260px, Futtsu City Hall is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 42,476 in 18,115 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 210 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Futtsu is located in the southern part of Chiba prefecture, about 40 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba and 40 to 50 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. It is on the southwest coast of Bōsō Peninsula, facing the Uraga Channel at the southern end of

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

. Cape Futtsu protrudes into Tokyo Bay, and the coastal areas are part of the Minami Bōsō Quasi-National Park. Although considered to be within the

Kantō Plain The , in the Kantō region of central Honshu, is the largest plain in Japan. Its 17,000 km2 covers more than half of the region extending over Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture, Tochigi Prefe ...

, inland areas of the city are hilly.

Neighboring municipalities

Chiba Prefecture * Kamogawa *

Kimitsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 83,058 in 39,138 households and a population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Overview The area along Tokyo ...

Kyonan file:鋸山から保田方面 Hota view from Mt. Nokogiri 20130105 - panoramio.jpg, 250px, View of Hota from Mount Nokogiri is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,409 in ...

Climate

Futtsu has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Futtsu is 15.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1695 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.0 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Futtsu population statistics
/ref> the population of Futtsu has declined in recent decades.

History

The area of modern Futtsu has been inhabited since the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evi ...

period, and numerous remains from the Jōmon,

Yayoi The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

and

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

have been found within the city limits. The area also is prominent in the Yamatotakeru mythology. Under the ''

Ritsuryō is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...

'' system of the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

, the area became part of Amaha County and Sue County of Kazusa Province. Large scale ''

shōen A was a field or Manorialism, manor in Japan. The Japanese language, Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese language, Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to th ...

'' in 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

gave way to feudal samurai estates in the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, with large portions controlled by the temple of Shomyo-ji in Mutsuura. The area was contested between the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

and Satomi clan during the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, most of the area was under the control of Sanuki Domain. After 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the area came under Kimitsu District Futtsu village was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was elevated to town status on December 1, 1897. Futtsu expanded through merger with neighboring Aoyagi Town on March 31, 1955, and again through merger with Amaha Town and Osawa Town on April 25, 1971. Futtsu attained city status on September 1, 1971. According to ''

Victory at Sea ''Victory at Sea'' is a documentary television series about warfare in general during World War II, and naval warfare in particular, as well as the use of industry in warfare. It was broadcast by NBC in the United States during 1952–53. It w ...

'' (H. Saloman and R. Hanser, Doubleday, 1959), Futtsu was on August 30, 1945 the site of the initial Allied landing on the Japanese mainland following the declared surrender. This was a test whether the Japanese would obey the Emperor's surrender order. There was no resistance.

Government

Futtsu 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 16 members. Futtsu contributes one member to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Chiba 12th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Futtsu has a

mixed economy A mixed economy is an economic system that includes both elements associated with capitalism, such as private businesses, and with socialism, such as nationalized government services. More specifically, a mixed economy may be variously de ...

based on

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

, agriculture, tourism, and electrical power generation.The

Futtsu Power Station The Futtsu Power Station (富津火力発電所) is the fourth largest natural gas, gas-fired power station in the world, located in Futtsu, Chiba, Futtsu, Japan. The power station operates at by utilizing four groups of units, with 14 combine ...

is one of the largest thermal power plants in the world; it is fed with

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

brought it by

LNG carrier An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). Overview The first oceangoing liquified natural gas tanker in the world was '' Methane Pioneer'', which entered service in 1959 with a carrying capacity of ...

ocean ships. The southern portion of the city is within the Keiyo Industrial Zone, with metal products, general machinery and equipment manufacturing factories.

Education

Futtsu has eight public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

– Uchibō Line * - - - - -

Highway

* * (connecting Tokyo and Chiba) * *

Sister cities

Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is north of downtown San Diego and south of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of ...

, United States, since October 25, 1988

Local attractions

*Chiba Prefectural Futtsu Park *Mother Farm * Mount Nokogiri *Tokyo Bay Kannon

Notable people from Futtsu

* Kōichi Hamada, politician * Yasukazu Hamada, politician * Masaaki Hirano, food historian * Kei Yasuda, musician, actress *

Yukana , who goes by her mononymous stage name , is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Sigma Seven. Her major roles include Yuri Tanima in '' Wedding Peach'', Meiling Li in ''Cardcaptor Sakura'', Tessa in '' Full Metal Panic!'', Ho ...

, voice actress

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan