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 the central part of

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

on the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

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 44,120 in 17,548 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 240 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Ogi is located in the center of Saga Prefecture, adjacent to the prefectural capital,

Saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

. The center of the former Ushizu Town, where the city hall is located, is located about 10 kilometers due west from the urban center of Saga City. The northern part of the city is mountainous, part of the Tenzan Mountains, while the rest of the city is low-lying land that is part of the Saga Plain. The southern part of the city faces the

Ariake Sea The is a body of salt water surrounded by Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto Prefectures, all of which lie on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. It is the largest bay in Kyūshū. Its deepest point is only about 50 meters (165 ft) deep, and ext ...

. At the inner part of Suminoe Bay at the mouth of the Rokkaku River, the tidal range is the largest in Japan, reaching a maximum of about 6 meters during spring tides. *Mountains: Tenzan *Rivers: Kase River, Ushizu River

Adjoining municipalities

Saga Prefecture * Kōhoku *

* Shiroishi * Taku

Climate

Ogi 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 Ogi is 15.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1902 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ogi is as shown below.

History

The area of Ogi was part of ancient

Hizen Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...

. 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 ...

it was mostly was part of the holdings of Ogi Domain, initially a sub-domain of

Saga Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period Tokugawa Shogunate. It encompassed most of what are now Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures and was ruled from Saga Castle in what is now the urban center of the city of Saga. It was ruled through its histo ...

, which also controlled a small portion of what is now the city limits. 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 town of Ogi and villages of Ashikari, Haruta, Iwamatsu, Mikazuki, Misato, Togawa and Ushizu were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system of April 1, 1889. Ushizu was raised to town status on April 24, 1894. Ogi annexed Haruta, Iwamatsu and Misato on April 31, 1932m and part of Togawa on September 30, 1956. On April 1, 1967 Ashikari was elevated to town status, followed by Mikazuki on January 1, 1969. On March 3, 2005, Ogi merged with Ashikari, Mikatsuki and Ushizu (all from Ogi District) to form the city of Ogi. Ogi District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

Government

Ogi 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. Ogi contributes two members to the Saga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Saga 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

Ogi has a mixed economy centered on agriculture, commerce and light manufacturing.

Education

Ogi has seven public elementary schools, three public junior high schools and one combined elementary/junior high school operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Saga Prefectural Board of Education. Nishikyushu University's School of Nursing is located in Ogi.

Transport

Railway

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 ...

Nagasaki Main Line The , or simply known as the Nagasaki Line, is a railway line owned by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) connecting Tosu Station in Saga Prefecture to Nagasaki Station in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. There is a separate branch of this line ...

Karatsu Line The is a regional railway line in Saga Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects in Saga, Saga, Saga City to in Karatsu, Saga, Karatsu City, both in Saga Prefecture, Japan. The line was originally ...

Highways

Nagasaki Expressway (Ogi PA/IC) * * * *

Sister cities

* Beaucourt,

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Local attractions

Ogi has gradually come to be known as the city with the highest consumption of

yōkan is a wagashi made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar. It is usually sold in a block form, and eaten in slices. There are two main types: ''neri yōkan'' and ''mizu yōkan''. means "water", and indicates that it is made with more water than us ...

in Japan. * Ogi Castle ruins * Suga Jinja

Notable people from Ogi

* Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, actor * Yasuma Takada, economist

References

External links

Ogi City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Saga Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Ogi, Saga