Matsusaka
Geography
Matsusaka is located in east-central Kii Peninsula, in central Mie Prefecture. It stretches the width of Mie Prefecture, and is bordered by Ise Bay on the Pacific Ocean to the east, and Nara Prefecture to the west. Parts of the city are within the limits of the Yoshino-Kumano National Park.
Neighboring municipalities
Mie Prefecture
Nara Prefecture
Climate
Matsusaka has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Matsusaka is 14.8 °C (58.6 °F). The average annual rainfall is 2,157.8 mm (84.95 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.1 °C (79.0 °F), and lowest in January, at around 4.2 °C (39.6 °F).
| Climate data for Kayumi, Matsusaka (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1979−present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 19.4 (66.9) |
22.7 (72.9) |
26.5 (79.7) |
31.4 (88.5) |
33.7 (92.7) |
36.1 (97.0) |
38.5 (101.3) |
38.9 (102.0) |
37.3 (99.1) |
31.3 (88.3) |
27.3 (81.1) |
24.8 (76.6) |
38.9 (102.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) |
10.4 (50.7) |
14.1 (57.4) |
19.6 (67.3) |
24.0 (75.2) |
26.7 (80.1) |
30.8 (87.4) |
31.9 (89.4) |
28.0 (82.4) |
22.4 (72.3) |
17.1 (62.8) |
11.9 (53.4) |
20.5 (68.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.2 (39.6) |
4.7 (40.5) |
8.0 (46.4) |
13.0 (55.4) |
17.8 (64.0) |
21.4 (70.5) |
25.4 (77.7) |
26.1 (79.0) |
22.7 (72.9) |
17.0 (62.6) |
11.2 (52.2) |
6.2 (43.2) |
14.8 (58.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −0.5 (31.1) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
2.3 (36.1) |
6.8 (44.2) |
12.2 (54.0) |
17.1 (62.8) |
21.3 (70.3) |
21.9 (71.4) |
18.6 (65.5) |
12.4 (54.3) |
6.0 (42.8) |
1.2 (34.2) |
9.9 (49.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −7.2 (19.0) |
−6.9 (19.6) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
−3.0 (26.6) |
2.1 (35.8) |
7.2 (45.0) |
13.8 (56.8) |
13.6 (56.5) |
8.8 (47.8) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−3.0 (26.6) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
−7.2 (19.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 56.1 (2.21) |
63.0 (2.48) |
115.5 (4.55) |
143.3 (5.64) |
188.4 (7.42) |
231.3 (9.11) |
247.0 (9.72) |
272.3 (10.72) |
400.7 (15.78) |
255.4 (10.06) |
95.9 (3.78) |
61.6 (2.43) |
2,157.8 (84.95) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.5 | 7.3 | 10.7 | 10.0 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 13.1 | 11.4 | 12.8 | 10.7 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 120.5 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 153.3 | 139.1 | 172.2 | 182.8 | 185.8 | 124.5 | 152.2 | 184.6 | 138.2 | 144.2 | 146.2 | 151.8 | 1,875 |
| Source: Japan Meteorological Agency | |||||||||||||
Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Matsusaka has been increasing slowly over the past 50 years.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 147,054 | — |
| 1960 | 141,245 | −4.0% |
| 1970 | 139,161 | −1.5% |
| 1980 | 153,185 | +10.1% |
| 1990 | 159,625 | +4.2% |
| 2000 | 164,504 | +3.1% |
| 2010 | 168,146 | +2.2% |
History
Matsusaka developed as a commercial center during the Sengoku period, and Oda Nobukatsu, the younger son of Oda Nobunaga built a castle in the area in 1580. The area came under the control of Gamō Ujisato shortly thereafter, and the Gamō began construction of a castle in the Yoiho forest (四五百森, Yoiho no mori) and named the site "Matsusaka," meaning "slope (坂) covered with pines (松)" in 1588. Matsusaka Castle was the center of the short-lived Matsusaka Domain in the early Tokugawa shogunate, but for most of the Edo period, the castle was the eastern outpost of Kishu Domain based at Wakayama Castle.
Following the Meiji restoration, the area became part of Mie Prefecture. The town of Matsusaka was created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The second kanji character of Matsusaka was changed to 阪 from 坂 in those days. On March 26, 1893, 1318 houses in the town were destroyed in a fire. Matsusaka was raised to city status on February 1, 1933. The city suffered only light damage in World War II, when an air raid killed four people on February 4, 1945. About 700 houses in the city were destroyed by a fire on December 16, 1951. On October 15, 1956, a major railway accident occurred at Rokken Station on the outskirts of the city, killing 42 people. On August 1, 1982, Typhoon Bess left nine people dead in its wake. The city officially celebrated its 500th anniversary in 1988.
On January 1, 2005, the city expanded to its present borders, with the absorption the towns of Mikumo and Ureshino (both from Ichishi District), and the towns of Iinan and Iitaka (both from Iinan District).
Government
Matsusaka has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 28 members. Matsusaka contributes four members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Mie 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
Education
Matsusaka has 36 public elementary schools and 12 public middle schools operated by the city government and four public high schools operated by the Mie Prefectural Board of Education. There are also one private middle school and two private high schools. The prefectural also operates two special education schools for the handicapped. Mie Chukyo University, formerly located in Matsusaka, closed in 2013.
Transportation
Railway
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Kintetsu Railway - Yamada Line
Highway
Ise Expressway
National Route 23
National Route 42
National Route 166
National Route 368
National Route 422
Seaports
Sister cities
Binhu District, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China
Local attractions
- Azaka Castle ruins
- Matsusaka Castle ruins
- Takarazuka kofun ancient burial mound
Notable people
- Yotsukasa Dai, sumo wrestler
- Aki Deguchi, J-pop idol and singer
- Keisuke Funatani, professional soccer player
- Satoshi Hida, professional soccer player
- Hiroki Mizumoto, professional soccer player
- Tetsuo Morimoto, politician
- Masaharu Nakagawa, politician
- Kana Nishino, J-pop/R&B singer
- Motoori Norinaga, Edo period kokugaku scholar
- Ikuzo Saito, Olympic wrestler
- Matsuura Takeshirō, explorer, cartographer, writer, painter, priest, and antiquarian
- Mitsui Takatoshi, founder of the Mitsui group.
- Norihisa Tamura, politician
- Mienoumi Tsuyoshi, sumo wrestler
- Ben Wada, film director
References
- ^ "Matsusaka city official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
- ^ 気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値）. JMA. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- ^ 観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）. JMA. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- ^ Matsusaka population statistics
- ^ "International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
External links
Media related to Matsusaka, Mie at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Matsusaka city guide from the Mie Guidebook at Mie JETs
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