is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The town is known for its association with

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

general

Honda Tadakatsu , also called Honda Heihachirō (本多平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings along with Ii N ...

, and its prominent

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 8,982 in 3820 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 69 persons per km². The total area of the town is , making it the largest of

's towns and villages.

Etymology

The name of the town of Ōtaki in the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...

is composed of three ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

'' characters: the first, ō (大), meaning "large", the second, ta (多), meaning "many", and the third, ki (喜), meaning "happiness".

Geography

Ōtaki is a landlocked town in the center of the

Bōsō Peninsula The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula covers ...

, about 35 kilometers from the prefectural capital at

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

and 60 to 70 kilometers from central Tokyo. The southwest area of Ōtaki is mountainous, with elevations gradually lowering towards the northeast of the town. Approximately 70% of Ōtaki is covered by forest. The

Isumi River The is a river in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of . Under the Rivers Act of 1906 the Isumi is designated as a Class 2 River. Additionally, the government has designated the Isumi River a national-level . Geo ...

flows through the town to the northeast, and in the western part of the town the

Yōrō River The is a river in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of . Under the Rivers Act of 1906 the Yōrō is designated as a Class 2 River. The Yōrō originates near Mount Kiyosumi on the border of Amatsukominato area of K ...

flows to the north. The town extends for about 12 kilometers east to west by about 19 kilometers north to south.

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture * Ichihara *

Kimitsu is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 83,058 in 39,138 households and a population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kimitsu is located in the southweste ...

* Katsuura * Kamogawa *

Isumi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 37,206 in 17,004 households and a population density of 240 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Isumi is located on the east coast ...

* Mutsuzawa * Chōnan

Climate

Ōtaki has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ōtaki is 14.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1828 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōtaki has been decreasing over the past 70 years and is now less than it was a century ago.

History

Early history

Ōtaki was settled in prehistoric times, as evidenced by the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

remains in Oikawa. In the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...

the Ōtaki region became part of

Kazusa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. The province was located in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula, whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa province ...

at the western end of the Tōkaidō region, which was formed as a result of the

Taika Reform The were a set of doctrines established by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting Japan ...

of 654. In the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

Ōtaki was established as a castle town, which successively controlled by different regional clans, most notably the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

and the

Toki clan The is a Japanese kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 61 retrieved 2013-5-9. History The Toki claim descent from Minamot ...

. The Ōtaki region ultimately came under the control of the powerful Awa Province-based

Satomi clan The was a Japanese samurai clan of the Sengoku period (1467–1573) and early Edo period (1603–1868). The clan ruled Awa Province as a ''Sengoku daimyō'' and was a major military power in the Kantō region during the wars of the Nanboku-c ...

in 1544.

Edo Period

In 1590 Tokugawa Ieyasu took control of all of

. Ieyasu granted Ōtaki to his famed general

, and established the Ōtaki Domain as a 100,000 ''koku'' han (administrative division), feudal domain. Tadakatsu built Ōtaki Castle (Chiba), Ōtaki Castle on the site of the earlier castle and laid out a large-scale castle town. Honda Tadakatsu's placement at Ōtaki was a strong buffer against the military power of the Satomi clan to the south. The ownership of the castle changed hands many times after Honda Tadakatsu's control, but from 1703 the Matsudaira clan held the castle for nine generations. Despite the Matsudaira clan's control of the castle, the majority of the Ōtaki region was controlled as ''tenryō'' territory by ''hatamoto'' in direct service to the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1609 a Manila galleon, Spanish galleon, the ''San Francisco'', ran aground near Ōtaki . The survivors were housed in Ōtaki Castle, and later, the sailors were given a ship by the shogunate to return to Mexico. One of the survivors was Governor General of the Philippines Rodrigo de Vivero, who was subsequently granted an audience with ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Modern Period

After the Meiji Restoration the administrative structure of the region changed frequently. Ōtaki was successively part of Ōtaki Prefecture, then Kisarazu Prefecture, before becoming part of the present-day Chiba Prefecture. On April 1, 1889, under the same administrative reforms, the four villages of Oikawa, Nishihata, Fusamoto, Kamitaki and the town of Ōtaki were formed. The five were brought together to become present-day town of Ōtaki on October 5, 1954.

Government

Ōtaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 12 members. Ōtaki, together with the city of Katsuura, contributes one member to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Chiba 11th district of the House of Representatives of Japan, lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The economy of Ōtaki was based largely on rice production, forestry, and traditional charcoal production, but after World War II all three industries have declined. The town produces shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots as special agricultural products. Tourism has increased as a result of visits to Ōtaki Castle, the Ōtaki Prefectural Forest, and various scenic spots. Golf courses were developed in Ōtaki, but have caused problems with flooding and deforestation.

Education

* Saniku Gakuin College * Ōtaki has two public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education. The town also has one private middle school.

Community institutions

* Ōtaki Central Community Center * Ōtaki Public Library * Marine Center * Ōtaki Sports Park * Ōtaki Elderly Welfare Center * Ōtaki Elderly Nursing Home

Transportation

Railways

Isumi Railway - Isumi Line * - - - - - - - KTK logomark

Kominato Railway - Kominato Line *

Roads and highways

* , to Ichihara or Tateyama, Chiba, Tateyama * , to Mobara, Chiba, Mobara or Futtsu, Chiba, Futtsu *Prefectural Route 27, Mobara, Chiba, Mobara-Ōtaki *Prefectural Route 32, Ōtaki-Kimitsu, Chiba, Kimitsu *Prefectural Route 81, Ichihara-Amatsukominato, Chiba, Amatsukominato *Prefectural Route 150, Ōtaki-Ichinomiya, Chiba, Ichinomiya *Prefectural Route 172, Ōtaki-Ichihara Satomi *Prefectural Route 177, Katsuura-Ōtaki *Prefectural Route 178, Ōtaki Odashiro- Katsuura *Prefectural Route 231, Isumi Line, Isumi Railroad Ōtaki Station-Ōtaki Koyamatsu

Local attractions

file:Kobundo-01.jpg, Yōrō Ravine *Ōtaki Castle (Chiba), Ōtaki Castle, built in 1521 and demolished in 1871. While the stone base of the current structure is the base of the original castle's ''tenshu'', the present building is a reproduction of the original castle tower. It houses the Ōtaki Branch of the Chiba Prefectural Museum. *Herb Island *Ōtaki Prefectural Forest *Yōrō Ravine *Awamata Waterfall *Ryōgen-ji *Myōhōshō-ji *Watanabe Historical Residence *Central Bōsō Railroad Center

Castle Festival

Ōtaki hosts the ''Oshiro-matsuri'', or castle festival, in September, which involves a parade and various plays and demonstrations on the grounds of one of the town's elementary schools. Representatives from Ōtaki's sister city, Cuernavaca, Mexico, often visit to attend the festival.

Sister city relations

* – Cuernavaca, Mexico, since August 3, 1978

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otaki, Chiba Towns in Chiba Prefecture Ōtaki, Chiba