270px, ENEOS refinery in Waki is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Kuga District,

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

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 town 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 5,927 in 2684 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 560 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Waki is located at the mouth of the right bank of the Oze River, which is also the prefectural border between Yamaguchi Prefecture and Hiroshima Prefecture. It is surrounded by Iwakuni city on the south side, and borders Ōtake city in Hiroshima Prefecture on the north side across the Oze River. In the eastern part of the town (Waki neighborhood), there are major public facilities, including the town hall, and lowlands that include

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

, where most of the transportation and industrial facilities are located. Other areas (Seta neighborhood and Sekigahama neighborhood) are mostly mountainous areas, and old hamlets exist along the tributaries of the Oze River.

Neighbouring municipalities

Hiroshima Prefecture * Ōtake Yamaguchi Prefecture *

Iwakuni file:20100724 Iwakuni 5235.jpg, 270px, Kintai Bridge file:Iwakuni city center area Aerial photograph.2008.jpg, 270px, Iwakuni city center is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of ...

Climate

Waki 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 very warm summers and cool winters. The average annual temperature in Waki is 15.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1658 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Waki has been steady for the past 50 years.

History

The area of Waki was part of an ancient

Suō Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of ancient Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Suō bordered on Aki Province, Aki, Iwami Province, Iwami, and Nagato Province, Nagato Provinces. Its abbreviated form na ...

. 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 ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Iwakuni Domain 270px, Kikkawa Tsunemasa, ''daimyo'' of Iwakuni 270px, Reconstructed ''tenshu'' of Iwakuni Castle was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now southeastern Yamaguchi Prefecture. It was centered around ...

. 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 organized into villages of Oze, Waki, Sekigahama, and Seta within

Kuga District, Yamaguchi is a Districts of Japan, district located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Tsugumasa Muraoka is the Governor of Yamaguchi over seeing the Kuga District. At the 2005 Census, the district had an estimated population of 6,442. The total area is 10.56 ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Waki as elevated to town status on April 1, 1973.

Government

Waki 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 ...

town council of ten members. Waki, together with the city of Iwakuni contributes five members to the Yamaguchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Yamaguchi 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

Heavy industry, oil refineries and the chemical industry dominate the economy of the town, which occupies a corner of the Setouchi Industrial Area.

Education

Waki has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

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, ...

(JR West) -

San'yō Main Line The is a major railway line owned by JR Group companies in western Japan, connecting Kōbe Station and Moji Station, largely paralleling the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, in other words, the southern coast of western Honshu. The San'yō Shi ...

Highways

Sister cities

Waki has had a sister city relationship with the city of Eniwa,

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

, since 1979, as a symbol of mass immigration of Waki residents to Eniwa in around 1886.

Sources

External links

*
Waki official website
{{Authority control Towns in Yamaguchi Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan