Yokkaichi
Yokkaichi
四日市市 | |||||||||
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 Flag  Seal | |||||||||
 Location of Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture | |||||||||
  Yokkaichi | |||||||||
| Coordinates: 34°57′54.1″N 136°37′27.9″E / 34.965028°N 136.624417°ECoordinates: 34°57′54.1″N 136°37′27.9″E / 34.965028°N 136.624417°E | |||||||||
| Country | Japan | ||||||||
| Region | Kansai | ||||||||
| Prefecture | Mie | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| • Mayor | Tomohiro Mori | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| • Total | 206.44 km2 (79.71 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population (August 2015) | |||||||||
| • Total | 306,107 | ||||||||
| • Density | 1,480/km2 (3,800/sq mi) | ||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time) | ||||||||
| - Tree | Cinnamomum camphora | ||||||||
| - Flower | Salvia splendens | ||||||||
| -Bird | Black-headed gull | ||||||||
| Phone number | 059-354-8244 | ||||||||
| Address | 1-5 Suwa-chō, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie-ken 510-8601 | ||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||
Yokkaichi (四日市市, Yokkaichi-shi) is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. As of August 2015, the city had an estimated population of 306,107 and a population density of 1,480 persons per km2. The total area was 206.44 square kilometres (79.71 sq mi).
History[]
The area around modern Yokkaichi has been settled since prehistoric times. Numerous Kofun period burial mounds have been discovered and the area was one of the battle sites of the Asuka period Jinshin War. However, until the end of the Heian period, the area was sparsely settled, and was only a small port village. The area developed during the Kamakura period and by the Azuchi–Momoyama period, the port was developed and a regular market was opened on the 4th, 14th, and 24th day each month. Thus, the city is named Yokkaichi: "yokka" means fourth day, and "ichi" means market. After the Honnō-ji Incident during which warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated, Tokugawa Ieyasu fled from Yokkaichi port by sea to his castle at Edo. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Yokkaichi was tenryō territory controlled directly by the shōgun and administered by a daikan based at the Yokkaichi Jin'ya. Throughout the Edo period, the area prospered as Yokkaichi-juku, the forty-third station on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto. However, the city was largely destroyed by the Ansei great earthquakes.
Following the Meiji Restoration, Yokkaichi Town was designated the capital of Mie Prefecture. Yokkaichi's port advanced remarkably during the Meiji period, primarily under the guidance of Inaba Sanuemon, a resident merchant interested in increasing trade in the Yokkaichi and Ise area by modernizing the port facilities. Starting in 1872, the project took 12 years to complete due to typhoons and difficulties in financing the project. This led to the port city being designated an Official International Port in 1899. The primary trade items shipped through Yokkaichi were originally seed oil, Banko ware, and Ise tea; but now it has developed into a port that handles cotton, wool, glass, and heavy equipment.
Yokkaichi was elevated to city status on August 1, 1897.
An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Yokkaichi as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom.[1]
From 1939, Yokkaichi became a center for the chemical industry, with the Imperial Japanese Navy constructing a large refinery near the port area.
Yokkaichi was one of the first cities bombed by the United States during World War II, when on April 18, 1942, the city was attacked by aircraft from the Doolittle Raid. During the final stages of World War II, on June 18, 1945, 89 B-29 Superfortress bombers dropped 11,000 incendiary bombs destroying 35% of the urban area and killing 736 people. This attack on Yokkaichi was followed by another eight air raids until August 8, 1945, killing another 808 people.
From 1960 to 1972, the city residents suffered health problems caused by the emission of SOx into the atmosphere from local petrochemical and chemical plants. In Japan, a disease called Yokkaichi zensoku (Yokkaichi asthma) derives its name from the city, and it is considered one of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan.
Yokkaichi attained special city status on November 1, 2000, with increased local autonomy.
On February 7, 2005, the town of Kusu (from Mie District) was merged into Yokkaichi.
Geography[]
Yokkaichi is located in north-central of Mie Prefecture, part of the northeastern Kii Peninsula. It stretches the width of Mie Prefecture, and is bordered by Ise Bay on the Pacific Ocean to the east, and Shiga Prefecture to the northwest.
Neighboring municipalities[]
Climate[]
Yokkaichi has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is much lower in winter.
