270px, Tosu stadium 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 the eastern part of

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 74,334 in 33597 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 1000 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Located in the Saga Plains, the Chikushi River runs along the southern border of Tosu. The lowlands are used for paddy fields and is where the urban center is located. The northwestern part of the city is in the eastern part of the Sefuri Mountaians.

Mountains

* Mount Ishidani (754 m) * Mount Kusenbu (848 m) * Shiroyama (501 m)

Rivers

* Akimitsu River * Ara River * Chikugo River * Daigi River * Hōman River * Yamashita River

Dams

* Kawachi Dam

Adjoining municipalities

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

* Chikushino * Kurume * Nakagawa * Ogōri

* Kiyama * Miyaki

Climate

Tosu 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 Tosu is 15.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1766 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.3 °C.

Demographics

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

History

The area of Tosu 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 ...

, and 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 ...

was an exclave of Tsushima-Fuchū Domain under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. Tashiro-juku was home to the taxation rice storehouse and magistrate's office of the domain. It was also a stopping place for Joseon missions to Japan. The Sō clan prospered from its knowledge of Chinese traditional medicine and access to supplies imported from Korea, and the region was considered one of the four major pharmaceutical centers in pre-modern Japan. 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 area was the center of the 1874 Saga Rebellion, and a battle between the government troops and the rebel army occurred on Mount Asahi. The villages Asahi, Fumoto, Kizato, Tashiro and Todoroki were created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. Todoroki was elevated to town status on March 19, 1907 and renamed Tosu. Tashiro was elevated to town status on March 11, 1936. On April 1, 1954 Tosu merged with Tashiro and the villages of Asahi, Fumoto and Kizato and was raised to city status.

Government

Tosu 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 22 members. Tosu contributes three members to the Saga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Saga 1st 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

Tosu is a regional commercial center and logistics and distribution hub, due to its location at the intersection of several major highways and rail line. The local economy remains centered on agriculture, food processing and light manufacturing. Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical is headquartered inn Tosu.

Education

Tosu has eight public elementary schools and five public junior high schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Saga Prefectural Board of Education.

Junior colleges

* Kyushu Ryukoku Junior College

Senior high schools

* Tosu Commercial High School * Tosu Senior High School * Tosu Technical High School

Junior high schools

* Kizato Junior High School * Kounan Junior High School * Tashiro Junior High School * Tosu Junior High School * Tosu Nishi Junior High School

Elementary schools

* Asahi Elementary School * Fumoto Elementary School * Kizato Elementary School * Tashiro Elementary School * Tosu Elementary School * Tosu Kita Elementary School * Wakaba Elementary School * Yayoigaoka Elementary School

Transport

Tosu is one of the major transportation hubs of

. Its main

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

is Tosu Station which connects the Nagasaki Main Line and the Kagoshima Main Line. There is also a junction connecting the Kyūshū Expressway, Nagasaki Expressway and Ōita Expressway. Economically it is part of the

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

metropolitan area, and according to a 2000 census about 5% of the total population of Tosu commute to work or school in Fukuoka.

Rail

JR Kyushu -

Kyushu Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed railway network. It is an extension of the San'yō Shinkansen from Honshu connecting the city of Fukuoka (Hakata Station) in the north of Japan's Kyushu Island to the city of Kagoshima (Kagoshima-Chuo Sta ...

: JR Kyushu - Kagoshima Main Line : - - - JR Kyushu - Nagasaki Main Line : - -

Highways

Kyushu Expressway (Tosu Junction and Tosu Interchange) * JP Expressway E34

Nagasaki Expressway (Tosu Junction and Tosu Interchange) * JP Expressway E34

Ōita Expressway (Tosu Junction) * * *

Sister cities

Zeitz Zeitz (; , ) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. History First a Slavic pagan settlem ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Local attractions

* Best Amenity Stadium * Katsunoo Castle ruins *Mount Asahi castle ruins * Tashiroōta Kofun * Yasunagata Site

Sightseeing spots

*Azumaya *Kawachi Dam area **Torigoe and Yamabiko mountain retreats **Shimin no mori **Kawachi swimming pool *Mount Asahi Park *Mount Kusenbu **Kyushu Nature Walk *Nakatomi Commemorative Medicine Museum *Ochōzu waterfall **Numakawa swimming pool *Saga racecourse *Tashiro Park *Tosu Premium Outlets

Festivals and events

*Tosu Yayoi Matsuri (last Sunday of March) *Hana no hi (May 4) *Tori no hi (Sunday between May 10 and May 16) *Matsuri Tosu (last Sunday of July) *Tosu Yamakasa (first Saturday and Sunday of summer vacation) *Doyō Yoichi (Saturday night market, end of July)

Sports

* Hisamitsu Springs - in V. League

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Sagan Tosu is a Japanese professional Association football, football club based in Tosu, Saga, Tosu, Saga Prefecture. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of Japanese football, since 2025 following relegation from the J1 League in 2024 J1 Leag ...

- in J. League

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

* Yuka Kobayashi - in Girls Keirin

keirin – "racing track" – is a form of Motor-paced racing, motor-paced cycle racing in which track cycling, track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan ...

Notable people from Tosu

* Yuga Kawada - jockey * Koichi Ogata - pro baseball player *

Masayoshi Son Masayoshi Son (, , born Masayoshi Yasumoto, ; August 11, 1957) is an entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist from Japan. A Zainichi Korean, he is the founder, representative director, corporate officer, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group (SBG ...

- businessman, founder of

SoftBank is a Japanese multinational Investment company, investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, that focuses on investment management. The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Saga Prefecture Tosu, Saga