is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Chita District,

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 ...

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 ...

. On 31 April 2023, the town 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 50,182 in 21,426 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 . This makes the town the most populous town in Aichi Prefecture, surpassing Takahama, Iwakura in population. The town is also the second most populous town in Japan, being surpassed by Fuchū, Hiroshima. The total area was .

Geography

Higashiura is located in the northern tip of

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 ...

in southern Aichi Prefecture.

Neighboring municipalities

*Aichi Prefecture ** Agui ** Chita ** Handa ** Kariya **

Ōbu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,179 in 39,382 households, and a population density of 2,739 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Ōbu has been a member of the ...

** Takahama ** Tōkai

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Higashiura has been increasing steadily over the past 70 years, hitting 50,000 in 2020. In the 2010 census, a data padding boosting the population count to 50,088 was found, and the population count was readjusted back to 49,800 population.

Climate

The town has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively 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 Higashiura is 15.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1604 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.4 °C.

History

The area around Higashiura has been settled since prehistoric times, and archaeologists have uncovered

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

shell midden A midden is an old landfill, dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bone, bones, feces, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, Lithic flake, lithics (especially debitage), and other Artifact (archaeology), ...

s dating approximately 7000 BC.

Middle ages and Early modern period

In the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the area was under the control of the

Mizuno clan The Mizuno clan, a prominent Japanese clan, held the esteemed positions of samurai and nobility. Throughout the tumultuous Sengoku period, they were the rulers of Kariya Castle in Mikawa Province, which also served as the ancestral home of Tok ...

and was the birthplace of the mother of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

. In 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 part of the holdings of

Owari Domain The Owari-Han, also known as the Owari Domain, was a significant feudal domain in Tokugawa shogunate, Japan during the Edo period. Situated in the western region of what is now Aichi Prefecture, it covered portions of Owari Province, Owari, Mino ...

Late modern period

The village of Higashiura was established on May 1, 1906 through the merger of five hamlets, Ogawa, parts of Morioka, Ishihama, Fujie, Ikuji, all within Chita District. It was elevated to town status on June 1, 1948. But later in future, they will be elevated city. The Fujie station and Owari-Ikuji station was abolished and merged to create Higashiura Station.

Contemporary history

In 1971, Higashiura changed borders with

. The “Road of Odai” finishes construction in 1994, and the first Odai Matsuri is held in the town.

Problems surrounding elevation to city status

In February 2012, after the town gave up attempting to be elevated to city status, there were doubts about potential data padding over population counts. In December 2010, there were anonymous mails prosectuting data padding to

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a Cabinet (government), cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Centr ...

. The town was preparing to be elevated to city status as their population count was about to hit 50,000 which was the criteria to be elevated to city status. The population count in the 2010

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

was 50,082. However, after re-examination by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the revised population count was 49,800 so the elevation to the city status was postponed.　Later in, in the 2015 census, the population count was 49,238, being less than the 50,000 required to be elevated into city status, so the elevation was again postponed.

Government

Higashiura 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 ...

town legislature of 16 members.

External relations

Twin towns - Sister cities

National

* Shinshiro (

Chūbu region The , Central region, or is a region in the middle of Honshū, Japan's main island. In a wide, classical definition, it encompasses nine prefectures (''ken''): Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama, and Ya ...

) **Since 1984

Economy

Higashiura is a regional commercial center and a

bedroom community 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

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Primary sector of the economy

Agriculture

*Vineyards Grapes are produced in the town since the 1960s.

Secondary sector of the economy

Manufacturing

*Automobile manufacturing

Tertiary sector of the economy

Commercial facilities

* AEON mall Higashiura * Kohnan Chita-Higashiura *Genky Higashiura **Both TSUTAYA and

EDION Corporation (short for "Exciting Discovery In One Network") is a consumer electronics retailer chain store, chain in Japan. It was formerly a holding company that operated multiple chain brands. As of 2023, EDION is the fifth largest electronics and home a ...

had a store in Higashiura, but has closed in early 2023.

Education

Higashiura has seven public elementary schools and three public junior high schools operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education.

High school

*Higashiura High School

Junior high schools

*Higashiura Junior High School *Hokubu Junior High School *Seibu Junior High School

Elementary schools

*Fujie Elementary School *Ikuji Elementary School *Ishihama-Nishi Elementary School *Kataha Elementary School *Morioka Elementary School *Ogawa Elementary School *Unosato Elementary School

Transportation

The Taketoyo Line goes through the eastern part of the town, with the National Route 366 running alongside it. Higashiura-Chita IC is located in the west of the town.

Railway

Central Japan Railway Company 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, ...

- Taketoyo Line *- - - ** The route of the

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 ...

passes through the northeast of Higashiura, but no stations are located within the town.

Highway

Chitahantō Road The (lit. Chita Peninsula Road) is a 4-laned toll road in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is managed by Aichi Prefectural Road Public Corporation. Overview A portion of the road was opened to traffic in 1970 and the entire road was completed in 197 ...

* ** Handa-Ōbu Bypass

Buses

Bus services

Chita Bus( Chita Noriai)

*Kariya-Central Japan International Airport Route **

Chubu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island (which also houses the ) in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. The airport covers about 470 hectares (1,161 acres) of land and has one runway. ...

- Ogawa - Kariya - Chiryū *Higashigaoka-Danchi Route **Tatsumigaoka - Higashigaoka - Takane *Ōbu Circle Route **West Ōbu station - Aichi Health Plaza - Gēnki No Sato/Moriokadai

U.ra.ra

Community bus which began operation in 2001. The routes in operation are Kariya, Cyōjyu, Higashigaoka, Hiraikedai. The fares are 100 yen per ride, with children under 6 years of age being able to ride for free.

Local attractions

*Odai Matsuri - held annually in April, Daimyo parades of

take place around the "Road of Odai" along the Myoutokuji river. Odaimatsuri.JPG, Odai Matsuri Kenkonin10.JPG, Kenkon-in Odai Park.JPG, Odai Park

Notable people from Higashiura

Odai no Kata Odai no Kata (於大の方, 1528–1602), also known as Dai, Daishi, and Denzûin, was a Japanese noble lady from the Sengoku period. She was the mother of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. She was the daughter of Mizuno Tadama ...

, mother of

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Aichi Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan