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 ...

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. , 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 45,073 in 22,511 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 251 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Shima hosted the 2016 G7 Summit.

Geography

Shima is located on the southern half of Shima Peninsula in far eastern Mie Prefecture, facing

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 ...

of the Pacific Ocean. The city has a complicated rias coast with two large inlets: Matoya Bay and Ago Bay. Matoya Bay is famous for

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

cultivation and Ago Bay is famous for

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

cultivation. Both are sightseeing spots and all of the city is within the borders of the

Ise-Shima National Park is a national park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is characterized by its ria coast and islands scattered around a number of bays. The interior is hilly with Mount Asama-ga-take ( the highest peak. Natural areas * Ago Bay * Kami-shima * Kashi ...

. Shima has three inhabited islands; Watakano Island, Kashiko Island and Masaki Island. Watakano Island is located in Matoya Bay, and the others are in Ago Bay.

Climate

Shima 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 Shima is 16.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1965 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Shima has decreased rapidly over the past 20 years.

History

All of Shima was within the borders of ancient

Shima Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan which consisted of a peninsula in the southeastern part of modern Mie Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shima''" in . Its abbreviated name was . Shima bordered on Ise ...

. With the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the town of Waga and villages of Katada, Fuseda, Koshiga, and Goza were established. The town of Shima was established on December 1, 1954 by the merger of these municipalities. Shima was raised to city status on October 1, 2004, from the merger of the former town of Shima with the towns of Ago, Daiō, Hamajima and Isobe (all from Shima District). Recently there has been anger from its famous divers aimed at its sexist new tourist mascot.

Government

Shima 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. Shima contributes two members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Mie 4th 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

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 tourism play important roles in the local economy.

Education

Shima has seven public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Mie Prefectural Department of Education. There is also one private high school.

Transportation

Railway

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 ...

- Shima Line * - - - - - - - -

Highways

* Iseshima Skyline * *

Local attractions

Two of Japan's fifteen climbable lighthouses are located in Shima: Anorisaki and Daiosaki. Each was featured in the

location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

of two prominent films of the 1950s, Anorisaki in Kinoshita's Times of Joy and Sorrow (1957) and Daiosaki in Ozu's Floating Weeds (1959). Shima Spain Village, a Spain-themed amusement park, is located here.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Mie Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan