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 ...

in western

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hiro ...

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 ...

, facing the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

and making up part of the boundary of Lake Nakaumi. It is adjacent to

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamagu ...

and across the lake from its capital of

Matsue is the capital city of Shimane Prefecture, Japan, located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 202,008 (February 1, 2021) following the merger with Higashiizumo from Yatsuka District. Matsue is located ...

. It is the prefecture's second largest city after Tottori, and forms a commercial center of the western part of this prefecture. As of October 1, 2017, the city has 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 148,720 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 1,100 persons per km². The total area is 132.21 km². It is home to the Yonago City Museum of Art. Kaike Onsen, which sits along the

Miho Bay is a bay on the north coast of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The bay faces the Sea of Japan and within the borders of Tottori Prefecture. Miho bay is bounded to the west by Yumigahama Peninsula, which forms the western border wit ...

and is part of Yonago, is said to be the birthplace of the triathlon in Japan. Since the city has begun to develop into a trade center of note, it has acquired the nickname ''Osaka in San-in''.

Etymology

The name of Yonago in the Japanese language is formed from two ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

'' characters. The first, , means "rice", and the second, means "child".

History

Yonago was first formally organized as a town in October 1888, but had been settled for some time prior. The town was the site of a post office founded in 1872, a prison founded in 1877, and a courthouse established in 1884. Railway service was established in 1902. The current city was administratively founded on April 1, 1927, and absorbed the town of Yodoe (from Saihaku District) on March 31, 2005.

Economy

Over 70% of the Yonago workforce is employed in the service sector.

Oji Paper is a Japanese manufacturer of paper products. In 2012 the company was the third largest company in the global forest, paper and packaging industry. The company's stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the stock is constituent of the Ni ...

has a production facility in Yonago. The city is also home to Sharp Yonago, which produces

Sharp Sharp or SHARP may refer to: Acronyms * SHARP (helmet ratings) (Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme), a British motorcycle helmet safety rating scheme * Self Help Addiction Recovery Program, a charitable organisation founded in 199 ...

-brand flat screen televisions.

Transportation

Yonago has always been an important crossing point of several routes in the area. Yonago Station serves three railway lines: the Sakai Line, Habuki Line, and the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and i ...

Sanin Main Line. The city also has a seaport to the

Oki Islands The is an archipelago in the Sea of Japan, the islands of which are administratively part of Oki District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The islands have a total area of . Only four of the around 180 islands are permanently inhabited. Much of the ...

Miho-Yonago Airport Miho Airbase (美保飛行場) , also known as Yonago Airport is a Japan Air Defense Force (JASDF) base located 11 km northwest of Yonago in Tottori Prefecture. It is owned and operated by JASDF and shares the runway with civil activities ...

, located in a neighboring city of

Sakaiminato is a city in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. In 2016, it had an estimated population of 33,888. History An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Sakai as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. Sakaiminato was fou ...

, serves the area. There are currently flights to and from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

Haneda Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

History

The

Amago clan Amago (尼子) is a Japanese word meaning "child of a nun", and has various other uses: People * Amago clan, a Japanese daimyō clan * Amago Haruhisa (1514–1561), Japanese daimyō * Amago Katsuhisa (1553–1578), Japanese daimyō * Amago Kuni ...

, ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

s'' of the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, constructed Yonago Castle in the area at the beginning of the 17th century. 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 ...

, the castle was kept by a

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant ...

who served the

Ikeda clan was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021) of the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Yasumasa, the fourth generation descending from Yorimitsu, and younger brother of Minamoto no Yorimasa (1104-1180), was the first to ...

of nearby

Tottori Castle was a Japanese castle located in Tottori, Tottori Prefecture. History Tottori Castle was constructed in Inaba Province during the Sengoku period as a ''yamashiro'' ("mountain castle") built into the mountain itself, using natural obstacles and ...

Climate

Yonago 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, with July and September being particularly wet months.

Mayor of town era (1889 to 1927)

*Haruhiko Endo (遠藤春彦) December 1889 to April 1892 *Yajiro Miyoshi (三好八次郎) May 1892 to December 1892 *Seitaro Otsuka (大塚誠太郎) December 1892 to December 1896 *Zenhei Sumida (住田善平) December 1896 to December 1900 *Genjiro Kinemura (杵村源次郎) December 1900 to September 1901 *Hayami Watanabe (渡辺駛水) October 1901 to October 1909 *Kenji Hatotani (鳩谷兼次) December 1909 to December 1913 *Tanji Niwa (丹羽旦次) December 1913 to December 1921 *Tsunehiko Nishio (西尾常彦) April 1922 to March 1927

Mayor of city era (1927 to present)

*Tsunehiko Nishio April 1927 to July 1943 *Kanjo Saito (斎藤干城) August 1943 to December 1945 *Kanji Nosaka (野坂寛治) December 1945 to April 1963 *Hiromichi Kawai (河合弘道) April 1963 to April 1983 *Toru Matsumoto (松本　徹) April 1983 to April 1991 *Takatomo Morita (森田隆朝) April 1991 to April 2003 *Yasuo Nosaka (野坂康夫) April 2003 to April 2017 *Takashi Igi (伊木隆司) April 2017 to present

Visitor Attractions

* Yonago Castle - A castle ruin, one of the

Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles The is a list of 100 castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it ...

. * Odaka Castle - A castle ruin in the Sengoku period *

Ōgamiyama Shrine image:Ogamijinja02.jpg, 250px, Saino Kawara is a Shinto Shrines, shrine, in Daisen, Tottori, Daisen, Tottori Prefecture, Tottori, Japan. A number of its structures have been designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan, Important Cultural P ...

* Kami-yodo abandoned temple ruin. Major famous for ancient ruin in Sanin area

Notable people from Yonago

Sena Irie is a Japanese amateur boxer who won a gold medal in the inaugural women's featherweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. Biography Irie was born in Yonago, Japan in ...

, Japanese boxer

Gallery

File:Sanin history of museum01s4592.jpg, San'in Historical Museum File:Yonago mizudorikoen.jpg, Yonago Waterbirds Sanctuary File:Castle of candy.JPG, Kotobuki Castle of Sweets, in the Yodoe area, is modeled after Yonago Castle File:Yonago Castle, honmaru-1.jpg, Stone wall of Yonago Castle

References

External links

Yonago Tourist Association
(in Japanese) * {{Authority control Populated coastal places in Japan Cities in Tottori Prefecture Port settlements in Japan