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 the western portion of

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

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 47,714 in 18,775 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 510 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is known for production of

green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

. The city's slogan is "Green for the Next Generation".

Geography

Kikugawa is situated on the Makinohara Plateau of east-central Shizuoka. The Kikugawa River flows through the city. The area enjoys a warm

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring ...

with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters, and is subject to frequent fogs.

Surrounding municipalities

Shizuoka Prefecture * Kakegawa * Makinohara * Omaezaki * Shimada

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kikugawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Kikugawa has been relatively steady over the past 30 years.

Climate

The city has a climate 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 Kikugawa is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

History

With the establishment of the modern municipalities system of the early

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 ...

on April 1, 1889, the area around modern Kikugawa was consolidated into eleven villages within Kitō District, Shizuoka Prefecture from 38 hamlets within former

Tōtōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa Province, Mikawa, Suruga Province, S ...

. Kikugawa Station on 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 ...

train between Shizuoka and

Hamamatsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the t ...

opened on April 16, 1889 leading to an influx of population and development. Kitō District merged with neighboring Sano District to form Ogasa District, Shizuoka in 1896. Through the Taishō and

Shōwa period Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

s, Kikugawa developed as a center of

production and the tea trade. Kikugawa Town was created on January 1, 1954 through the merger of former Horinouchi Town with four surrounding villages. The modern city of Kikugawa was established on January 17, 2005, from the merger of the former town of Kikugawa, absorbing the town of Ogasa (both from Ogasa District).

Government

Kikugawa 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 17 members. The city contributes one member to the Shizuoka Prefectural Assembly.

Economy

The economy of Kikugawa is primarily agricultural, with major crops including green tea,

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

, cantelope and

aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering plant, flowering succulent plant, succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Acc ...

. Light industries include agricultural equipment manufacturing and automobile components manufacturing.

Education

Kikugawa has nine public elementary schools and three public junior high schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. The city also have one private junior high school and two private high schools. The prefecture also operates a vocational school, the Shizuoka Prefectural Agriculture and Forestry College. Kikugawa has three international schools: * Centro Educacional Sorriso de Criança - Brazilian primary school
Colégio Nippo-Objetivo de Kikugawa (Centro de Ensino Nippo-Brasileiro)
- Brazilian primary schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015. * Escola Brasileira Sol Nascente - Brazilian primary school

Transportation

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, ...

** Kikugawa Station

Highway

* Tōmei Expressway Kikugawa Interchange *

Local attractions

* Kikugawa fortification ruins, a group of Sengoku-period ruins, National Historic Site *Kuroda Daikan Yashiki, an Important Cultural Property

Notable people from Kikugawa

Yū Koyama is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Shizuoka Prefectural Shimada Commercial High School he moved to Tokyo and in 1968 took a job with Saito Productions, the company run by Takao Saitō. In 1971 he worked with Kazuo Koike at Studio ...

- manga artist * Miuna Saito - pop singer * Kaduya Shinba - politician

References

External links

Kikugawa City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Shizuoka Prefecture Kikugawa, Shizuoka