270px, Yanai City Hall 270px, Yanai City center 270px, Yanai Goldfish Lantern Festival 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

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 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 29,821 in 15298 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 210 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Yanai is located in southeastern Yamaguchi Prefecture, at the base of the eastern coast of the Murotsu Peninsula. The city overlooks Mt. Kotoseki and portions are within the borders of the Setonaikai National Park. The city area consists of coastal areas, inland areas (Iriku and Hizumi areas), peninsulas and islands (Heigunjima), and more than half of the total area is mountainous and hilly. Urban areas are mostly on flat areas along the coast. In the northern inland area, and rural villages are scattered along river basins.

Neighbouring municipalities

Yamaguchi Prefecture * Hikari * Hirao *

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 ...

* Kaminoseki * Suō-Ōshima * Tabuse

Climate

Yanai 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 much higher in summer than in winter. The average annual temperature in Yanai is . The average annual rainfall is with July as 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 Yanai was on 18 August 2010; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Yanai in 2020 is 30,799 people. Yanai has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

The area of Yanai was part of ancient Suō Province. 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. 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 village of Yanai within Kumage District, Yamaguchi was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Yanai as elevated to town status on January 1, 1905. On March 31, 1951 Yanai annexed the villages of Hizumi, Shinjo, Yoda, and Iriku and was raised to city status. In the mid 1950s, the villages of Heigunto, Atsuki and Ihosho were subsequently annexed. On February 21, 2005, the town of Ōbatake (from Kuga District) was merged into Yanai.

Government

Yanai 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 16 members. Yanai contributes one member to the Yamaguchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city 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

Yanai has a rural economy based on agriculture (flowers and fruits), commercial fishing and food processing. Chugoku Electric Power's Yanai Thermal Power Station (LNG) is located in the city.

Education

Yanai has 13 public elementary school and three public junior high schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Yamaguchi Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private 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 * - -

Highways

* *

Sister cities

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, United States * Huainan,

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

, China * Zhangqiu District,

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

, China (friendship city)

References

External links

Yanai City official website

山口県柳井市観光マップ(Yanai sightseeing map: Yanai, Yamaguchi, Japan)
{{Authority control Cities in Yamaguchi Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Yanai, Yamaguchi