Tsuru city center area 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

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

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 30,311 in 13079 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 190 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Tsuru is located in southeastern Yamanashi Prefecture, in the foothills of

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

. It is bordered on the south by the

Tanzawa Mountains The are a mountain range in the Kantō region in Japan. The mountain range covers the northwestern part of Kanagawa Prefecture and touches the prefecture borders of Shizuoka Prefecture to the west and the Yamanashi Prefecture to the north. Mou ...

. The

Sagami River The is a river in Kanagawa and Yamanashi Prefectures on the island of Honshū, Japan. The upper reaches of the river in Yamanashi prefecture are also sometimes known as the , and the portion near the river mouth as the . The river overall was ...

, known locally as the Katsura River, flows through the city.

Neighboring municipalities

Yamanashi Prefecture *

Fujiyoshida is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,782 in 19,806 households and a population density of 400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Fujiyoshida lie ...

* Ōtsuki *

Uenohara is a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 February 2023, the city had an estimated population of 23,158 in 9987 households, and a population density of 140 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Uenohara is ...

Minamitsuru District is a rural Districts of Japan, district located in southeastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2020, the district had an estimated population of 48,970 with a population density, density of 116,3 persons per km2. The total area ...

- Yamanakako, Oshino, Nishikatsura,

Fujikawaguchiko is a town located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 26,542 in 10,618 households, and a population density of 170 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Fujikawaguchiko is located in so ...

Climate

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

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Tsuru is 12.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1610 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Tsuru population statistics
/ref> the population of Tsuru peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

History

The area around Tsuru has been continuously 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 artifacts from the

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

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 its borders. The area has been part of ancient Tsuru County of Kai Province since 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 ...

. 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 ...

, the area was controlled by 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 ...

. 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 ...

, all of Kai Province was ''

tenryō 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 war ...

'' territory under direct control of 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 ...

. During the cadastral reform of the early

Meiji period The was 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 colonizatio ...

on April 1, 1889, the village of Tani was created within Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi Prefecture. Tani was raised to town status on March 7, 1896. On April 29, 1954 Tani merged with four neighboring villages to form the city of Tsuru.

Government

Tsuru 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 legislature of 16 members.

Education

Tsuru University Tsuru University (都留文科大学 ''Tsuru Bunka Daigaku'', literally Tsuru University of Humanities) is a small municipal university located in Tsuru City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The university has around 3,000 students and 85 faculty. ...

*Tsuru has eight public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the city government and one public high school operated by the Yamanashi Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates the public Yamanashi Industrial Technology Junior College.

Transportation

Railway

Fuji Kyuko , commonly abbreviated as Fujikyu, is a passenger transportation company headquartered in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan. The company operates the Fujikyuko Line railway and regional and long-distance bus routes. The company also operates the ...

- Ōtsuki Line ** - - - - - - -

Highway

Chūō Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by NEXCO Central. Naming Officially the expressway is designated as the Chūō Expressway Nishinomiya Route (from Takaido Interchange to Komaki Junction), the Chūō Expressway N ...

Sister cities

Hendersonville, Tennessee Hendersonville is the most populous city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 61,753. Hendersonville is the fourth-most populous city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nas ...

, United States

Notable people from Tsuru

* Kazuo Dan, novelist * Jinpachi Nezu, actor *

Mika Yamamoto (26 May 1967 – 20 August 2012) was an award-winning Japanese video and photojournalist for the news agency Japan Press. Yamamoto was killed on 20 August 2012 while covering the ongoing Syrian Civil War in Aleppo, Syria. She was the first Japa ...

, video and photo journalist *

Yasuyo Yamasaki Colonel was a Japanese Army officer who commanded the Japanese forces on Attu during the Battle of Attu in World War II. Yamasaki was a native of what is now part of Tsuru, Yamanashi, where his father was a Buddhist priest. He graduated from t ...

, Colonel in command of IJA forces at Battle of Attu

References

External links

Official Website
* {{Authority control Cities in Yamanashi Prefecture