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 de ...

located in eastern

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the north ...

, 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 ...

of 189,486 in 91,986 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 1,014 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Numazu is at the northwestern end of the

Izu Peninsula The is a large mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The peninsu ...

, which is a leisure destination known for its numerous

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highes ...

, Japan's tallest mountain, may also be seen from Numazu on clear days. Numazu is located west 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, ...

and is on the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parall ...

, the main railway line from

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

to Tokyo. Warmed by the

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

, the area enjoys a warm maritime climate with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters. The

Kano River The is an A class river in Shizuoka Prefecture of central Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . The Kano River originates from Mount Amagi in central Izu Peninsula and follows a generally northern path into Suruga Bay at Numazu. The Izu ...

runs through the middle of the city. Mount Ashitaka (1188 meters) is the highest point in the city

Neighboring municipalities

Shizuoka Prefecture * Mishima *

Fuji Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefectur ...

* Izu *

Izunokuni 270px, Izunokuni City Hall is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,579 in 21,257 households and a population density of 506 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Izun ...

* Shimizu *

Nagaizumi 270px, Nagaizumi Town Hall is a town located in Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 43,568 in 18154 households and a population density of 1,600 persons per km². The total area of the town w ...

Kannami is a town located in Tagata District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 37,782 in 16,401 households and a population density of 580 persons per km². The total area of the town was . Geography Kannami is ...

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Numazu has been in slow decline over the past 30 years.

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 Numazu is 15.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1938 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.9 °C. Numazu climate data
/ref>

History

Numazu is an ancient settlement, mentioned in

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

records as the original

provincial capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the ...

Suruga Province was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and was bordered by the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay to the south. Its abbrev ...

before the separation of

Izu Province was a province of Japan in the area of Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Izu''" in . Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The mainland portion of Izu Province, comprising th ...

from Suruga in 680 AD, and subsequent transfer of the provincial capital to the banks of the

Abe River The is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture of central Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . The river rises from Akaishi Mountains which stretch over the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures, and flows into Suruga Bay in the Pac ...

in what is now

Shizuoka city is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in both population and area. It has been populated since prehistoric times. the city had an estimated population of 690,881 in 106,087 households, and ...

. During the early part of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

, Numazu was ruled as part of

Odawara Domain 250px, Odawara Castle, Headquarters of the Odawara Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located primarily in western Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture). It was centered on Odawara Castle in what is now the city of Odaw ...

, but with the construction of Numazu Castle in 1777, it became the separate

Numazu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan located in Suruga Province. It was centered on Numazu Castle in what is now the city of Numazu, in modern-day Shizuoka Prefecture. History In 1601, Ōkubo Tadasuke, a 5 ...

. Numazu prospered in 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 ...

from its location on the Tōkaidō highway connecting

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

, with

Numazu-juku was the twelfth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the present-day city of Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. History Numazu was the easternmost post station within Suruga Province, and was the castle town of the ...

and Hara-juku as two of the 53 post stations. 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

Numazu Station is an interchange railway station on the Tōkaidō Main Line in the city of Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). The station is also a freight terminal and rail yard for the Japan Freight Railway Com ...

was opened on the

on February 1, 1889. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system of 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 ...

in 1889, the area was reorganized into Numazu Town within

Suntō District, Shizuoka is a rural district located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of July 2012, the district has an estimated population of 94,229 and a population density of 550 persons per km2. The total area was 171.4856 km2. Towns and villages Suntō Dist ...

From its seaside location, Numazu gained a reputation as a health resort, which was further enhanced by its selection as the location of an imperial villa built for

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

in 1893. The area become popular with other members of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

, statesmen (including

Inoue Kaoru Marquess Inoue Kaoru (井上馨, January 16, 1836 – September 1, 1915) was a Japanese politician and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period of the Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesmen ('' Genrō'') in J ...

) and writers. Numazu town expanded in 1923 by merger with Yanagihara village, becoming Numazu City on July 1, 1923. Central Numazu was destroyed by a fire in 1926. In 1944, the city further expanded through merger with neighboring Katahama, Kanaoka, Ooka and Shizuura villages. The city was a target for American

air raid Air raid may refer to: Attacks * Airstrike * Strategic bombing Other uses * ''Air Raid'' (album), by the improvisational collective Air * Air Raid ''(Transformers)'', the name of three characters in the Transformers universes * ''Air Raid'' ...

s in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and was largely destroyed by bombing on July 17, 1945. In 1955, the villages of Ashitaka, Oohira, Uchiura, and Nishiura merged with Numazu, and in 1968 Hara Town also merged with Numazu. In the year 2000, Numazu was designated a by the central government with increased local autonomy. In April 2005, the village of

Heda Heda may be: Places *Heda, Shizuoka, Japan People * Antoni Heda (1916–2008), Polish military commander * Willem Claeszoon Heda (1594–1680), Dutch painter of still lives * Heda Margolius Kovály, Czech author Other uses * ''Heda'' (schooner), a ...

