290px, Tengu fall in the Kikuchi River 290px, Kikuchi Castle ruins 290px, Rice fields in Kikuchi 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

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

on the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

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 ...

.Deal, William E. (2005)
''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 74
, 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 46,684 in 20,392 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 170 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kikuchi is located about 25 kilometers northeast of Kumamoto City, upstream of the Kikuchi River that flows through the northern part of Kumamoto Prefecture, and the urban center in the southwest is at the northeastern edge of the Kumamoto Plain. The city is centered around Kumafu, the home base of the Kikuchi clan, which descended from the Dazaifu government officials. The eastern part is covered with natural broadleaf trees from the outer rim of

Mount Aso or Aso Volcano is the largest active volcano in Japan and among the largest in the world. Common use relates often only to the somma volcano in the centre of Aso Caldera. It stands in Aso Kujū National Park in Kumamoto Prefecture, on the i ...

Neighboring municipalities

Kumamoto Prefecture * Aso * Kōshi *

Kumamoto is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a populat ...

* Ōzu * Yamaga Oita Prefecture * Hita

Climate

Kikuchi 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 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'') with hot, humid summers and cool winters. There is significant precipitation throughout the year, especially during June and July. The average annual temperature in Kikuchi is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Kikuchi was on 19 July 2018; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kikuchi in 2020 is 46,416 people.

History

The area of Kikuchi was part of ancient

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

, and the location of Kikuchi Castle, an

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 ...

mountain fortification. The local Kikuchi clan was a major supporter of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-cho period. 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 part of the holdings of

Kumamoto Domain The , which was in existence from 1600 to 1871, had a significant influence in the region. Initially, it controlled its vast territory of 520,000 koku, which later expanded to 540,000 koku after the division of the 8th generation territory and the e ...

. 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 town of Kumafu and village of Kikuchi were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On September 1, 1956, the town of Kumafu and the villages of Kikuchi, Kawahara, Suigen, Ryumon, Hasama, Hanabusa, and Tozaki merged to form the town of Kikuchi. Kikuchi was raised to city status on August 1, 1958. On March 22, 2005, Kikuchi absorbed the towns of Shichijo and Shisui, and the village of Kyokushi (all from Kikuchi District).

Government

Kikuchi 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. Kikuchi contributes one member to the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Kumamoto 3rd 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

Kikuchi has been a rice-producing area since the Edo period, and its brand rice has one first place in numerous national contests. In addition, melons, burdock, shiitake mushrooms, and other crops are cultivated, and livestock farming are also thriving and the city is the largest dairy farming area in western Japan. In terms of industry, the city has many automobile and electronics-related factories. Tourism, centered around its hot spring resorts has flourished since in the 1950s.

Education

Kikuchi has ten public elementary schools and 5 public junior high schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Kumamoto Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school.

Transportation

Railways

Kikuchi has not had any passenger railway service since the reduction in services of the Kumamoto Electric Railway Kikuchi Line in 1986. The nearest train stations are Miyoshi Station or Higo-Ōzu Station

Highways

* * *

Sister cities

Kikuchi is twinned with: * Nishimera, Miyazaki, Japan *

Gimje Gimje (; ) is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. History The Gimje area is located on the "great plains" of Korea and has been cultivated since ancient times. Nations of early date ascended in the year 200. The Baekje Kingdom invaded a ...

Jeollabuk-do North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of Sout ...

, South Korea, since 1985 *

Sishui County Sishui County () is a county of southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is the easternmost county-level division of Jining Jining () is a former capital of Shandong. Is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

, China, since 1994 *

Tōno, Iwate is a city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 26,378, and a population density of 31.6 persons per km2 in 10,759 households. The total area of the city is . Tōno is known as "The City of Folklore" for its rura ...

, Japan, since 1998 *

Cheongwon County Cheongwon County () was a county in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It was dissolved on July 1, 2014 and consolidated to Cheongju. Government The Korea Food and Drug Administration (later Ministry of Food and Drug Safety), and K ...

Chungcheongbuk-do North Chungcheong Province (), also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Hoseo region on the south-centre of the Korean Peninsula. No ...

, South Korea, since 2005

Notable people from Kikuchi

* Shigeru Chiba, actor

Local attractions

* Kikuchi Shrine

References

External links

*
Kikuchi City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Kumamoto Prefecture Populated places established in 1958 1958 establishments in Japan Kikuchi, Kumamoto