The is a peninsula in southern

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

, central

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

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 ...

Geography

It has an approximate length of east-west, separating Mikawa Bay (to the north) from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

to the south, with

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie prefecture, Mie and Aichi prefecture, 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 small ...

lying to its west. It faces the

Chita Peninsula The Chita Peninsula (知多半島 ''Chita Hantō'') is a peninsula to the south of Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It runs approximately north-south. To the west is Ise Bay, while to the east it encloses Mikawa Bay. It faces the Atsu ...

, to the northwest, across the entrance to Mikawa Bay. It has a width ranging from to , and its highest point is . Its total area is approximately 200 square kilometers. Atsumi Peninsula is noted for its temperate climate, due to the warm

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black Current or is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

offshore. The rock formations at Cape Irago, its western tip, and its beaches are part of the Mikawa Wan Quasi-National Park. Administratively, almost all of the peninsula falls within the city of Tahara, with its eastern "neck" within the city of

Toyohashi is a Cities of Japan, city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefec ...

History

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

excavation of the Yoshigo Shell Midden and sites has provided evidence for human habitation of Atsumi Peninsula during the Jomon Period. During Japan's feudal period, Atsumi Peninsula was the majority of land under the Tahara Domain. After the fall of 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 ...

during the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, the peninsula became the heart of Atsumi District, with over 30 autonomous towns and villages. From the late 19th to the mid-20th century, most towns merged with neighbors or were consolidated by the government, until there were only two towns left: Atsumi in the west, which included Cape Irago, and the city of Tahara, to the east, which had the only railroad on the peninsula and shared a border with the larger city of

. In 2005, was absorbed into the city of Tahara, which now occupies the majority of the peninsula, with a small portion of the eastern end within the borders of Toyohashi.

References

*''Japan:An Illustrated Encyclopedia''. Kodansha (1993) Peninsulas of Japan Tourist attractions in Aichi Prefecture Landforms of Aichi Prefecture {{Aichi-geo-stub