(from Tagata District) was merged into Numazu. In 2007, Numazu hosted the 29th

WorldSkills WorldSkills organizes the world championships of vocational skills and is held every two years in different parts of the world. The organization, which also hosts conferences about vocational skills, describes itself as the global hub for skills. ...

International Championship.

Government

Numazu 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 28 members.

Economy

Numazu is an industrial city and regional financial center, and its port is a major center of Shizuoka prefecture's

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must oft ...

industry. Numazu produces more dried

Japanese horse mackerel The Japanese jack mackerel (''Trachurus japonicus''), also known as the Japanese horse mackerel or Japanese scad, is a species named after its resemblance to mackerel but which is in the family Carangidae, the jacks, pompanos, trevallies and s ...

than any other region in Japan. The city accounts for about half of Japan's total production. Agriculture is dominated by production of

mandarin oranges The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-coloured ...

and

green tea Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since ...

, with

Brussels sprouts The Brussels sprout is a member of the Gemmifera cultivar group of cabbages (''Brassica oleracea''), grown for its edible buds. The leaf vegetables are typically 1.5–4.0 cm (0.6–1.6 in) in diameter and resemble miniature cabbages ...

, dairy products and rice as secondary products. Numazu is the location of the head office of Suruga Bank, Shizuoka Chuo Bank and Numazu Shinkin Bank.

Education

Numazu has 24 public elementary schools, 17 public middle schools one public combined middle/high school operated by the city government. The city has four public high schools operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. There are also one private elementary school, one private combined middle/high school and five private high schools. The prefecture also operates three special education schools in Numazu for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

Central Japan Railway Company -

** - - * JR logo (central)

Central Japan Railway Company -

Gotemba Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It connects Kōzu Station in Odawara to Numazu via Gotemba. The '' Mt. Fuji'' limited express service runs between Tokyo's Shinjuku Station and Go ...

** -

Highway

Tomei Expressway Tomei may refer to: People with the surname Tomei, which is an Italian version of Thomas * Concetta Tomei, (born 1945), American actress * Louis Tomei (1910–1955), American racecar driver *Marisa Tomei, (born 1964), American actress Other: *Tōm ...

Shin-Tōmei Expressway The , literally meaning New Tōmei, is a national expressway in Japan running parallel to the Tomei Expressway as an alternate route. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is also numbered E1A under the "2016 Proposa ...

Izu-Jūkan Expressway The is an incomplete two-lane national expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture. It is owned and operated primarily by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), but has a short section maintained and tolled by the Central Nip ...

* * *

Local attractions

Numazu is a gateway to Mount Fuji,

Hakone is a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many hot springs and views of ...

, and

, which are major tourist attractions. The harbour area has seafood restaurants and features an anti-

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

barrier with an observation floor on top that offers a panoramic view of the city and the surrounding area. There is a shopping street close to the main train station. Numazu has the longest coastline of any municipality in the prefecture. The ''Senbonhama'' ("Thousand Tree Beach") seaside is considered one of the best places to view Osezaki,

Nihondaira is a scenic area located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan. A plateau at the centre of Shizuoka city, with a maximum altitude of , Nihondaira is famous for its views of Mount Fuji, the Izu Peninsula, the Japanese Southern Alps, Shimizu Port, ...

, or the southern

Japan Alps The is a series of mountain ranges in Japan which bisect the main island of Honshu. The peaks that tower over central Honshu have long been the object of veneration and pilgrimage. These mountains had long been exploited by local people for raw m ...

against the background of Sembonmatsubara and Mount Fuji. Three aquariums are located in Numazu: Mito Sea Paradise, Awashima Marine Park and Numazu Deepblue Aquarium.

National Historic Sites

Nagahama Castle is a ''hirashiro'' (castle on a plain) located in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. History Nagahama Castle was built in 1575-1576 by Hashiba Hideyoshi (later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) in the village then called Imahama, renaming the area ...

ruins * Kōkokuji Castle ruins *

Yasumiba ruins The is an archaeological site with the traces of a Japanese Paleolithic period settlement located in what is now the Ashitaka neighborhood of the city of Numazu, Shizuoka in the Tōkai region of Japan. The site was designated a National Historic ...

