270px, Taketa City Hall 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

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,081,646 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, K ...

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 19,456 in 9838 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 41 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Taketa is located in the southwestern part of Ōita Prefecture. The city center is approximately 55 km southwest of the prefectural capital at Ōita City and approximately 73 km east-northeast of

Kumamoto City is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

. The city is surrounded by mountains reaching heights of approximately 1 km, such as the Kujū Mountain Range,

Mount Aso or Aso Volcano is the largest active volcano in Japan and among the largest in the world. Common use relates often only to the somma volcano in the centre of Aso Caldera. It stands in Aso Kujū National Park in Kumamoto Prefecture, on the i ...

Mount Sobo is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. The mountain lies on the border of Taketa, Ōita, Taketa and Bungo-ōno, Ōita, Bungo-ōno in Ōita Prefecture and Takachiho, Miyazaki, Takachiho, Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki, Nishiusuki District i ...

, and Mt. Takayama, and natural beauty spots include Takeda Springs and Kujū Plateau. Together with Bungo-Ōno City, which adjoins it to the east, it is known as the "Hōhi district" (or "Oku-Bungo"). Although Taketa borders Miyazaki Prefecture to the south, there is no direct road connection to Miyazaki from Taketa.

Neighboring municipalities

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

* Aso * Minamioguni * Takamori * Ubuyama

Miyazaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,028,215 as of 1 January 2025 and has a geographic area of 7,735 Square kilometre, km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefectur ...

Takachiho file:TakachihokyoWithManaiFalls.JPG, 270px, Manai Falls file:Mt.Sobo.jpg, 270px, Mount Sobo file:Yokagura.jpg, 270px, Yokagura is a List of towns in Japan, town in Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki, Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. , t ...

* Bungo-Ōno * Kokonoe * Ōita *

Yufu 270px, Yufu City Hall is a city in Ōita Prefecture. , the city had an estimated population of 33,556 in 15883 households, and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Yufu is located almost in t ...

Climate

Taketa 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'') with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is somewhat lower in winter. The average annual temperature in Taketa is . The average annual rainfall is and June is the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Taketa was on 15 August 2020; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 10 February 1984.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Taketa in 2020 is 20,332 people. Taketa has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

The area of Taketa was part of ancient

Bungo Province was a province of Japan in the area of eastern Kyūshū, corresponding to most of modern Ōita Prefecture, except what is now the cities of Nakatsu and Usa. Bungo bordered on Hyūga to the south, Higo and Chikugo to the west, and Chikuze ...

and roughly corresponds to Naoiri District, one of the eight counties of Bungo mentioned in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

''Bungo no Kuni Fudoki''. 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 developed as 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 Oka Domain and was ruled by the Nakagawa clan until 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 ...

. Following the

, the town of Saeki within Naoiri District, Ōita was established on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The city was founded on 31 March 1954. On 1 April 2005, the towns of Kujū, Naoiri and Ogi (all from Naoiri District) were also merged into Taketa.

Government

Taketa 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. Taketa contributes one member to the Ōita Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Ōita 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

The economy of Taketa is centered around agriculture and forestry. The main crops are '' kabosu'', ''

shiitake The shiitake (; ''Chinese/black mushroom'' or ''Lentinula edodes'') is a macrofungus native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed around the globe. Taxonomy The fungus was first described scientifically as '' Agaricus edodes'' by ...

'', tomatoes and sweet corn.

Education

Takata has 11 public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by the city government. The city has two public high schools operated by the Ōita Prefectural Board of Education and one private high school. The prefecture operates one special education school for students with disabilities.

Transportation

Railways

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 ...

Hōhi Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, southern Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects the west and east coasts of the island. The line originates at Kumamoto Station in Kumamoto and ends at terminal of Ōita Station ...

* - -

Highways

* * *

Sister cities

San Lorenzo, Paraguay San Lorenzo () is a city in the Central Department in Paraguay. It is a suburb of Asunción, and the third most populous city in Paraguay, with a population of 252,561. The National University of Asunción campus is located in San Lorenzo, that ...

, sister city since October 1073 * Bad Krozingen,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany, sister city since October 2004 *

Tianliao District Tianliao District () is a suburban district of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. History After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, Tianliao was organized as a rural township of Kaohsiung County. On 25 December 2010, Kaohsi ...

Kaohsiung City Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, sister city since January 2017

Local attractions

* Nanatsumori Kofun Cluster, National Historic Site. * Oka Castle ruins is a famous local National Historic Site. *former home of Tanomura Chikuden, National Historic Site.

Traditional crafts

Princess Daruma dolls (姫だるま, ''Hime Daruma'') were first created and remain a popular local craft in Taketa. Taketa Princess Daruma Doll

Notable people from Taketa

* Iwao Akiyama, former woodblock printmaker *

Korechika Anami was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II who was War Minister during the surrender of Japan. Early life and career Anami was born in Taketa city in Ōita Prefecture, where his father was a senior bureaucrat in the Hom ...

, former general in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

* Kenji Anan, stage and film actor * Takeo Hirose, former career officer in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

* Otoya Kawano, Japanese voice actor

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taketa, Oita Cities in Ōita Prefecture Taketa, Ōita