Kōka "ninja house" Shigaraki ware ceramics 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 ...

in southern Shiga Prefecture, 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 89,619 in 36708 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 190 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kōka occupies the entire southern end of Shiga Prefecture, and is thus long east-to-west. At the eastern end of Kōka, the southern ridge of the Suzuka Mountains with one elevation of 1000 meters runs from northeast to southwest, forming the boundary with Mie Prefecture. The highest altitude point in Kōka is Mount Amagoi in this range.

Neighboring municipalities

Kyoto Prefecture * Minamiyamashiro * Ujitawara * Wazuka Mie Prefecture * Iga * Kameyama *

Komono file:Gozaisho Ropeway and Komono Mie.jpg, 260px, Gozaisho Ropeway and Komono in distance is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 41,542 in 16883 households and a population dens ...

* Suzuka *

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 ...

Shiga Prefecture * Higashiōmi * Hino * Konan * Ōtsu * Rittō * Ryūō

Climate

Kōka 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 Kōka is 13.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1673 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kōka has recently plateaued after several decades of growth.

History

Kōka is part of ancient

Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...

. 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 was an '' ikki'' and effectively self-governed by local

ninja A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...

families. In 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 ...

it became a center for the '' Kōga-ryū'' school of

ninjutsu , and are terms for the techniques and skills used by spies and scouts in pre-modern Japan known as ninja. Some of these techniques are recorded in ninja scrolls, some which have been published and translated. The study of these scrolls have c ...

, in rivalry with '' Iga-ryū''. The area was on the route of the Tōkaidō highway connecting

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 ...

with Edo and the eastern provinces of Japan. Minakuchi-juku was both a post station and also a

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, ...

for Minakuchi Domain, which ruled over parts of the area of Kōka during the

. The village of Minakuchi was established on April 1, 1889 within

Kōka District, Shiga was a district located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 147,928 and a density of 267.90 persons per km2. The total area was 552.18 km2. From circa 1460 until 1574, during the Sengoku pe ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on August 18, 1894. On October 1, 2004, Minakuchi merged with the towns of Kōka, Kōnan, Shigaraki and Tsuchiyama (all from Kōka District) to form the city of Kōka.

Government

Kōka 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 24 members. Kōka contributes three members to the Shiga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Shiga 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

Kōka is traditionally known for its production of ceramics, most notably Shigaraki ware, as well as agriculture and forestry. Light manufacturing is concentrated to pharmaceuticals.

Education

Kōka has 21 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government and one middle school operated by the Shiga Prefectural Department of Education. The prefecture also operates four public high schools.

Transport

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, ...

– Kusatsu Line * - - - - Ohtetsu Logomark

Ohmi Railway – Main Line * - - - - Shigaraki Kōgen Railway - Shigaraki Line * - - - - -

Highway

* 24px, link=, alt=E1A

Shin-Meishin Expressway The or simply ''Shin-Meishin'' for short is an expressway, linking Mie prefecture to Hyōgo Prefecture, which is partially open and partially under construction. The expressways current length as of February 2008 is 49.7 km. It connects t ...

* * * *

Sister cities

DeWitt, Michigan DeWitt is a city in Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,776 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located north of Interstate 69 in Michigan, Interstate 69 and west of ...

, United States, renewed 2005 *

Marshall, Michigan Marshall is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Michigan. The population was 6,822 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Marshall is best known for its cross-section of 19th- and early 20th-century architecture and as the futu ...

, United States, renewed 2005 *

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County, Michigan, Leelanau County. The city's population was 15, ...

, United States, since 1969; renewed 2005

Local attractions

* Miho Museum * Minakuchi Castle * Minakuchi-juku * Minakuchi Okayama Castle ruins * site of Shigaraki Palace, National Historic Site * Tarumi Saiō Tongū Site, National Historic Site * Tsuchiyama-juku

Noted people

* Kaoruko Himeno, author * Mineichi Iwanaga, politician

References

External links

* * * *
Mapple Koka city -Secrets to Enjoying Kōka- Guide map of Kōka city
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koka, Shiga Cities in Shiga Prefecture Kōka, Shiga