270px, Toimisaki lighthouse 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

Miyazaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,028,215 as of 1 January 2025 and has a geographic area of 7,735 Square kilometre, km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefectur ...

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 15,623 in 6950 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 53 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kushima is located at the southernmost tip of Miyazaki Prefecture, approximately 70 km south-southwest of the prefectural capital, Miyazaki City. The eastern part faces the

Hyūga Sea The Hyūga Nada () is the part of the Pacific Ocean that lies off the eastern shore of the island of Kyushu, to the south-west of the island of Honshu, off the south coast of Japan. Its name is derived from the former province of Hyūga, which co ...

, and the southern part faces Shibushi Bay. The area along the coast has been designated as the Nichinan Kaigan Quasi-National Park, and there are tourist spots such as Koshima and Cape Toi. The entire city area is not very flat, and there are many hilly areas.

Neighboring municipalities

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

* Shibushi

Miyakonojō is a city in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 158,235 in 72394 households, and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city is , making it the largest city in the prefecture in t ...

* Nichinan

Climate

Kushima 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. The average annual temperature in Kushima 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 Kushima was on 2 August 2013; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kushima in 2020 is 16,822 people. Kushima has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

The area of Kushima was part of ancient

Hyūga Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to modern Miyazaki Prefecture Hyūga bordered on Ōsumi to the south, Higo to the west, and Bungo to the north. Its abbreviated form name was , although it was als ...

. During the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

it was ruled by the Nobe clan, who had been dispatched by the Ashikaga shogunate to subdue local clans. Gishō, the son of the 3rd Ashikaga

Shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

, fled to Kushima after being accessed of rebellion, and committed suicide at Eitoku-ji temple in northern Kushima in 1441. 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 mostly an exclave of

Takanabe Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Miyazaki Prefecture. It was centered around Takanabe Castle and was ruled by the ''tozama daimyō'' Akizuki clan for all of its history. In its ear ...

) sandwiched between the holdings of Obi Domain and

Satsuma Domain The , briefly known as the , was a Han system, domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of ...

. 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 Fukushima was established within Minaminaka District, Miyazaki on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on October 1, 1926. On November 3, 1954 - Fukushima Town, merged with the villages of Otsuka, Honjo, Toi, and Ichiki in Minaminaka District to form the city of Kushima. From 1992, the city was the center of a political scandal over efforts by

Kyushu Electric Power is a Japanese energy company that provides power to 7 prefectures (Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Ōita, Saga, Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima), and recently, to some parts of Hiroshima Prefecture. Its shortened name of is sometimes used. In 2011 the c ...

to build a nuclear power plant in Kushima. The mayor of Kushima was subsequently arrested for accepting bribes and paying bribes to city council members to overcome strong local opposition to the plan.

Government

Kushima 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 15 members. Kushima contributes one member to the Miyazaki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Miyazaki 1st 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

In addition to tourism, the primary industries of Kushima are agriculture, including livestock,

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

and food processing.

Education

Kushima has ten public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the city government, and one public high schools operated by the Miyazaki Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railways

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Nippō Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, in southern Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Also known as the Fukuhoku Nippo Line, The line connects Kokura Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, K ...

* - - - -

Highways

* *

Sister cities

Ibiúna Ibiúna is a municipality in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba. The population is 79,479 (2020 est.) in an area of 1058.08 km2. The elevation is 860 m. Geography Located ...

, Brazil, sister city since May 21, 1987 *

Anguo Anguo (), nicknamed "Medicine Capital" (), is a county-level city under the administration of and south of Baoding, central Hebei province, China. It has a provincially protected Temple of the God of Medicine () established around 100. In pr ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

, China, friendship city since September 25, 1995

Local attractions

*Cape Toi *Koigaura is a surfing spot in Kushima. Every year, in the summer, surfers from all over the country visit this beautiful place. * Kōjima, known for the field studies site of the Primate Research Institute, where studies on wild-living

Japanese macaque The Japanese macaque (''Macaca fuscata''), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the g ...

monkeys are carried out. *Toimisaki Lighthouse

References

External links

Kushima City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Miyazaki Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan 1954 establishments in Japan Kushima, Miyazaki