270px, Shingū city hall 270px, Shingū city aerial photograph 270px, Shingū Castle ruins Shingu Station01s4s4592

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

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

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 27,491 in 14649 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 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Shingū literally means 'New Shrine' and refers to Hayatama Shrine, one of the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano (See). The 'old shrine' would be Kamikura Shrine.

Geography

Shingū is located near the southern tip of Wakayama Prefecture on the

Kii Peninsula The is the largest peninsula on the island of Honshū in Japan and is located within the Kansai region. It is named after the ancient Kii Province. The peninsula has long been a sacred place in Buddhism, Shinto, and Shugendo, and many people wou ...

, on the west side of the mouth of the

Kumano River The is a river in the Kii Peninsula of central Japan, located in Nara, Wakayama and Mie Prefectures. It is long and has a watershed of . The river rises from Mount Ōmine in the Yoshino-Kumano National Park in Tenkawa, Nara and follows a general ...

. It faces 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 ...

to the east. Parts of the city are within the limits of the

Yoshino-Kumano National Park is a national park comprising several non-contiguous areas of Mie, Nara, and Wakayama Prefectures, in the Kansai region of Japan. Established in 1936, the park includes Mount Yoshino, celebrated for its cherry blossoms, as well as elements of ...

Climate

Shingū 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 Shingū is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The area is subject to

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 in summer. The highest temperature ever recorded in Shingū was 8 July 2024. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.

Demographics

The population of Shingū has decreased steadily over the past 60 years.

History

The area of the modern city of Shingū was within ancient

Kii Province , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Pro ...

, and per the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'' was the home of the ''Kumano

Kuni no miyatsuko , also read as ''kokuzō'' or ''kunitsuko'', were officials in ancient Japan during the Yamato period who governed provinces called ''kuni''. Yamato period ''Kuni no miyatsuko'' governed provinces called ''kuni'' (国), although the location, nam ...

'', a local king ruling the

Kumano region The is a region situated on the southern part of the Kii Peninsula in Japan, former Muro District. It includes parts of Mie Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, and Nara Prefecture. It is home to three major shrines, Kumano Hongū Taisha, Kumano Nac ...

which straddles what is now southern Wakayama and Mie prefectures. The settlement had prospered since before the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

as a timber distribution center using the Kumano River, and as an entrance to the Kumano Sanzan shrines. 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 part of the holdings of the Kii Tokugawa clan, and was the

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, ...

of the Shingū Domain during the

. After 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 area became part of the

Higashimuro District, Wakayama is a district located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. As of September 1, 2008, the district has an estimated population of 43,306 and a density of 64.8 persons/km2. The total area is 667.92 km2. Towns and villages *Kitayama *Kozagawa fil ...

, and the town of Shingū was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Shingū and the neighboring town of Miwasaki merged to form the city of Shingū on October 1, 1933. Shingū annexed the village of Takeda on September 30, 1956. On October 1, 2005, the town of Kumanogawa (from Higashimuro District), an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

between

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

and Mie prefectures, was merged with Shingū.

Government

Shingū 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 15 members. Shingū contributes one member to the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Wakayama 3rd district Wakayama 3rd district is a former constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan (national legislature), located in Wakayama Prefecture and consisted of Arida, Gobo, Shingu, and Tanabe cities and the Arida, Hidaka, Higashi ...

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

Shingū is the central commercial city of the

Kumano Region The is a region situated on the southern part of the Kii Peninsula in Japan, former Muro District. It includes parts of Mie Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, and Nara Prefecture. It is home to three major shrines, Kumano Hongū Taisha, Kumano Nac ...

and is one of the largest cities in Wakayama Prefecture. Primary industries include forestry,

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 ...

, growing of leafy vegetables such as ''

komatsuna or Japanese mustard spinach (''Brassica rapa'' var. ''perviridis'') is a leaf vegetable. It is a variety of ''Brassica rapa'', the plant species that yields the turnip, mizuna, napa cabbage, and rapini. It is grown commercially in Japan and T ...

'' and horticulture, and "Kumano brand" beef. Secondary industries are centered around timber and paper processing.

Education

Shingū has five public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Wakayama Prefectural Department of Education. The city also has one private middle school and one private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped, and one vocational education school.

Transportation

Railway

JR Tōkai –

Kisei Main Line The is a railway line that parallels the coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the ''kanji'' characters from the names of the old provinces of and . The line is operated by Cen ...

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, ...

–

* - -

Highway

Nachikatsuura-Shingū Road * * * *

Local attractions

* Shingū Castle ruins, National Historic Site * Kumano Hayatama Taisha, one of the Kumano Sanzan shrines *

Ōmine Okugakemichi The is a pilgrimage route on the Kii Peninsula in the Kansai region of Japan. It begins in Yanagi-no-shuku, a former ferry station on the Yoshino River in Nara prefecture, leads through the 1200-1900 meter Ōmine mountain region of Yoshino and K ...

and the

Kumano Kodō The is a series of ancient pilgrimage routes that crisscross the Kii Peninsula, the largest peninsula of Japan. These mountainous trails are used by pilgrims to the "Kumano Sanzan" (熊野三山) - the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano: Kumano Hongū ...

, parts of the

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the Kii Peninsula in Japan. Selection criteria The locations and paths for this heritage site were based on their historical and modern im ...

, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

*Kamikura Shrine, with the object of worship a great sacred rock called "".

Sister cities

* Santa Cruz,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States

Notable people from Shingū

Yasuyuki Kishino is a former Japanese football player and manager. Playing career Kishino was born in Shingu on June 13, 1958. After graduating from high school, he joined Mitsubishi Motors in 1977. He could not play in the game and he left in 1980. In 1982, he ...

, football player and manager *

Kenji Nakagami was a Japanese novelist and essayist. He is well known as the first, and so far the only, post-war Japanese writer to identify himself publicly as a Burakumin The are a social grouping of Japanese people descended from members of the feudal ...

, novelist * Haruo Satō, former novelist and poet

References

External links

* *
Shingu City Tourist Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shingu, Wakayama Cities in Wakayama Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Shingū, Wakayama