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

Mie Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...

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 141,045 in 60,301 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 1000 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kuwana is located in northern Mie Prefecture, facing the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. It is located at the mouth of

Kiso Three Rivers The are the three major rivers that make up the alluvial plain area of the Nōbi Plain of Japan. The three rivers are the Kiso River, the Ibi River and the Nagara River. Given their location, they are sometimes referred to as the Nōbi Three R ...

dividing Mie and Aichi Prefectures, the city has functioned as a regional center of fishing, industry, business, and culture.

Neighboring municipalities

Aichi Prefecture * Aisai * Yatomi Gifu Prefecture *

Kaizu file:Kiso Sansen Park Center (2014-09-17).jpg, Kiso Sansen Park Center is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gifu Prefecture, Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 34,960, and a population density of 310 persons per km2, in 12,167 ...

Mie Prefecture *

Asahi Asahi (Japanese 朝日, 旭, or あさひ 'morning sun') may refer to: Places in Japan Cities * Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards * Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'') * Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'') Towns * Asahi, Aichi ...

* Inabe * Kawagoe * Kisosaki * Tōin *

Yokkaichi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 310,259 in 142162 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Yokkaichi is located ...

Climate

Kuwana 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 Kuwana 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 . * Temperature: Maximum (August 3, 2018), Minimum (February 4, 1999) * Precipitation: Maximum (September 11, 2000) * Instantaneous wind speed: Maximum 27.8 meters/second (September 4, 2018)

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kuwana has increased steadily over the past 60 years.

History

During the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

and

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 ...

, the area of modern Kuwana was known as and was a major seaport on the east coast of Japan, controlled by a guild of merchants. The poet Socho described it in 1515 as a major city with over a thousand houses, temples and inns. During the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the area came under the control of the warlord

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

. The Sieges of Nagashima took place in 1571, 1573 and 1574, finally resulting in the destruction of the

Ikkō-ikki were armed military leagues that formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries, composed entirely of members of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism. In the early phases, these ''ikki'' leagues opposed the rule of local Shugo, go ...

by Nobunaga's forces. After Nobunaga's death, the area came under the control of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

, who initially installed Nobunaga's younger son

Oda Nobukatsu also known as Kitabatake Tomotoyo was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. He was adopted as the head of the Kitabatake clan from Ise Province. He survived the decline of the Oda clan ...

as ruler as all of

Ise Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today includes most of modern Mie Prefecture. Ise bordered on Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History The name of Ise appears ...

. However, following the Battle of Odawara, Hideyoshi demoted Oda Nobukatsu, divided Ise Province into several domains, was assigned to

Ujiie Yukihiro was a samurai and feudal lord who lived in the Sengoku period up to the beginning of the Edo period, also known as . He was the son of Ujiie Naotomo. Biography Yukihiro was the second son of Ujiie Naotomo, one of the Mino Triumvirate. His ...

as a 22,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' domain in 1595. Ujiie Yukihiro sided with the pro-Toyotomi armies in the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

and was dispossessed by

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

. Under the

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 ...

, Kuwana was the

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

Kuwana Domain 250px, Reconstructed portion of Kuwana Castle was a Japanese feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Ise Province. It was centered on Kuwana Castle in what is now the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture. It was ...

, with a ''

kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 5 ...

'' of 150,000 ''koku''. It was also the location of

Kuwana-juku file:佐屋路と周辺の主要街道.png, 280px, Map showing the routes between Kuwana-juku and Miya-juku file:Kuwana shichiri-no-watashi 2012-03.JPG, 280px, Shichiri no watashi torii was the forty-second of the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō, fi ...

, as the forty-second post station on the vital Tōkaidō highway connecting

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. Some travelers along the road would take ships and boats across

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie prefecture, Mie and Aichi prefecture, Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the small ...

from

Miya-juku was the forty-first of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in former Owari Province in what is now part of the Atsuta-ku section of the city of Nagoya, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was six km from Narumi-juku, the ...

(located in present-day

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

near Atsuta Shrine) to Kuwana, which reportedly made the journey more enjoyable. As the trip across Ise Bay took a whole day, Kuwana became a necessary stop for most travelers, benefiting the city's numerous inns and restaurants which served fresh sea food. Kuwana was especially known for its clams. The shogunate recognized the strategic value of the location as both a seaport, and the domain was always ruled by a ''

fudai daimyō was a class of ''daimyō'' (大名) in the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) of Japan who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa before the Battle of Sekigahara. ''Fudai daimyō'' and their descendants filled the ranks of the Tokugawa admin ...

'', and from 1823 by the '' shinpan daimyō'' Hisamatsu clan.

Matsudaira Sadaaki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Bakumatsu period, who was the last ruler of the Kuwana Domain. Sadaaki was the adopted heir of Matsudaira Sadamichi, the descendant of Sadatsuna, the third son of Hisamatsu Sadakatsu (1569–1623), who was ...

, the next-to-last ''daimyō'' of Kuwana served as the last ''

Kyoto shoshidai The was an important administrative and political office in the Tokugawa shogunate. The office was the personal representative of the military dictators Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto, the seat of the Japanese Emperor, and was ado ...

'' and supported his brother,

Matsudaira Katamori Matsudaira Katamori after the Meiji restoration was a samurai who lived in Bakumatsu period and the early to mid Meiji period Japan. He was the 9th ''daimyō'' of the Aizu Domain and the Kyoto Shugoshoku (Military Commissioner of Kyoto). He ...

, daimyō of

Aizu Domain was a Han (Japan), domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 The Aizu Domain was based at Aizuwakamatsu Castle, Tsuruga Castle in M ...

. He fought in the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

, finally surrendering to the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

after the fall of the

Republic of Ezo The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt t ...

. With the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

in July 1871 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 ...

, Kuwana Domain became “Kuwana Prefecture”, and later became Kuwana District within Mie Prefecture. The area re-established itself as a regional commercial center and was noted for its metal casting industry. Kuwana Town was established in April 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to city status on April 1, 1937, as a result of a merger between existing towns and villages in the area. The city was devastated by Allied air raids on July 17 and July 24, 1945, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which destroyed some 90% of its urban area. Portions of the city were again heavily damaged in 1959 by the Isewan Typhoon. On December 6, 2004, the towns of Nagashima and Tado (both from Kuwana District) were merged into Kuwana.

Government

Kuwana 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 26 members. Kuwana contributes four members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Mie 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

Traditionally, Kuwana has been noted for its metal casting industry, which remains an important factor in the local economy, especially with the production on manhole covers and gratings. Another traditional industry that Kuwana was famous for was the production of Banko ware ceramics, and for its woodworking industries, including the production of wooden trays and furniture.

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 ...

, especially the farming of ''hamaguri'' clams is also an important industry. Today, the city functions as a bed town for nearby

and

. A large housing estate called Ōyamada (大山田) is located west of central Kuwana.

Education

Kuwana has 27 public elementary schools and nine public middle schools operated by the city government and four public high schools operated by the Mie Prefectural Department of Education. There are also one private elementary school, middle school and high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

JR Tōkai –

Kansai Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, which connects Nagoya Station with JR Namba Station in Osaka. It is jointly run by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), with the boundary between both compan ...

* - 20px

Kintetsu Railway , referred to as and officially Kinki-Nippon Railway, is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railw ...

– Nagoya Line * - Yoro Railway Logo

Yōrō Railway –

Yōrō Line was a after ''Reiki (era), Reiki'' and before ''Jinki (era), Jinki.'' This period spanned the years from November 717 through February 724. The reigning empress was . Change of era * 717 : The new era name was created to mark an event or seri ...

* - - - - 20px Sangi Railway – Hokusei Line * - - - - - -

Highway

* 24px, link=, alt=E23 Higashi-Meihan Expressway * 24px, link=, alt=E1A

Isewangan Expressway The is a national expressway in the Tōkai region of Japan. It is owned and operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. Naming The route primarily follows the north shore of Ise Bay (wangan means bayshore in Japanese). Officially, the rou ...

* * * *

Local attractions

Places of interest

* Kiso Sansen National Government Park * Mount Tado * Nabana no Sato, famous for its illuminations Nabana no Sato Illumination

Nagashima Spa Land is an amusement park and vacation resort in Kuwana, Mie, Japan, about 30 km west of Nagoya. It opened in 1966, and features an amusement park with several roller coasters, thrill rides, kiddie rides, a water park (open only in the summer), a ...

* Rokkaen * Tado Shrine

Festivals

* Ishidori Matsuri * Tado Festival

Famous products

Carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

dishes * Hamaguri (Oriental clam) dishes

Sister cities

* Tomamae, Hokkaidō, since September, 1981 * Gyōda, Saitama, since November 9, 1998 *

Shirakawa, Fukushima is a city located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,393 in 23,546 households and a population density of 190 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Shirakawa is located in south- ...

, since November 9, 1998

Notable people

* Toyama Atsuko, bureaucrat and diplomat *

Hirooki Goto is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He is also one-half of the tag team Bishamon alongside Yoshi-Hashi. ...

, professional wrestler *

Koji Iwamoto is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Iwamoto has previously competed for DDT Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Heat Up. He is a former four time AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion, as well ...

, professional wrestler *

Mikako Komatsu is a Japanese voice actress and singer. Career Komatsu passed an audition held at the first corner of Nippon Broadcasting System "Takashi Fujii's All Night Nippon R". A member of "Younger Sister", she left the group in September 2007. She worke ...

, voice actress *

Tsugio Matsuda is a Japanese professional racing driver for Nissan and Kondo Racing in the Super GT Series, and a team ambassador for KCMG (auto racing team), KCMG in the Super Formula Championship, Super Formula Championship. He is the Super GT Series' all- ...

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

* Tatsumi Naofumi,

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

* Toshihiko Seko,

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

Katsuyori Shibata } is a Japanese professional wrestler, trainer, and former mixed martial artist. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Opps and is one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions with Samoa Joe and Powerhouse Hobbs. ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

* Hiroki Shimowada, voice actor

References

External links

* *
Kuwana City official website

*
Travel brochure (Kuwana City)

Kuwana: Shichiri Crossing from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, by Utagawa Hiroshige (Ukiyo-e Search)
{{Authority control Cities in Mie Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Kuwana, Mie