270px, ruins of Ōno Castle is an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

located in

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

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 ...

. , 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 102,818 in 46689 households, 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 3800 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Ōnojō is located in west-central Fukuoka Prefecture. The city area is long and narrow in the shape of a gourd, and the width of the city center is only about 1 km. It is located to the southeast of Fukuoka City and is a

commuter town 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 the city. The northern and southern parts of the city have mountainous terrain, but are home to new and old residential areas. The Ushikubi River originates from the Ushikubi Dam on Mt. Ushikubiyama in the southern part of the city, and curves through the city limits until it joins the Mikasa River, which runs beside the Shimo-Ori housing complex.

Duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

s, koi,

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

s and

Japanese wagtail The Japanese wagtail (''Motacilla grandis'') is a species of bird in the pipit and wagtail family Motacillidae. It is native to Japan and Korea. Description The Japanese wagtail is about 20 cm long. The sexes look similar; they have white un ...

s can be seen in or around the river, depending on the season.

Neighboring municipalities

Fukuoka Prefecture * Chikushino * Dazaifu * Fukuoka * Kasuga * Nakagawa * Umi

Climate

Ōnojō has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ōnojō is 14.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1766 mm with September as the wettest month.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōnojō is as shown below

History

The area of Ōnojō is located in former

Chikuzen Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of north and western Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikuzen bordered on Hizen to the east, and Buzen east, and Bungo to the southeast. Its abbreviated form name was (a ...

and has had strong ties with Hakata and Dazaifu since ancient times. The city takes its name from Ōno Castlem which was built in the

Asuka Period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

to protect Daizaifu against possible invasion by

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

and

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. Nearby Mizuki Castle also served the same purpose. The city area also has many other ruins, including the Ushikubi Sue Ware Kiln Site, from a time when this area was a major producer of

Sue ware was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and orig ...

pottery. 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 ...

, it was largely under the control of

Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagamasa, the 1st daimyo of Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagahiro, the 11th next to last daimyo of Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagatomo, final daimyo of Fukuoka Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was assoc ...

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

, the village of Ōno was established on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on October 10, 1951 and changed its name to Ōnojō on being raised to city status on April 1, 1972.

Government

Ōnojō 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 council of 20 members. Ōnojō contributes two members to the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Fukuoka 5th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Ōnojō is largely a commuter town for Fukuoka City, with almost half the full-time residents of the city commuting to work or school within Fukuoka City, daily. The city also is a commercial center and has light manufacturing. At the beginning of the 21st century the area has seen continued

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

partly due to good infrastructure, unlike more rural parts of the prefecture. The retailers

Seiyu Group , or , is a Japanese group of supermarkets, shopping centers and department stores, headquartered in Akabane (赤羽), Kita, Tokyo.

and

Aeon The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...

have stores in the area, as do several conbini chains. Central Ōnojō is on the

flight path In the United States, airways or air routes are defined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in two ways: "VOR Federal airways and Low/Medium Frequency (L/MF) (Colored) Federal airways" These are designated routes which aeroplanes f ...

Fukuoka airport — formerly known as Itazuke Air Base — is an international airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. The facility has two runways and covers 355 hectares (877 acres) of land. Fukuoka Airport is the principal a ...

, so

noise pollution Noise pollution, or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise or sound with potential harmful effects on humans and animals. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport and propagation systems.Senate Publi ...

can be a problem.

Education

Ōnojō has ten public elementary schools and five public junior high schools operated by the city government and one public high schools operated by the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school.

Kyushu University , abbreviated to , is a public research university located in Fukuoka, Japan, on the island of Kyushu. Founded in 1911 as the fourth Imperial University in Japan, it has been recognised as a leading institution of higher education and resear ...

's Gratduate School is located in the city.

Transportation

Railways

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Kagoshima Main Line The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) between Mojiko Station, Mojikō in Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu. Until March 13, 2004, it ...

: -

Nishitetsu The , also called or NNR, is one of Japan's "Big 16" private railroad companies. With headquarters in Fukuoka, it operates local and highway buses, supermarkets, real estate and travel agencies, as well as railways in Fukuoka Prefecture. It ...

Nishitetsu Tenjin Ōmuta Line The is a railway line in Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan. It is the main line of the private railway company Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu). The line connects Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) StationUntil December 31, 2000, Nishitetsu Fukuo ...

* -

Highways

Kyushu Expressway *

Local attractions

* Ōno Castle ruins, Special National Historic Site * Mizuki Castle ruins, Special National Historic Site * Ushikubi Sue Ware Kiln Site, National Historic Site *The Ōnojō Cocoro-no-furusato-kan City Museum (大野城心のふるさと館) opened on July 21, 2018. Exhibiting materials relating to the city's natural history, archaeology, and history, it is successor of the Ōnojō Museum of History (大野城市歴史資料展示室), which opened in 1990. *In Kamiori there is an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

with an extensive collection of

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

themed art. *There is a Daimonji festival in September.

Notable people from Ōnojō

* Aska, musician * Yuichi Honda, baseball player

References

External links

Ōnojō City official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onojo, Fukuoka Cities in Fukuoka Prefecture