is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

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 n ...

. , the city 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 usi ...

of 87,651 in 36,997 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 RosenberPopu ...

of 3,188 persons per km². The total area of the city was .Ama City official home page
Ama is a member of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

’s

Alliance for Healthy Cities The Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC) is a cooperative international alliance aimed at protecting and enhancing the health and health care of city dwellers. It is composed of groups of cities, urban districts and other organizations from countrie ...

(AFHC).

Geography

Ama is located in the far west of Aichi Prefecture in the middle of the

Nōbi Plain The is a large plain in Japan that stretches from the Mino area of southwest Gifu Prefecture to the Owari area of northwest Aichi Prefecture, covering an area of approximately .

. The city is at or below sea level. Ama is located 15 minutes from downtown Nagoya by car or train.

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Ama is 15.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1699 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 28.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Ama population statistics
/ref> the population of Ama has been increasing rapidly over the past 50 years.

Neighboring municipalities

;

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

– Nakagawa-ku, Nakamura-ku * Inazawa *

Kiyosu is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,687 in 29,477 households, and a population density of 4,017 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kiyosu is located in far western Aichi Pr ...

* Tsushima * Aisai *

Kanie is a town located in Ama District, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 37,082 in 16,647 households, and a population density of 3,344 persons per km². The total area of the town was . Etymology The origin ...

* Ōharu

History

Origins

Ama was part of the former

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were ...

, and has been inhabited continuously since the Jomon period.

Ancient history

The temple of Jimoku-ji was founded 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 ...

Empress Suiko (554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 推古天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Suiko reigned from 593 until her death in 628. In the history of Japa ...

Middle Ages

From the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle b ...

, it was a ''

shukuba were post stations during the Edo period in Japan, generally located on one of the Edo Five Routes or one of its sub-routes. They were also called ''shuku-eki'' (宿駅). These post stations (or "post towns") were places where travelers could ...

'' on the

Kamakura Kaidō is the generic name of a great number of roads built during the Kamakura period which, from all directions, converged on the military capital of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei The term itself however was created pr ...

. During 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 ...

, it was the home of the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

Hachisuka Masakatsu , also known Hachisuka Koroku (蜂須賀小六), was a ''daimyō'', retainer and adviser of Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japanese history. He was the son of Hachisuka Masatoshi. The Hachisuka clan were the '' koku ...

, whose clan ruled from Hachitsuka Castle. It was also the birthplace of Fukushima Masanori, another Sengoku-period warlord.

Early modern period

During the

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 character ...

, it formed part of the holdings of the Owari Tokugawa of

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated ...

. From the Edo period, the area was known as a center for

Cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, ...

production.

Late modern period

During the early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the area was organized into several

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

under Ama District, Aichi Prefecture with the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

Contemporary history

Jimokuji, was elevated to town status in 1933, Miwa in 1958 and Shippō in 1966. The three towns, plus the town of Ōharu began

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspec ...

discussions in 2008; however, an agreement could not be made with Ōharu, which left the discussions later that year. The remaining three towns passed a referendum in 2009, and the new city of Ama was founded and created on March 22, 2010.

Government

Ama 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, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

city legislature of 22 members. The city contributes two members to the Aichi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Aichi District 9 of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

Economy

Ceramic engineering

（ Owari Cloisonné）

Commerce

Due to its proximity to the Nagoya metropolis, Ama has developed into a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...

and its population has grown rapidly.

Education

Ama has twelve public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railways

Conventional lines

;

Meitetsu *

Tsushima Line The is an Japanese railway line which connects Sukaguchi Station in Kiyosu, Aichi with Tsushima Station in Tsushima, Aichi. It is owned and operated by the private railway operator Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu). Manaca is accepted at all statio ...

：- - - -

Roads

Expressways

* Nagoya Daini Kanjo Expressway * Higashi-Meihan Expressway

Japan National Route

Local attractions

*Shippo Art Village *Site of Hachitsuka Castle * Jimoku-ji, Buddhist temple from the Asuka period

Notable people from Ama

* Fukushima Masanori,

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

, Samurai *

Maeda Matsu , also known as Omatsu no Kata (お松の方) (1547–1617), was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat of the 16th century. She was the wife of Maeda Toshiie, who founded the Kaga Domain. Matsu had a reputation for intelligence; she was skilled at ...

Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi–Momoyama period. His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" (槍の又左), Matazaemon (又� ...

's wife * Noboru Ogasawara, physician * Nobutaka Hirano, volleyball player *

Junichi Sato is a Japanese anime director, best known for working on '' shōjo''-based anime and in the magical girl genre. He was formerly associated with TYO Animations (formerly Hal Film Maker). Born in Ama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, his first major ...

, anime director *

Yūko Mizutani was a Japanese actress, voice actress, narrator and singer from Ama District, Aichi. Throughout her career, she worked with Production Baobab, and was working with Aoni Production at the time of her death. Mizutani was best known for her anim ...

(1964 - 2016), seiyū

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Aichi Prefecture