270px, Kudamatsu city center 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 ...

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

, Japan. , 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 56,892 in 26829 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 640 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kudamatsu is sandwiched between the cities of Shunan and Hikari, with which it has strong ties in terms of industry, economy, and population exchange; the three cities are informally called the "Shunan District". The city includes the islands of Kasado and Furushima offshore. In the south, facing the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

, is the main industrial area and port.The northern area is increasingly a suburban residential area.

Neighbouring municipalities

Yamaguchi Prefecture * Hikari * Shūnan

Climate

Kudamatsu 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 summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is much higher in summer than in winter. The average annual temperature in Kudamatsu is . The average annual rainfall is with July 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 Kudamatsu was on 6 August 2023; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kudamatsu in 2020 is 55,887 people. Kudamatsu has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

The area of Kudamatsu was part of an ancient

Suō Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of ancient Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Suō bordered on Aki Province, Aki, Iwami Province, Iwami, and Nagato Province, Nagato Provinces. Its abbreviated form na ...

. The fallen star legend associated with the arrival of Prince Imseong from

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

, the reputed ancestor of the

Ōuchi clan was one of the most powerful and important families in Western Japan during the reign of the Ashikaga shogunate in the 14th to 16th centuries. Their domains, ruled from the castle town of Yamaguchi in the western tip of Honshu island, compris ...

, is central to the history of Kudamatsu (下松). The city's name is associated with the legendary pine tree where the star is said to have fallen and the legend is featured prominently in the city's tourism material. The legend is also commemorated in the city's Star Tower (Hoshi no Tō) in Kudamatsu Park. The legend of Prince Imseong's arrival is retold during local festivals and events, reinforcing the city's heritage. Myōkengu Juto-ji Temple (妙見宮鷲頭寺), located in Kudamatsu, is said to have been established by Prince Imseong in the 7th century after his arrival and became the birthplace of the worship of the deity Myōken Daibosatsu (妙見大菩薩). Under the patronage of the

, it flourished as the home of the clan's guardian deity. 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 ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was based ...

and Tokuyama Domain. Following 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 village of Toyoi (豊井村) within Tsuno District, Yamaguchi was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Toyoi as elevated to town status on March 1, 1901 and renamed Kudamatsu. On November 3, 1939 Kudamatsu annexed the villages of Hanaoka, Kubo and Suetake-minami and was elevated to city status.

Government

Kudamatsu 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. Kudamatsu contributes two members to the Yamaguchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Yamaguchi 2nd 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

Kudamatsu is part of the Shunan industrial complex (a part of the Setouchi industrial area) that spreads across the Tokuyama-Kudamatsu Port area. It has multiple large-scale factories, notably the Hitachi, Ltd. Kasado Works which produces domestic and overseas railway vehicles and Toyo Kohan, which produces materials for beverage cans and hard disk substrates.

Education

Kudamatsu has seven public elementary school and three public junior high schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Yamaguchi Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

(JR West) - San'yō Main Line *

(JR West) -

Gantoku Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in Yamaguchi Prefecture, connecting Iwakuni Station in Iwakuni and Kushigahama Station in Shūnan. The line was originally built as a more direct route between its termini t ...

* - -

Highways

San'yō Expressway * *

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Yamaguchi Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi