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

Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the ...

, Japan. , 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 using a ...

of 143,653, in 62,123 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

of 810 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Ashikaga is located in the northern Kanto plain in the far southwestern corner of

, bordering on

Gunma Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 Square kilometre, km2 (2,456 Square mile, sq mi). Gunma P ...

to the north, west and south. The

Watarase River The is a major river in the northern Kantō region of Japan. A tributary of the Tone River, it is in length and drains an area of .Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Surrounding municipalities

* Sano

* Tatebayashi * Kiryū * Ōta * Ōra

Climate

Ashikaga has a

Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers. The average annual temperature in Ashikaga is 14.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1280 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ashikaga has declined over the past 30 years.

History

During the

Heian Period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, Ashikaga was developed by

Minamoto no Yoshikuni was son of famous samurai Minamoto no Yoshiie and an ancestor of the Ashikaga and Nitta clans. Yoshikuni was the samurai who first implored the spirit of the Iwashimizu Shrine to start living in this bamboo grove and he built the shrine in ho ...

, whose descendants later became the

Ashikaga clan The was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1333 to 1573. The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga ...

. The area was noted from this period for its academy, the

Ashikaga Gakkō is Japan's oldest standing academic building. It is located in the city of Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, about 70 kilometres north of Tokyo. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1928. History There are various theories and c ...

. 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 characte ...

, it was the center of

Ashikaga Domain Ashikaga (足利) may refer to: * Ashikaga clan (足利氏 ''Ashikaga-shi''), a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Minamoto clan; and that formed the basis of the eponymous shogunate ** Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府 ''Ashikaga bakufu''), a ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. Following the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, the town of Ashikaga within

Ashikaga District, Tochigi Ashikaga District ( ja, 足利郡) was a district located in Tochigi 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 bo ...

was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was elevated to city status on January 1, 1921. Ashikaga annexed the neighboring village of Keno on March 3, 1951 and the town of Yamabe on April 1, 1953. This was followed on August 1, 1954 by the villages of Mie and Yamamae, and on November 1, 1954 by the villages of Kitago and Nagusa. On April 1, 1959, Ashikaga annexed the village of Tomita, and the northern half of the village of Yabagawa on July 1, 1960. On October 1, 1962, Ashikaga annexed the towns of Mikuriya and Sakanishi. Ashikaga District was dissolved by this final merger.

Government

Ashikaga 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 24 members. Ashikaga contributes four members to the Tochigi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Tochigi 5th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Ashikaga has long been noted for its textile industry, but in recent years, it has also become known as an industrial and commercial city producing various

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

, machine metal works and products. In the agricultural sector, Ashikaga is noted for its tomatoes.

Education

Ashikaga Institute of Technology is a private university in Ashikaga, Tochigi, 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 J ...

Ashikaga Junior College is a private junior college in Ashikaga, Tochigi is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 143,653, in 62,123 households and a population density of 810 persons per km². The total area of the c ...

*Ashikaga has 22 public

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s and 11 public

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

s operated by the city government and five public

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s operated by the Tochigi Prefectural Board of Education. There are also three private high schools and one private middle school. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

JR East –

Ryōmō Line The is a Japanese railway line connecting Oyama in Tochigi Prefecture with Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture. long, the line is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The name refers to the fact that Gunma and Tochigi pre ...

* - - -

Tōbu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second long ...

– Tobu Isesaki Line * - - - -

Highway

* – Ashikaga Interchange – Izuruhara Parking Area * * *

Local attractions

(足利学校): referred to as the oldest school in Japan. *Ashikaga Flower Park (足利フラワーパーク): Japan's oldest and largest

wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north ...

. *Orihime Shrine (織姫神社): This shrine was built in 1879, the guardians of the textile city, Ashikaga. * Banna-ji Temple (鑁阿寺): A temple known for its association with the Ashikaga clan. * Kurita Museum (栗田美術館): This museum has a fine collection of ''Imari'' and ''Nabeshima'' porcelains. *

Watarase River The is a major river in the northern Kantō region of Japan. A tributary of the Tone River, it is in length and drains an area of .stele erected near Watarase Bridge in 2007 in honor of

Chisato Moritaka (born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwriter. She is affiliated with Up-Front Create, a subsidiary of the Up-Front Group.

's 1993 song " Watarasebashi". The stele features a speaker that plays a portion of the song. *Coco Farm & Winery, located in the foothills on the outskirts of town. Founded around 1950, the vineyards are tended by adults with special needs and staff members living in community. During the third weekend of November, a harvest festival is held with live music and

wine tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

. Thousands of visitors attend every year.

Sister city relations

* Springfield (Illinois), United States
Ashikaga City official home page * Jining, Shandong, Jining, Shandong, China * Kamakura, Japan

Noted people

* Mitsuo Aida, poet and calligrapher *

George Akiyama was a Japanese manga artist known for dealing with controversial and incendiary topics in many of his works. He was born the second boy of five siblings. He had an older brother and older sister, as well as a younger brother and younger sister. ...

, manga artist * Masao Urino, songwriter, director * Yumiko Hara, marathon runner *

Noriyo Tateno (born December 1, 1965) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who is best known as one half of the tag team Jumping Bomb Angels with Itsuki Yamazaki. She worked in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, WWF and has been working in Ladies Le ...

, professional wrestler *

Atsushi Abe is a Japanese voice actor and narrator represented by Ken Production. Some of his major roles include Toma Kamijo in the '' A Certain Magical Index'' / '' A Certain Scientific Railgun'' series, Kukai Soma in '' Shugo Chara'', Moritaka Mashiro ...

, voice actor * Chiaki Ishii, Japanese Brazilian judoka *

Toshimitsu Motegi is a Japanese politician and diplomat who currently serves as the Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party. He has previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2021, and as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry fr ...

, politician, member of parliament and Japanese government minister

References

External links

Official Website
* {{Authority control Cities in Tochigi Prefecture