270px, Hyokotan Park is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Iyo District,

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

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 town 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 30,411 in 13768 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 1500 persons per km². The total area of the town is . It is the smallest municipality in terms of area in Ehime Prefecture.

Geography

Masaki faces 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 ...

, and is located at the southern end of the Dogo Plain in the northwestern part of the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

. It is the only municipality in Ehime Prefecture that does not have any mountains. The town area is longer in the east-west direction than in the north-south direction.

Surrounding municipalities

Ehime Prefecture * Iyo *

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

* Tobe

Climate

Masaki 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 snowfall. The average annual temperature in Masaki is 15.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1777 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January, at around 26.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.5 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Masaki population statistics
/ref> the population of Masaki has recently plateaued after a long period of growth.

History

The area of Masaki was part of ancient

Iyo province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa to the east ...

. Masaki was developed as 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, ...

Kato Yoshiaki Kato or Katō may refer to: Places *Kato, Guyana, a village in Guyana * Katō, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan * Katō District, Hokkaido, a district located in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan *Katowice, a city in Southern Poland ...

in the late

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 ...

; however, when he relocated to Matsuyama Castle, and of the merchants and artisans relocated with him. 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 ...

, most of the area wash part of

Matsuyama Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Matsuyama Castle, and was ruled throughout most of its history by the '' shinpan ...

with a smaller portion under the control of

Ōzu Domain 270px, Katō Yasuaki, final daimyō of Ōzu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Ōzu Castle, and was ruled thr ...

. The village of Masaki was established on December 15, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was elevated to town status on October 31, 1922. Masaki annexed neighboring Okada and Kita-Iyo villages on March 31, 1955.

Government

Masaki 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 ...

town council of 14 members. Masaki, together with the city of Tobe, contributes two members to the Ehime Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Ehime 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

Masaki is an industrial center for the production of textiles and synthetic fibers. Food processing is also a component of the local economy. The area was traditionally dependent on

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 on agriculture, and is increasingly becoming a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for neighboring Matsuyama.

Education

Masaki has three public elementary schools and three public middle school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railways

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately p ...

* - 50px

Iyotetsu The , commonly known as Iyotetsu, is the main transport provider in Matsuyama, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan. The company operates railway, tram, and bus lines, and also has many subsidiaries, which include a bank, department stores, travel agencies, a ...

Gunchū Line The is a 11.3 km railway line owned by Iyotetsu. The line connects Matsuyama with Iyo, Ehime, Iyo in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The line runs southwards from Matsuyama City Station, terminating at Gunchū Port Station. The line used to be owned ...

* - - -

Highway

Points of interest

* Kubota Palm Garden

Noted people from Masaki

Reiko Kataoka is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 45th Blue Ribbon Awards for '' Hush!''. Filmography Film *''A Touch of Fever'' (1993) *''New Love in Tokyo'' (1994) *'' Kamikaze Taxi'' (1995) *''Two Punks'' (1996) *'' Gonin 2'' ...

, actress

References

External links

*
Masaki official website
Towns in Ehime Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Masaki, Ehime {{Ehime-geo-stub