| hideClimate data for Yokkaichi, Mie | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 8.6 (47.5) |
8.9 (48.0) |
12.0 (53.6) |
17.9 (64.2) |
22.1 (71.8) |
25.1 (77.2) |
28.6 (83.5) |
30.5 (86.9) |
26.9 (80.4) |
21.5 (70.7) |
16.5 (61.7) |
11.3 (52.3) |
19.2 (66.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.3 (39.7) |
4.6 (40.3) |
7.5 (45.5) |
13.3 (55.9) |
17.8 (64.0) |
21.4 (70.5) |
25.0 (77.0) |
26.4 (79.5) |
22.7 (72.9) |
16.9 (62.4) |
11.8 (53.2) |
6.7 (44.1) |
14.9 (58.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 0.3 (32.5) |
0.7 (33.3) |
2.9 (37.2) |
8.7 (47.7) |
13.4 (56.1) |
17.9 (64.2) |
22.0 (71.6) |
23.1 (73.6) |
19.3 (66.7) |
12.6 (54.7) |
7.3 (45.1) |
2.4 (36.3) |
10.9 (51.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 43.1 (1.70) |
66.8 (2.63) |
118.7 (4.67) |
173.2 (6.82) |
180.0 (7.09) |
263.9 (10.39) |
268.5 (10.57) |
167.7 (6.60) |
241.1 (9.49) |
128.2 (5.05) |
86.0 (3.39) |
40.6 (1.60) |
1,777.8 (70) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 7 (2.8) |
6 (2.4) |
1 (0.4) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
14 (5.6) |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 63 | 63 | 62 | 67 | 71 | 79 | 82 | 79 | 77 | 71 | 67 | 65 | 71 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 152.0 | 141.9 | 174.0 | 171.2 | 198.2 | 145.9 | 155.7 | 187.7 | 133.7 | 158.3 | 152.0 | 158.2 | 1,928.8 |
| Source: NOAA (1961-1990) [2] | |||||||||||||
Economy[]
Yokkaichi is a manufacturing center that produces Banko ware (a kind of porcelain), automobiles, cotton textiles, chemicals, tea, cement, and computer parts such as flash memory by Toshiba subsidiary Yokkaichi Toshiba Electronics.
Education[]
Yokkaichi has 38 public elementary schools, 22 public and three private middle schools, and ten public and five private high schools.
- Universities
- International schools
- Escola Nikken (ニッケン学園) — Brazilian school[3]
- Yokkaichi Korean Elementary and Middle School (四日市朝鮮初中級学校) — North Korean school[4]
Transportation[]
Railway[]
- JR Central – Kansai Main Line
- Kintetsu – Nagoya Line
- Kintetsu Tomida - Kasumigaura - Akuragawa - Kawaramachi - Kintetsu Yokkaichi - Shinshō - Miyamado - Shiohama - Kita-Kusu - Kusu
- Kintetsu – Yunoyama Line
- Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway – Utsube Line
- Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway – Hachiōji Line
- Sangi Railway – Sangi Line
- Kintetsu-Tomida - Ōyachi - Heizu - Akatsukigakuenmae - Yamajo - Hobo - Hokusei Chūō Kōenguchi
Highway[]
Isewangan Expressway- Shin-Meishin Expressway
Higashi-Meihan Expressway
National Route 1
National Route 23
National Route 25
National Route 164
National Route 306
National Route 365
National Route 477
Seaports[]
- Yokkaichi Port
Local attractions[]
Festivals and events[]
- Amagasuka Ishidori Festival
- Great Yokkaichi Festival
- Matsubara Ishidori Festival
International relations[]
Yokkaichi has two sister cities and one sister port.
Long Beach, California, U.S. - October 7, 1963
Tianjin, China[5] - October 28, 1980
Sydney Port, Australia - October 24, 1968
Notable people from Yokkaichi[]
- Goseki Kojima - manga artist
- Masayo Kurata - voice actress
- Miki Mizuno - actress
- Fumio Niwa – author
- Toshiya Fujita - movie director
- Katsuya Okada - politician
- Takuya Okada - chairman emeritus of AEON Group
- Katsuaki Watanabe - president of Toyota Motor Corporation
- Satoshi Saida - wheelchair tennis player
- Naoki Segi – movie director
- Shuu Shibutani - professional wrestler
- Mayu Mukaida - amateur wrestler[6] Her coach is Shoko Yoshimura.[7]
- Yoriko Shono – writer
- Ōzutsu Takeshi - sumo wrestler
- Ui Shigure - light novel artist and virtual YouTuber
References[]
- ^ US Department of State. (1906). A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759.
- ^ "Yokkaichi Climate Normals 1961-1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- ^ "Escolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão" (Archived 2015-10-18 at the Wayback Machine). Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.
- ^ ウリハッキョ一覧. Chongryon. Retrieved October 14, 2015.}} (Archived 2015-12-19 at the Wayback Machine).
- ^ "International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ 遠田寛生 (2014-04-04). ホームシック こつこつ克服 いま子どもたちは No.693 夢は東京五輪 7. Asahi Shimbun. Tokyo, Japan. p. 28.
- ^ ユース五輪出場のレスリング・向田真優"吉田さんの後継者は私" (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports. 2014-08-13. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
External links[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yokkaichi, Mie. |
- Yokkaichi City official website (in Japanese)
- Yokkaichi Information, Movie, and Community Portal TranslatablePage
- Hiroshige prints of the Tokaido - Station 44 Yokkaichi
Geographic data related to Yokkaichi at OpenStreetMap
Geographic data related to show Mie Prefecture |
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| show Authority control  |
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- Yokkaichi
- Cities in Mie Prefecture
- Port settlements in Japan
- Populated coastal places in Japan