihara Ehime Prefecture * Uwjima *

Ainan 270px, Stone walls of Sotodomari hamlet is a town in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 19,733 in 10054 households, and a population density of 83 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Aina ...

Climate

Sukumo 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, humid summers and cool winters. There is significant precipitation throughout the year, especially during June and July. The average annual temperature in Sukumo is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Sukumo was on 15 August 2020; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sukumo in 2020 is 19,033 people. Sukumo has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

As with all of Kōchi Prefecture, the area of Sukumo was part of ancient

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syst ...

. 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 character ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Tosa Domain The was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its history by ...

ruled by the

Yamauchi clan The Yamauchi clan (山内氏) were a family of rulers over what was then the Tosa Province which spanned the southern half of Shikoku island. The province was given to the family in 1600 after Yamauchi Kazutoyo led troops under Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

from their seat at

Kōchi Castle is an Edo Period Japanese castle in the city of Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. It is located at Otakayama hill, at the center of Kōchi city, which in turn is located at the center of the Kōchi Plain, the most prosperous area of forme ...

, and Sukumo itself was a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, a ...

centered on an outlying fortification of the domain. Following 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 ...

, the village of Sukumo within

Hata District, Kōchi is a district located in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. As of the Shimanto merger but with 2003 population statistics, the district has an estimated population of 22,402 and a density of 59.4 persons per km2. The total area is 376.77 km2. Town ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was elevated to town status on December 20, 1899. On March 31, 1954, Tsukumo merged with the neighboring town of Kozukuchi and the villages of Hashigama, Hirata, Yamana, and Okinoshima to form the city of Tsukumo

Government

Sukumo 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. Sukumo, together with Ōtsuki and Mihara contributes two members to the Kōchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Kōchi 2nd district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

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

Sukumo is a regional commercial center, with a local economy is dominated by agriculture, forestry and commercial fishing.

Education

Sukumo City has eight public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Kōchi Prefectural Board of Education. Kōchi Prefecture and Ehime Prefecture also jointly one middle and one high school.

Transportation

Railway

Tosa Kuroshio Railway The is a third-sector railway company in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. The name comes from the former Tosa Province and the Kuroshio Current. The company was founded in 1986, and operates three lines: a former Japanese National Railways (JNR) line ...

Sukumo Line * - - -

Highway

* *

Local attractions

* Enkōji, the 39th temple in the

Shikoku Pilgrimage The or is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (''Kōbō Daishi'') on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long histor ...

* Sukumo Shell Mound, a National Historic Site

Noted people from Sukumo

Azusa Ono Azusa Ono (小野梓, Ono Azusa?; March 10, 1852 – January 11, 1886), was a Japanese intellectual, jurist and politician during the Meiji era. He was an advisor to Ōkuma Shigenobu and participated in debates on reforms and the drafting of a fi ...

, intellectual, jurist and politician during the Meiji era. * Hayashi Yūzō, politician and cabinet minister in the pre-war Empire of Japan.

Gallery

File:Sukumo station.JPG, Sukumo station File:Sukumo castle ishigaki.JPG, Stone wall of Sukumo castle File:Sukumo shogin shinyokumiai.jpg, Sukumo

Credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provis ...

File:Enkouji 01.JPG, Enkō-ji

References

External links

*
Sukumo City official website

Sukumo City official website
Cities in Kōchi Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Sukumo, Kōchi {{Kochi-geo-stub