Kushima (串間市, Kushima-shi) is a city located in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 November 2023, the city had an estimated population of 15,623 in 6950 households, and a population density of 53 persons per km². The total area of the city is 295.16 km (113.96 sq mi).

Kushima is located at the southernmost tip of Miyazaki Prefecture, approximately 70 km south-southwest of the prefectural capital, Miyazaki City. The eastern part faces the Hyūga Sea, and the southern part faces Shibushi Bay. The area along the coast has been designated as the Nichinan Kaigan Quasi-National Park, and there are tourist spots such as Koshima and Cape Toi. The entire city area is not very flat, and there are many hilly areas.

Kagoshima Prefecture

• Shibushi

Miyazaki Prefecture

• Miyakonojō
• Nichinan

Kushima has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with hot, humid summers and cool winters. The average annual temperature in Kushima is 17.7 °C (63.9 °F). The average annual rainfall is 2,527.3 mm (99.50 in) with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.4 °C (81.3 °F), and lowest in January, at around 7.8 °C (46.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Kushima was 37.3 °C (99.1 °F) on 2 August 2013; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −7.9 °C (17.8 °F) on 27 February 1981.

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kushima in 2020 is 16,822 people. Kushima has been conducting censuses since 1920.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1920 26,319 —     1925 26,702 +1.5% 1930 28,491 +6.7% 1935 29,782 +4.5% 1940 30,353 +1.9% 1945 40,730 +34.2% 1950 41,648 +2.3% 1955 42,305 +1.6% 1960 41,143 −2.7% 1965 36,425 −11.5% 1970 31,734 −12.9%	Year Pop. ±% 1975 30,038 −5.3% 1980 29,420 −2.1% 1985 28,328 −3.7% 1990 26,734 −5.6% 1995 25,243 −5.6% 2000 23,647 −6.3% 2005 22,118 −6.5% 2010 20,457 −7.5% 2015 18,779 −8.2% 2020 16,822 −10.4%
Kushima population statistics

The area of Kushima was part of ancient Hyūga Province. During the Muromachi period it was ruled by the Nobe clan, who had been dispatched by the Ashikaga shogunate to subdue local clans. Gishō, the son of the 3rd Ashikaga Shogun, fled to Kushima after being accessed of rebellion, and committed suicide at Eitoku-ji temple in northern Kushima in 1441. During the Edo period, the area was mostly an exclave of Takanabe Domain) sandwiched between the holdings of Obi Domain and Satsuma Domain.

Following the Meiji restoration, the village of Fukushima was established within Minaminaka District, Miyazaki on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on October 1, 1926. On November 3, 1954 - Fukushima Town, merged with the villages of Otsuka, Honjo, Toi, and Ichiki in Minaminaka District to form the city of Kushima.

From 1992, the city was the center of a political scandal over efforts by Kyushu Electric Power to build a nuclear power plant in Kushima. The mayor of Kushima was subsequently arrested for accepting bribes and paying bribes to city council members to overcome strong local opposition to the plan.

Kushima has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 15 members. Kushima contributes one member to the Miyazaki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Miyazaki 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

In addition to tourism, the primary industries of Kushima are agriculture, including livestock, commercial fishing and food processing.

Kushima has ten public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the city government, and one public high schools operated by the Miyazaki Prefectural Board of Education.

JR Kyushu - Nippō Main Line

• Hyūga-Ōtsuka - Hyūga-Kitakata - Kushima - Fukushima-Imamachi - Fukushima-Takamatsu

• National Route 220
• National Route 448

• Ibiúna, Brazil, sister city since May 21, 1987
• Anguo, Hebei, China, friendship city since September 25, 1995

• Cape Toi
• Koigaura is a surfing spot in Kushima. Every year, in the summer, surfers from all over the country visit this beautiful place.
• Kōjima, known for the field studies site of the Primate Research Institute, where studies on wild-living Japanese macaque monkeys are carried out.
• Toimisaki Lighthouse

• Kushima City official website (in Japanese)