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

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

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 83,058 in 39,138 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 260 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Overview

The area along Tokyo Bay is in the Kimitsu district of Kisarazu Port, and it is a heavy industrial area centered around Nippon Steel (formerly Yahata Steel and Nippon Steel). The city area is mostly located along the coast around Kimitsu Station. In the inland Kururi area, the JR Kururi Line runs through, and it was a castle town of the Kururi Domain during the Edo period, with historical streets still remaining. The underground water from the Kiyosumi and Mitsuishi mountain ranges was chosen as one of the "Top 100 Famous Waters of Heisei" and is called "Living Water of Kururi." Kururi is the top producer in Japan of kallos (wetland plants) using the spring water. In the late 1960s, about 20,000 people from Kyushu moved to the area when the Yahata Steel factory opened. This is known as the "Great Migration," and Kyushu culture still remains in many parts of the region.

Geography

Kimitsu is located in the southwestern part of Chiba prefecture, about 35 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba, and 40 to 50 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The northwestern part of the city faces

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

and forms a part of the expansive Keiyo Industrial Zone. The inland area is lined with mountains in the Bōsō hills. The city area is the second largest area in Chiba prefecture after Ichihara city. Two small rivers cross Kimitsu, the Koito River and the Obitsu River.

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture *

Futtsu file:富津市役所.jpg, 260px, Futtsu City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 42,476 in 18,115 households and a population density of 210 persons per km2. The total are ...

* Ichihara * Kamogawa * Kisarazu * Ōtaki

Climate

Kimitsu 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 Kimitsu is . The average annual rainfall is with October as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kimitsu peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

History

The area of present-day Kimitsu was largely part of the Kururi Domain under 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 ...

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 ...

, centered on the ''

jōkamachi The were centres of the domains of the feudal lords in medieval Japan. The ''jōkamachi'' represented the new, concentrated military power of the daimyo in which the formerly decentralized defence resources were concentrated around a single, cent ...

'' of Kururi Castle. It was divided between Moda District and Sue District in 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 ...

cadastral reforms. Both districts became part of Kimitsu District from April 1, 1897. The village of Susaki and Yaehara were created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Kimitsu Town was founded by the merger of these villages on April 1, 1943, and expanded through annexation of two neighboring villages of Sunami and Sadamoto on April 1, 1944. The town continued to expand by annexing the towns of Kazusa and Koito and the villages of Seiwa and Obitsu on September 28, 1970. Kimitsu was elevated to city status on September 1, 1971.

About merger

Before Kimitsu City was established, Kimitsu Town went through three mergers in 1943, 1954, and 1970. Except for the 1954 merger, which was based on the Town and Village Merger Promotion Law (known as the "Great Merger of Showa"), the other two mergers had no relation to national policies. In 1943, when the first Kimitsu Town was formed, Japan was in the middle of World War II. The Yaehara Factory, a branch of the Kisarazu Naval Air Corps, was built on a large area of land across Yaehara Village and Susai Village. Because of this, there were issues like moving houses, buying farmland, and distributing food and clothes for workers. With help from the Japanese military, the two villages merged to create "Kimitsu Town." The 1970 merger was influenced by the Yahata Steel Factory (now Nippon Steel Kimitsu Works) that moved into the coastal area during the 1960s. The factory increased property tax income for Kimitsu Town. However, if the population was too small, part of the tax would go to Chiba Prefecture. To prevent this, the town merged with other nearby areas to increase the population. At first, Kisarazu City was also part of the merger talks, and a new city name, "Kimitsu-Kisarazu City," was suggested. But since Kisarazu City did not agree, the plan was dropped. On September 28, 1970, five towns and villages merged, creating the new "Kimitsu Town." After reaching the population requirements, Kimitsu Town became Kimitsu City on September 1, 1971, becoming the 25th city in Chiba Prefecture.

Government

Kimitsu 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 22 members. Kimitsu contributes two members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Chiba 12th 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

Despite its short coastline on

, the economy of Kimitsu is centered around its coastal belt of heavy industries, primarily by the large-scale

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

Nippon Steel (previously known as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal until 2019) is Japan's largest steelmaker, headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company has four business segments, which are steelmaking, engineering, chemicals, and systems solu ...

's Kimitsu Works. Kimitsu Works was established in 1965, covers , and employed 3,280 people . The Koito Fishing Port, technically located in both Kimitsu and Futtsu, is located just north of

Cape Futtsu is a cape located east of Tokyo Bay in Futtsu, Chiba, Japan. The entire area in the cape has been developed as Chiba Prefectural Futtsu Park, and has been selected as one of Japan's Top 100 White Sand and Green Pines and one of Kanto's Top 100 V ...

at the mouth of the Koito River. Entry in and out of the

fishing port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

suffers from sediment deposited by the Koito. Kazusa Akademia Park, which spans both Kimitsu and Kisarazu, was established to carry out research in biotechnology and information technology.

Education

Kimitsu has 17 public elementary schools and seven public middle schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private middle school and one private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

– Uchibō Line *

– Kururi Line * - - - - - -

Highways

* * * * *

Local attractions

* Kameyama Dam (Kameyama Lake) * Katakura Dam (Sasagawa Lake) * Kururi Castle * Mishima Dam (Mishima Lake) * Seiwa Kenmin No Mori Prefectural Park * Toyofusa Dam (Toyofusa Lake)

International relations

Sister cities

Kimitsu is twinned with the following cities. * Kamogawa, Chiba, Japan *

Uiwang Uiwang (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is one of many satellite cities that ring Seoul, making up the Seoul Capital Area. Its largest immediate urban neighbor is Anyang. The low peaks of the Gwangju Mountains (including M ...

, South Korea * Rio Claro, Brazil

Notable people from Kimitsu

* Ryo Hayami, Japanese actor ('' Kamen Rider X'') * Emi Sakura - professional wrestler * Kōki Yamashita, Japanese professional baseball player (

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current n ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

) * Hiroshi Yamato - professional wrestler

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan