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Yokkaichi .mw-parser-output .noboldfont-weight:normal 四日市市
Special city
Yokkaichi City skyline
Flag Seal
Location of Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture
Yokkaichi
Coordinates: 34°57′54.1″N 136°37′27.9″E / 34.965028°N 136.624417°E / 34.965028; 136.624417Coordinates: 34°57′54.1″N 136°37′27.9″E / 34.965028°N 136.624417°E / 34.965028; 136.624417
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai, Tōkai
Prefecture	Mie Prefecture
Government
• Mayor	Tomohiro Mori
Area
• Total	206.44 km2 (79.71 sq mi)
Population (August 2015)
• Total	306,107
• Density	1,480/km2 (3,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- Tree	Cinnamomum camphora
- Flower	Salvia splendens
-Bird	Black-headed gull
Phone number	059-354-8244
Address	1-5 Suwa-chō, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie-ken 510-8601
Website	www.city.yokkaichi.mie.jp

Yokkaichi (四日市市, Yokkaichi-shi, literally "fourth day market") is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. As of August 2015, the city had an estimated population of 306,107 and a population density of 1,480 persons per km². The total area was 206.44 square kilometres (79.71 sq mi).

History

Suwa park exchange hall

The area around modern Yokkaichi has been settled since prehistoric times. Numerous Kofun period burial mounds have been discovered and the area was once of the battle sites of the Asuka period Jinshin War. However, until the end of the Heian period, the area was sparsely settled, and was only a small port village. The area developed during the Kamakura period and by the Azuchi–Momoyama period, the port was developed and a regular market was open on 4, 14, 24 in each month. Thus, the city is named Yokkaichi because "yokkaichi" means "market on fourth day." After the Honnō-ji Incident during which warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated, Tokugawa Ieyasu fled from Yokkaichi port by sea to his castle at Edo. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Yokkaichi was tenryō territory controlled directly by the shōgun and administered by a daikan based at the Yokkaichi Jin'ya. Throughout the Edo period, the area prospered as Yokkaichi-juku, the forty-third station on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto. However, the city was largely destroyed by the Ansei great earthquakes.

Following the Meiji Restoration, Yokkaichi Town was designated the capital of Mie Prefecture. Yokkaichi's port advanced remarkably during the Meiji period, primarily under the guidance of Inaba Sanuemon, a resident merchant interested increasing trade into Yokkaichi and the Ise area by modernizing the port facilities. Started in 1872, the project took 12 years to complete due to typhoons and difficulties in financing the project. This led to the port city being designated an Official International Port in 1899. The primary trade items shipped through Yokkaichi were originally seed oil, Banko ware, and Ise tea; but now it has developed into a port that now handles cotton, wool, glass, and heavy equipment.

Yokkaichi was elevated to city status on August 1, 1897.

An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Yokkaichi as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom.^[1]

From 1939, Yokkaichi became a center for the chemical industry, with the Imperial Japanese Navy constructing a large refinery near the port area.

Yokkaichi was one of the first cities bombed by the United States during World War II, when on April 18, 1942 the city was attacked by aircraft from the Doolittle Raid. During the final stages of World War II, on June 18, 1945, 89 B-29 Superfortress bombers dropped 11,000 incendiary bombs destroying 35% of the urban area and killing 736 people. This attack on Yokkaichi was followed by another eight air raids until August 8, 1945, killing another 808 people.

From 1960 to 1972, the city residents suffered health problems caused by the emission of SOx into the atmosphere from local petrochemical and chemical plants. In Japan, a disease called Yokkaichi zensoku (Yokkaichi asthma) derives its name from the city, and it is considered one of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan.

Downtown Yokkaichi

Yokkaichi attained special city status on November 1, 2000, with increased local autonomy.

On February 7, 2005, the town of Kusu (from Mie District) was merged into Yokkaichi.

Geography

Yokkaichi is located in north-central of Mie Prefecture, which is northeastern Kii Peninsula. It stretches the width of Mie Prefecture, and is bordered by Ise Bay on the Pacific Ocean to the east, and Shiga Prefecture to the northwest.