Sister city relations

* –

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropol ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, United States (since 1963) * –

Yueyang Yueyang, formerly known as Yuezhou or Yochow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake and Yangtze in the northeastern corner of Hunan Province in the People's Republic of China. Yueyang has an administrative area of an ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

, China (since 1985) * –

Ueda, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 157,480 in 67,783 households, and a population density of 290 persons per km2. The total area of the city is , which makes it the fifth largest city in Na ...

, Japan

Notable people from Numazu

Tomita Tsunejirō , born , was the earliest disciple of judo. His name appears in the first line of the enrollment book of the Kōdōkan. . Tomita, together with Saigō Shirō, became the first in the history of judo to be awarded the rank of Shodan by the found ...

(1865–1937) – the earliest disciple of

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

Yasushi Inoue was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories, poetry and essays, noted for his historical and autobiographical fiction. His most acclaimed works include '' The Bullfight'' (''Tōgyū'', 1949), ''The Roof Tile of Tempyō'' (''Tenpyō no iraka' ...

– novelist *

Nobutaka Machimura was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.Shinji Ono is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for J1 League club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. Career Urawa Reds Ono grew up in the Shizuoka Prefecture and began his professional career with Urawa Reds in the J1 League in 1998. ...

– professional soccer player *

Masakuni Yamamoto is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. Club career Yamamoto was born in Numazu on April 4, 1958. After graduating from Kokushikan University, he joined Yamaha Motors in 1981. First season, the clu ...

– professional soccer player *

Kento Sugiyama is a retired Japanese professional baseball player from Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan. He played for the Seibu Lions, Hanshin Tigers, Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, and Yokohama BayStars during his 10-year career in the Japanese professional leagues. Sugi ...

– professional baseball player *

Kyoko Iwasaki is a Japanese swimming coach and retired Olympic swimmer from Numazu, Shizuoka. She won the gold medal in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeast ...

– Olympic medalist swimmer *

Koji Murofushi is a former Japanese-Romanian hammer thrower and sports scientist. He has been among the world elite since the 2001 World Championships, where he won the silver medal. He was the 2004 Olympic champion. In 2011, he was crowned world champion. ...

– Olympic medalist in hammer-throw *

Miu Hirano (born 14 April 2000) is a Japanese table tennis player. She won Women's World Cup in 2016 as the youngest ever winner. She won the women's singles at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships by sweeping away three top Chinese players. She comp ...

– Table Tennis player *

Yamada Nagamasa was a Japanese adventurer who gained considerable influence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century and became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, which is on the Malay Peninsula in present-day Southern Thailand. ...

–

Sengoku period The was a period in 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 feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

merchant-adventurer *

Norio Ohga , otherwise spelled ''Norio Oga'' (January 29, 1930 – April 23, 2011), was the former president and chairman of Sony Corporation, credited with spurring the development of the compact disc as a commercially viable audio format. Biography Early ...

– former CEO of Sony *

Tomoyoshi Murayama was a Japanese artist, play writer, novelist and drama producer active during the Shōwa period in Japan. Early life Murayama was born in the Kanda Suehiro district of Tokyo. His father, who was a medic in the Imperial Japanese Navy, died wh ...

– artist and playwright *

Masato Harada is a Japanese film director, film critic, and sometimes an actor; he is best known to foreign audiences as Omura in ''The Last Samurai'' and as Mr Mita in ''Fearless''. In both his acting roles he portrayed the villain who wants Japan to westerni ...

– movie director *

Ulka Sasaki Ulka may refer to: * Ulka Gupta (born 1997), Indian film and television actress * Ulka Sasaki (born 1989), Japanese mixed martial artist * DRDO Ulka, Indian air-launched expendable target drone * BNS Ulka, establishment of the Bangladeshi Navy ...

— mixed martial artist

Popular culture

Numazu is the main setting of the anime ''

Love Live! Sunshine!! is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by ASCII Media Works' '' Dengeki G's Magazine'', music label Lantis, and animation studio Sunrise. The project is the second series of the '' Love Live!'' franchise and is a spin-off sequel of ' ...

'', and several characters live in Uchiura and Awashima Island. As such, many tourists come to Numazu because of the anime, and various things in the city, such as taxicabs, buses, ferries, and manhole covers, have special ''Love Live''-themed designs.

References

External links

* *
Travel guide to Numazu for tourists and foreign residents
{{Authority control Cities in Shizuoka Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan Numazu, Shizuoka