270px, Mifuneyama Gardens 270px, Takeo Onsen entrance 270px, Takeo Velodrome 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

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 47,136 in 19,207 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

Takeo is located in the western part of

. It is approximately west of Saga City and approximately east of

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a population density of 540 per ...

. Takeo has a complex topography including mountains, mountain basins and riverside plains. The population is concentrated in the western end of the Takeo Basin in the southeastern part of the city, and in the basin on the western side of the city. *

Mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

: Mt. Mifune (210 m), Mt. Hachiman (764 m), Mt. Bi (518 m), Mt. Jinroku (447 m) *

River A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s: Rokkaku River, Shiomi River, Yamanaka River

Adjoining municipalities

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

* Hasami

* Arita * Imari * Karatsu * Ōmachi * Shiroishi * Taku * Ureshino

Climate

Takeo 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 Takeo is 16.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1864 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.9 °C.

Demographics

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

History

The area of Takeo 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 under Saga Domain ruled by the Nabeshima clan. 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 Takeo and the villages of Asahi, Hashishita, Higashikawanobori, Kitagata, Kitsu, Nakato, Nishikawanobori, Sumiyoshi, Takeo, Takeuchi and Wakaki were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system in Kishima District, Saga. Takeo village and Takeo town merged on June 7, 1900. Kitamura was raised to town status on April 29, 1944. On April 1, 1954 Takeo annexed the villages of Asahi, Hashishita, Higashikawanobori, Nishikawanobori, Takeuchi and Wakagi and was raised to city status. On September 1, 1960 Yamauchi was raised to town status. On March 1, 2006, the towns of Kitagata and Yamauchi (both from Kishima District) were merged into Takeo.

Government

Takeo 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. Takeo 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

About 23% of the city area is farmland, and agriculture is practiced throughout the city. The main agricultural product is rice, with wheat and soybeans also being cultivated. However, agricultural income has been declining year by year, and is the lowest among the cities in the prefecture. Combined with the aging of agricultural successors, the increase in abandoned farmland and the decline in agriculture have become serious problems. Industry is centered around ceramics production and a number of kilns are located mainly in the old portion of the city. The former Yamauchi Town is adjacent to Arita, so there are many Arita ware (

Imari ware is a Western term for a brightly-coloured style of Japanese export porcelain made in the area of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū. They were exported to Europe in large quantities, especially between the second half ...

) kilns. The city has a number of

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

s. The tertiary industry is centered on commerce and tourism due to Takeo Onsen and other hot springs.

Education

Takeo has 11 public elementary schools and five junior high schools operated by the city government and one public junior high school and one public high school operated by the Saga Prefectural Board of Education.

High schools

*Saga Prefectural Takeo High School

Junior high schools

*Kawanobori Junior High School *Kitagata Junior High School *Seiryo Junior High School *Takeo Junior High School *Takeo Kita Junior High School *Yamauchi Junior High School

Elementary schools

*Asahi Elementary School *Higashikawanobori Elementary School *Kitagata Elementary School *Mifunegaoka Elementary School *Nishikawanobori Elementary School *Tachibana Elementary School *Takeo Elementary School *Takeuchi Elementary School *Yamauchi Higashi Elementary School *Wakaki Elementary School *Yamauchi Nishi Elementary School

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 ...

Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail line on the northwest part of Kyushu Island that is operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). The line is informally known as the Nagasaki Shinkansen. The section of the line between and ...

- Sasebo Line : - - - -

Highways

Nagasaki Expressway (Takeo-Kitagata Interchange - Kawanobori Service Area - Takeo Junction) * JP Expressway E35

Nagasaki Expressway (Takeo Junction - Takeo Minami Interchange) * * *

Sister cities

Sebastopol, California Sebastopol ( ) is a city in Sonoma County, California, with a recorded population of 7,521, per the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. Sebastopol was once primarily a plum- and apple-growing region. Wine grapes are the predominant a ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, friendship city since 1985

Local attractions

*Chūō Park *Daishō-ji *Kitagata Shiki no Oka Park *Keishūen Garden, Yōkō Museum *Kurokami no Roman festival *Mifunegaoka Plum Grove *Mifuneyama Garden *Mount Kurokami, Fūfu Rock * Otsuboyama Kōgoishi, National Historic Site *Saga Prefectural Space and Science Museum *Takeo Jinja *Takeo Onsen *Takeo Velodrome

Notable people from Takeo

* Keisuke Hiwatashi, former mayor * Taizo Ichinose, war photographer *

Yoshiko Yamaguchi Yoshiko Yamaguchi ( ''Yamaguchi Yoshiko''; ''Shānkǒu Shūzǐ''; 12 February, 1920 – 7 September, 2014) was a Japanese singer, actress, journalist, and politician. Born in China, she made an international career in film in China, Hong Kong, ...

, 1930s-late 1940s Singer and Actress in China

References

External links

City Government
{{Authority control Cities in Saga Prefecture