Neighboring municipalities

• Mie Prefecture
  
  • Kuwana
  
  
  • Suzuka
  
  
  • Inabe
  
  
  • Komono
  
  
  • Asahi
  
  
  • Kawagoe
  
  
  • Tōin
  
  


• 
  Shiga Prefecture
  
  • Kōka

Climate

Yokkaichi has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is much lower in winter.

Economy

Yokkaichi is a manufacturing center that produces Banko ware (a kind of porcelain), automobiles, cotton textiles, chemicals, tea, cement, and computer parts such as flash memory by Toshiba subsidiary Yokkaichi Toshiba Electronics.

Education

Yokkaichi has 38 public elementary schools, 22 public and three private middle schools, and ten public and five private high schools.

Yokkaichi Nursing and Medical Care University

Universities

• Yokkaichi University


• Yokkaichi Nursing and Medical Care University

International schools

• Escola Nikken (ニッケン学園) — Brazilian school^[3]


• Yokkaichi Korean Elementary and Middle School (四日市朝鮮初中級学校) — North Korean school^[4]

Transportation

Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station

Yokkaichi Chuo-dori St

Yokkaichi Port

Railway

• 
  JR Central – Kansai Main Line
  
  • 
    Tomida - Tomidahama - Yokkaichi - Minami-Yokkaichi - Kawarada
    


• 
  Kintetsu – Nagoya Line
  
  • 
    Kintetsu Tomida - Kasumigaura - Akuragawa - Kawaramachi - Kintetsu Yokkaichi - Shinshō - Miyamado - Shiohama - Kita-Kusu - Kusu
    


• Kintetsu – Yunoyama Line
  
  • 
    Kintetsu Yokkaichi - Nakagawara - Ise-Matsumoto - Ise-Kawashima - Takatsuno - Sakura
    


• Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway – Utsube Line
  
  • Asunarou Yokkaichi - Akahori - Hinaga - Minami-Hinaga - Tomari - Oiwake - Ogoso - Utsube
    


• Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway – Hachiōji Line
  
  • 
    Hinaga - Nishihino
    


• 
  Sangi Railway – Sangi Line
  
  • 
    Kintetsu-Tomida - Ōyachi - Heizu - Akatsukigakuenmae - Yamajo - Hobo - Hokusei Chūō Kōenguchi
    

Highway

• Higashi-Meihan Expressway


• Ise Wangan Expressway


• Japan National Route 1


• Japan National Route 23


• Japan National Route 25


• Japan National Route 164


• Japan National Route 306


• Japan National Route 365


• Japan National Route 477

Seaports

• Yokkaichi Port

Local attractions

Festivals and events

• Amagasuka Ishidori Festival


• Great Yokkaichi Festival


• Matsubara Ishidori Festival

International relations

Yokkaichi has two sister cities and one sister port.

• 
  Long Beach, California, U.S. ^[5] - October 7, 1963


• 
  Tianjin, China^[6] - October 28, 1980


• 
  Sydney Port, Australia - October 24, 1968

Notable people from Yokkaichi

• 
  Goseki Kojima - manga artist


• 
  Masayo Kurata - voice actress


• 
  Miki Mizuno - actress


• 
  Fumio Niwa – author


• 
  Toshiya Fujita - movie director


• 
  Katsuya Okada - politician


• Takuya Okada - chairman emeritus of AEON Group
  


• 
  Katsuaki Watanabe - president of Toyota Motor Corporation
  


• 
  Satoshi Saida - wheelchair tennis player


• 
  Naoki Segi – movie director


• 
  Shuu Shibutani - professional wrestler


• Mayu Mukaida - amateur wrestler^[7] Her coach is Shoko Yoshimura.^[8]


• 
  Yoriko Shono – writer


• 
  Ōzutsu Takeshi - sumo wrestler

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yokkaichi, Mie.

• 
  Yokkaichi City official website (in Japanese)
  


• 
  Yokkaichi Information, Movie, and Community Portal TranslatablePage


• Hiroshige prints of the Tokaido - Station 44 Yokkaichi