Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Kansai Region, Japan

Geography | Neighboring municipalities | History | Government | Economy | Education : University | International schools | Transport : Rail : Road | Seaports | Festivals and events

🇯🇵 Yokkaichi is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. The total area of the city is 206.44 square km (79.71 sq mi).

Geography Yokkaichi is located in north-central of Mie Prefecture, part of the north-eastern 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.

History The area around modern Yokkaichi has been settled since prehistoric times. Numerous Kofun period burial mounds have been discovered, and the area was one of the battle sites of the Asuka period Jinshin War. However, until the end of the Heian period, the area was sparsely settled, and the site of Yokkaichi 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 opened on the 4th, 14th, and 24th day each month. Thus, the city is named Yokkaichi: "yokka" means fourth day, and "ichi" means market. 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 established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889 and 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 in increasing trade in the Yokkaichi and Ise area by modernizing the port facilities. Starting 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 handles cotton, wool, glass, and heavy equipment. Yokkaichi was elevated to city status on August 1, 1897.

From 1939, Yokkaichi became a centre 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.

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.

Government Yokkaichi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 34 members. Yokkaichi contributes seven members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between Mie 2nd district and Mie 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy Yokkaichi is a manufacturing centre that produces Banko ware (a kind of earthenware and stoneware), automobiles, cotton textiles, chemicals, tea, cement, and computer parts such as flash memory by Kioxia and Western Digital.

Education: University • Yokkaichi University • Yokkaichi Nursing and Medical Care University • Humanitec Junior College

International schools • Escola Nikken (ニッケン学園) — Brazilian school • Yokkaichi Korean Elementary and Middle School (四日市朝鮮初中級学校) — North Korean school

Transport: Rail JR Tōkai – Kansai Main Line • Tomida - Tomidahama - Yokkaichi - Minami-Yokkaichi - Kawarada

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

Kintetsu Railway – 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

Transport: Road • Isewangan Expressway • Shin-Meishin Expressway • Higashi-Meihan Expressway • National Route 1 • National Route 23 • National Route 25 • National Route 164 • National Route 306 • National Route 365 • National Route 477.

Seaports • Yokkaichi Port.

Festivals and events • Amagasuka Ishidori Festival • Great Yokkaichi Festival • Matsubara Ishidori Festival.

Tokyo Time 
Tokyo Time
Image: Adobe Stock Phattana #70928059

Yokkaichi has a population of over 310,259 people. Yokkaichi also forms part of the wider Mie Prefecture which has a population of over 1,781,948 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Yokkaichi see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Yokkaichi has links with:

🇺🇸 Long Beach, USA 🇦🇺 Sydney, Australia 🇨🇳 Tianjin, China
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

North of: 34.929

🇺🇸 Spartanburg 34.933

🇰🇷 Kwangyang 34.933

🇺🇸 Rock Hill 34.933

🇯🇵 Okazaki 34.935

🇰🇷 Gwangyang 34.941

🇰🇷 Suncheon 34.945

🇺🇸 Santa Maria 34.948

🇯🇵 Anjo 34.95

🇯🇵 Shizuoka 34.967

🇯🇵 Itō 34.971

South of: 34.929

🇯🇵 Nagaokakyō 34.92

🇯🇵 Toyohashi 34.919

🇨🇾 Larnaca 34.918

🇲🇦 Berkane 34.917

🇵🇰 Shangla 34.9

🇯🇵 Sanda 34.89

🇸🇾 Tartus 34.883

🇯🇵 Handa 34.883

🇩🇿 Tlemcen 34.883

🇯🇵 Suzuka 34.881

East of: 136.623

🇯🇵 Kanazawa 136.635

🇯🇵 Kuwana 136.694

🇯🇵 Ise 136.716

🇯🇵 Gifu City 136.75

🇯🇵 Gifu 136.766

🇯🇵 Ichinomiya 136.807

🇯🇵 Kakamigahara 136.833

🇯🇵 Kōnan 136.867

🇯🇵 Tōkai 136.89

🇷🇺 Amursk 136.9

West of: 136.623

🇯🇵 Ogaki 136.6

🇯🇵 Suzuka 136.584

🇯🇵 suzaka 136.583

🇯🇵 Hakusan 136.55

🇯🇵 Matsusaka 136.542

🇯🇵 Tsu 136.5

🇯🇵 Komatsu 136.433

🇯🇵 Kaga 136.3

🇯🇵 Nagahama 136.283

🇯🇵 Hikone 136.267

Antipodal to Yokkaichi is: -43.377,-34.929

Locations Near: Yokkaichi 136.623,34.929

🇯🇵 Suzuka 136.584,34.881 d: 6.4  

🇯🇵 suzaka 136.583,34.867 d: 7.8  

🇯🇵 Kuwana 136.694,35.069 d: 16.8  

🇯🇵 Tsu 136.5,34.717 d: 26.1  

🇯🇵 Tōkai 136.89,35.02 d: 26.3  

🇯🇵 Taketoyo 136.9,34.85 d: 26.7  

🇯🇵 Handa 136.933,34.883 d: 28.7  

🇯🇵 Ōbu 136.95,35 d: 30.8  

🇯🇵 Matsusaka 136.542,34.57 d: 40.6  

🇯🇵 Naka 136.9,35.183 d: 37.9  

Antipodal to: Yokkaichi -43.377,-34.929

🇧🇷 Tubarão -49,-28.467 d: 19121.4  

🇧🇷 Criciúma -49.372,-28.678 d: 19118.8  

🇧🇷 São José -48.617,-27.6 d: 19060.4  

🇧🇷 Palhoça -48.667,-27.633 d: 19061.1  

🇧🇷 Viamão -51.023,-30.088 d: 19119  

🇧🇷 Gravataí -50.983,-29.933 d: 19111.1  

🇧🇷 Biguaçu -48.667,-27.5 d: 19048.3  

🇧🇷 Alvorada -51.079,-30.001 d: 19108.7  

🇧🇷 Cachoeirinha -51.083,-29.95 d: 19104.8  

🇧🇷 Rio Grande -52.099,-32.041 d: 19145.2  

Bing Map

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