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

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

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 ...

. Omaezaki is located at the tip of Omaezaki Peninsula on Japan's

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five 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 bounded by the cont ...

coast. , 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 32,422 in 12,095 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 490 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Omaezaki City lies approximately south of

Shizuoka City is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in both population and area. It has been populated since prehistoric times. the city had an estimated population of 677,867 in 106,087 households, and a ...

at the tip of a peninsula of the same name, stretching east into 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 ...

. The majority of the city consists of gentle hills and valleys with some steep cliffs on the peninsula's east coast. Like much of Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture is an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

zone, and small tremors frequently occur in the area. Omaezaki is also in an area at risk from

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

Surrounding municipalities

*Shizuoka Prefecture **

Kakegawa is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,925 in 45,519 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kakegawa is in the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture. It is border ...

Kikugawa is a city located in the western portion of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,714 in 18,775 households, and a population density of 510 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is known f ...

Makinohara 270px, Makinohara City Hall is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 45,813 in 16980 households and a population density of 410 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geograp ...

Climate

Omaezaki 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''). Due to its location, Omaezaki experiences strong coastal winds between October and April. The Japanese

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

also affects Omaezaki, with

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

s liable to hit the city between July and September. During summer, the region is cooler than the majority of inland Shizuoka Prefecture.The average annual temperature in Omaezaki 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 .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Omaezaki has fairly constant over the past 50 years.

History

With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the village of Omaezaki was created within Haibara District of Shizuoka Prefecture. It was elevated to town status on March 31, 1955. On April 1, 2004, Omaezaki merged with the town of Hamaoka (formerly of the now-defunct Ogasa District) to form the city of Omaezaki. During the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, the

England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Eng ...

was based in former Hamaoka Town.

Government

Omaezaki 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 legislature of 16 members.

Economy

Omaezaki has a long history of

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 of

green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

cultivation and these continue to play a central role in the local economy. More recently, the

Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant The is a nuclear power plant in the city of Omaezaki in Shizuoka Prefecture, on Japan's east coast, 200 km south-west of Tokyo. It is managed by the Chubu Electric Power Company. There are five units contained at a single site with a net ...

situated in the former town of Hamaoka brought investment to the city; however, operations at the plant have been suspended from May 2011. Water sports account for a large number of visitors daily to the city, and during the summer months, tourism attracted by Omaezaki's beaches is an important part of the economy, and

water sports Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms ...

made possible by strong coastal winds have become as much a part of Omaezaki's identity as that of a rural town.

Education

Omaezaki has five public elementary schools and two public middle schools and one high public school operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one vocational training school.

Transportation

Railway

Omaezaki does not have any passenger rail services.

Highway

Seaports

* Port of Omaezaki

Local attractions

Omaezaki City has long been famed for its

Omaesaki Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on a hill at the outermost extremity of :fr:Cap Omae, Cape Omae south of :ja:御前崎港, Omaezaki Port, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. A lighthouse was built at Cape Omae as early as 1635, when the Tokugawa Shogunate reco ...

and its extensive

fields. In recent years the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, the visitor centre of which also hosts an Omnimax Cinema, has become a well-known local landmark. Due to the active

seismic Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

nature of the region, the nuclear power station has been built to a high level of safety, and its operator,

Chubu Electric Power , abbreviated as Chuden in Japanese, is a Japanese electric utilities provider for the middle Chūbu region of the Honshu island of Japan. It provides electricity at 60 Hz, though an area of Nagano Prefecture uses 50 Hz. Chubu Electric ...

, claims that it can withstand strong tremors.

Culture

As a result of the strong coastal winds, Omaezaki offers some of the best

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

in Japan. As well as being Japan's most famous windsurfing spot, Omaezaki is renowned as a popular

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

and

bodyboarding Bodyboarding is a water sports, water sport in which the surfing, surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as ''Boogieboarding'' due to the in ...

destination. This is especially true during the summer months, although surfers and bodyboarders can be seen all year round at . The city also has a beach as part of which is a popular destination during the region's hot and

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

summer months.

Sister cities

Takamori, Nagano is a town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 13.067 in 4427 households, and a population density of 290 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Takamori is in the mountainous south ...

, since September 24, 2007 *

Uljin County Uljin County (''Uljin-gun''; Korean language, Korean: 울진군) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Before 1963, Uljin was in Gangwon Province (South Korea), Gangwon Province. It borders ...

North Gyeongsang North Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in eastern South Korea, and with an area of , it is the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remaine ...

, South Korea, since August 4, 2009

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Cities in Shizuoka Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan