Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Atami (熱海市) is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 May 2019, the city had an estimated population density of 600 persons per km². The total area of the city is 61.78 square km (23.85 sq mi).

Geography Atami is located in the far eastern corner of Shizuoka Prefecture at the northern end of Izu Peninsula. The city is on the steep slopes of a partially submerged volcanic caldera on the edge of Sagami Bay. Atami literally means "hot ocean", a reference to the town's famous onsen hot springs. The city boundaries include the offshore island of Hatsushima. Most of Atami is located within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Warmed by the Kuroshio Current offshore, the area is known for its moderate maritime climate with hot, humid summers, and short winters.

Surrounding municipalities Shizuoka Prefecture ◦ Kannami ◦ Izunokuni ◦ Itō; • Kanagawa Prefecture ◦ Yugawara.

Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Atami has been in slow decline over the past 25 years.

History Atami has been known as a resort town centered on its hot springs since the 8th century AD. In the Kamakura period, Minamoto no Yoritomo and Hōjō Masako were notable visitors. During the Edo period, all of Izu Province was tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate. During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period in 1889, Atami village was organized within Kamo District, Shizuoka. It was elevated to town status on June 11, 1894, and was transferred to the administrative control of Tagata District in 1896.

The epicenter of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay, close to Atami, which suffered considerable damage, as did other municipalities throughout the surrounding Kantō region. The tsunami wave height reached 11 meters (35 feet) at Atami, swamping the town and drowning three hundred people.

The modern city of Atami was founded on April 10, 1937, through the merger of Atami Town with neighboring Taga Village. After the proclamation of Atami as an "International Tourism and Culture City" by the Japanese government in 1950, the area experienced rapid growth in large resort hotel development. This growth increased after Atami station became a stop on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen high-speed train line in 1964. In concert with its famous onsen, Atami was known for its onsen geisha. Atami experienced a considerable decline in popularity as a vacation destination due to the Japanese economic crisis in the 1990s and the associated fall in large group company-sponsored vacations, but is currently experiencing a revival as a commuter town due to its proximity to Tokyo and Yokohama.

The Inagawa-kai, third largest of Japan's yakuza groups, was founded in Atami in 1949 as the Inagawa-gumi (稲川組) by Kakuji Inagawa.

The Izu Study and Research Center is a study facility of the Japanese Communist Party, which holds its annual congress there.

Government Atami has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 15 members.

Economy The economy of Atami is heavily dependent on the tourist industry, mostly centered on its hot spring resorts. Commercial fishing is a major secondary industry.

Education Atami has eight public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. The International University of Health and Welfare, based in Ōtawara, Tochigi, has a campus in Atami.

Transport: Rail • Central Japan Railway Company - Tōkaidō Shinkansen; ◦ Atami Station • East Japan Railway Company - Tōkaidō Main Line; ◦ Atami Station • East Japan Railway Company - Itō Line; ◦ Atami Station – Kinomiya Station – Izu-Taga Station – Ajiro Station.

Transport: Road • National Route 135 • Atami Beach Line • Izu Skyline.

Local attractions • MOA Museum of Art, housing the extensive art collection of eccentric multimillionaire and religious leader Mokichi Okada • Izusan Jinja, an ancient Shinto shrine • Peace Pagoda, built by Nipponzan-Myōhōji in 1961.