is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. As of October 31, 2018, the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 161,539, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 782 persons per km² in 65,931 households. The total area of the city was . Ōgaki was the final destination for the haiku poet

Matsuo Bashō ; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as th ...

on one of his long journeys as recounted in his book ''

Oku no Hosomichi , translated as ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and ''The Narrow Road to the Interior'', is a major work of ''haibun'' by the List of Japanese language poets, Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, considered one of the major texts of Japanese liter ...

''. Every November the city holds a Bashō Festival.

Geography

Ōgaki is located in the northwest area of the Nōbi Plain in Gifu Prefecture and is known as being the most centrally-located city in Japan. As a result of its 2006 merger with the town of Kamiishizu (from Yōrō District), and the town of Sunomata (from Anpachi District), the city consists of three disconnected regions, with Sunomata in the east, the original Ōgaki in the center, and Kamiishizu in the southwest. The main river flowing through the city is the

Ibi River The is a tributary of the Kiso River located in Gifu Prefecture, Gifu and Mie Prefectures in Japan. Along with the Nagara River, Nagara and Kiso rivers, the Ibi is the third of the Kiso Three Rivers of the Nōbi Plain. It is one of Japan's first ...

; however, the Nagara River forms the border between Ōgaki and the neighboring cities of

and Hashima.

Neighbouring municipalities

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

** Anpachi **

** Gōdo ** Hashima ** Ikeda ** Mizuho ** Sekigahara ** Tarui ** Wanouchi ** Yōrō *

Mie Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 an ...

** Inabe *

Shiga Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

** Maibara ** Taga

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot, humid summers, and mild winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Ōgaki is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

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

History

The area around Ōgaki was part of traditional

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

. During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the area developed as 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, ...

for Ōgaki Domain under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. In the post-

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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

cadastral reforms, the town of Ogaki was established within Anpachi District, Gifu Prefecture with the creation of the modern municipalities system on July 1, 1889. It was raised to city status on April 1, 1918. The city suffered severe flooding during the 1934 Muroto typhoon, and was largely destroyed in six air raids in 1945.

Municipal timeline

* April 1918: Gained city status * April 1928: Merged with parts of the village of Kitakuise, Anpachi District (specifically the localities of Kido, Minamiisshiki, Kasagi, Kasanui and Gama) * December 1934: Merged with village of Minamikuise, Anpachi District * June 1935: Merged with village of Tagishima, Anpachi District * June 1936: Merged with village of Yasui, Anpachi District * February 1940: Merged with villages of Urū and Shizusato, Fuwa District * October 1947: Merged with villages of Ayasato, Fuwa District, and Sumoto, Anpachi District * June 1948: Merged with village of Asakusa, Anpachi District * October 1948: Merged with village of Kawanami and the Maze part of Maki, Anpachi District * April 1949: Merged with village of Nakagawa, Anpachi District * April 1951: Merged with village of Wagō, Anpachi District * June 1952: Merged with village of Mitsukoshi, Anpachi District * October 1954: Merged with village of Arasaki, Fuwa District * September 1967: Merged with town of Akasaka, Fuwa District * April 1988: Established city constitution * March 27, 2006: Merged with towns of Kamiishizu, Yōrō District, and Sunomata, Anpachi District

Government

Ōgaki 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city legislature of 22 members.

Economy

Ibiden, a global electronic components manufacturer, is headquartered in the city.

Education

Universities and colleges

Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences , IAMAS is a public university at Ōgaki, Gifu, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends fr ...

(IAMAS) * Gifu Keizai University * Ogaki Women's College *Institute for Fashion Studies (IFS) *Ogaki Nursing College (moved to Ogaki Medical Association March 31, 2006) *Nihon Information Processing College *Nihon General Business College *Nihon-Chūō Nursing College Ogaki *Nihon-Chūō Gakuen Culinary College

Primary and secondary education

Ōgaki has 22 public elementary schools and ten public middle schools operated by the city government and one private middle school. The city has nine public high school operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education, and two private high schools. The prefecture also operates one special education school. *Ogaki Kita Senior High School *Ogaki Higashi Senior High School *Ogaki Minami Senior High School *Ogaki Nishi Senior High School *Ogaki Technical High School *Ogaki-Shogyo Business High School *Nihon University Ogaki Senior High School *Hirano Gakuen *Ogaki Sakura High School *Ogaki School for Handicapped (primary through senior high)

International schools

* Escola Brasileira Prof. Kawase - Brazilian primary schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.

Transportation

Railway

* -

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 occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...

Tōkaidō Main Line The Tōkaidō Main Line () is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo Station, Tokyo and Kōbe St ...

** - - * Tarutetsu logomark

Tarumi Railway - Tarumi Railway Tarumi Line ** - * Yoro Railway Logo

Yōrō Railway Yōrō Line The is a rail transport, railway line of a Japanese private railway operator . The line traverses the northeastern side of the Yōrō Mountains and connects Kuwana Station in Kuwana, Mie, Kuwana, Mie Prefecture and Ibi Station in Ibigawa, Gifu, ...

** - - - - - - *Seino Railway (freight railway) **Seino Ichihashi Line: Mino Akasaka Station, Otomezaka Station, Saruiwa Station, Ichihashi Station **Seino Hirui Line: Mino Akasaka Station, Mino Okubo Station, Hirui Station

Highway

* 22px Meishin Expressway- Ogaki IC * 22px Tōkai-Kanjō Expressway - Ogaki-nishi IC * * * *

Sister cities

Ōgaki is twinned with: * Glen Eira, Victoria, Australia *

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

, China * Hioki,

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

, Japan

Friendship cities

* Beaverton,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States *

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

Gyeongsangnam-do South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple that ...

, South Korea * Eugene,

, United States *

, Japan *

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, Belgium *

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany

Local attractions

* Akasaka-juku, the 56th

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

Nakasendō The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected the ''de facto'' ...

* Basho's

Haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

Journey Memorial *

Kokubun-ji The are Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). The official name for each temple was Konkomyo Shitenno Gokoku-ji (Konkōmyō Shitennō ...

ruins * Ōgaki Castle *Softopia Japan *Sumiyoshi Lighthouse * Sunomata Castle

Notable people

*, kendo teacher *, Japanese businessman * Shigeki Hosokawa, actor * Yoshiyuki Ishihara, professional baseball player * Mirai Navrátil, Czech singer * Yoshitoki Ōima, manga artist * Shōta Ōno, professional baseball player *, professional wrestler * Yasufumi Tanahashi, politician * Ikutaro Tokoro, patriot in the closing days of

*, architect known for the construction and design of

National Diet Building The is the building where both houses of the National Diet, National Diet of Japan meet. It is located at Nagatachō, Tokyo, Nagatachō 1-chome 7–1, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Sessions of the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives ta ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogaki, Gifu Cities in Gifu Prefecture