Omihachiman
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Ōmihachiman 近江八幡市 |
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| City | ||
Old city view from Mt. Hachiman
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 Location of Ōmihachiman in Shiga Prefecture |
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 Ōmihachiman
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| Coordinates: 35°07′42″N 136°5′53″E / 35.12833°N 136.09806°ECoordinates: 35°07′42″N 136°5′53″E / 35.12833°N 136.09806°E | ||
| Country | Japan | |
| Region | Kansai | |
| Prefecture | Shiga Prefecture | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Hidemasa Fujitani (since December 2006) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 76.97 km2 (29.72 sq mi) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 81,730 | |
| • Density | 1,061.84/km2 (2,750.2/sq mi) | |
| Symbols | ||
| • Tree | Azalea, Sakura | |
| • Flower | Salvia | |
| Time zone | Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) | |
| City hall address | 236 Sakuragi-chō, Ōmihachiman-shi, Shiga-ken 523-8501 |
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| Website | www |
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Ōmihachiman (近江八幡市 Ōmihachiman-shi?) is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
The city was founded on March 31, 1954. In the quinquennial census of 2010, it has a population of 81,730 (2005: 80,610) and a population density of 1,062 persons per km². The total area is 76.97 km².
On March 21, 2010, the town of Azuchi (from Gamō District) was merged into Ōmihachiman.
"Ōmihachiman" means "Hachiman in Ōmi". When Hachiman Town (the forerunner of this city) became a city, there was the existing city of Yahata in Fukuoka Prefecture. In Japanese, "Hachiman" and "Yahata" are written by same kanji, so "Ōmi" was added to avoid being confused. "Hachiman" is the Shinto god of war. Ironically from the western point of view, his symbol is the dove.
Ōmihachiman had been a developed commercial town even since Toyotomi Hidetsugu built a castle and gathered many merchants in the last part of 16th century. Former merchant's residences and a canal used for transport are preserved in an old city area, designated a Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings and an Important Cultural Landscape.
In 1905, an American architect William Merrell Vories came to Ōmihachiman as an English language teacher at commercial high school. Two years later he resigned the original work, but he remained in Ōmihachiman and spent most of his productive life here. He handed down western-style buildings, a pharmaceutical company, an educational foundation and a hospital to the city.
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Wikipedia