Kan'onji, Kagawa Prefecture, Shikoku Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Kan-onji (観音寺市, Kan'onji-shi) is a city located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. The total area of the city is 117.84 square km (45.50 sq mi).

Geography Kan'onji is located at the western end of Kagawa Prefecture. It faces the Seto Inland Sea to the west and borders Tokushima Prefecture across the Sanuki Mountains to the south. The city includes Ibuki island in the Seto Inland Sea between Shikoku and Honshu. Some coastal parts of the city are within the borders of the Setonaikai National Park.

Neighbouring municipalities Kagawa Prefecture • Mitoyo; Tokushima Prefecture • Miyoshi; Ehime Prefecture • Shikokuchūō.

History The area of Kan'onji was part of ancient Sanuki Province and has been inhabited since prehistoric times. A number of burial mounds from the Kofun period have been identified, including the Ōnohara Kofun cluster. Historical documents indicate that the Shinto shrine Kotohiki Hachiman-gū was founded in 703 and that the Buddhist temple of Kannon-ji (from which the city derives its name) was founded by the Kūkai in 803. During the Edo Period, the city area was part of the holdings of Marugame Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. Following the Meiji restoration, the village of Kan'onji was established within Toyota District with the creation of the modern municipalities system in 1878. It was elevated to town status in 1890. In 1899, Toyota district was merged with Mino District to form Mitoyo District, Kagawa. Kan'onji was elevated to city status in 1955. In October 2005, the towns of Ōnohara and Toyohama (both from Mitoyo District) merged with Kan'onji.

Government Kan'onji has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 22 members. Kan'onji contributes three members to the Kagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kagawa 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy The economy of Kan'onji is primarily food-related, with the city being the largest producer of lettuce in Japan. Commercial fishing, especially for sardines, and food-processing, notably the frozen food industry, is also prominent.

Education Kan'onji has ten public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and one private middle school. The city has two public high schools operated by the Kagawa Prefectural Board of Education.The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transport: Rail Shikoku Railway Company - Yosan Line • Kan'onji - Toyohama - Minoura

Transport: Road • Takamatsu Expressway • National Route 11 • National Route 377.

Local attractions • Jinne-in, 68th temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage • Kannon-ji, 69th temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage • Kotohiki Hachiman-gū • Ōnohara Kofun cluster, National Historic Site • Kotohiki Park, which is part of the Setonaikai National Park, includes a coin-shaped sand drawing, the Zenigata Sunae, which models the Kan'ei Tsūhō.