Shimanto, Kōchi (city)
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Shimanto 四万十市 |
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| City | |||
View of Shimanto City
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 Location of Shimanto in Kōchi Prefecture |
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 Shimanto
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| Coordinates: 33°0′N 132°56′E / 33.000°N 132.933°ECoordinates: 33°0′N 132°56′E / 33.000°N 132.933°E | |||
| Country | Japan | ||
| Region | Shikoku | ||
| Prefecture | Kōchi Prefecture | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Masahiro Nakahira | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 632.42 km2 (244.18 sq mi) | ||
| Population (April 1, 2017) | |||
| • Total | 34,433 | ||
| • Density | 54/km2 (140/sq mi) | ||
| Symbols | |||
| • Tree | Willow | ||
| • Flower | Wisteria | ||
| • Bird | Common kingfisher | ||
| • Fish | Ayu | ||
| Time zone | Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) | ||
| City hall address | 4-10 Nakamura Ōhashi-dōri, Shimanto-shi, Kōchi-ken 783-8501 |
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| Website | www |
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Shimanto (四万十市 Shimanto-shi) is a city in southwestern Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Shimanto was established on April 10, 2005, from the merger of the city of Nakamura, and the village of Nishitosa (from Hata District). It is located on the Shimanto River.
As of April 1, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 34,433 and a population density of 54 persons per km2. The total area is 632.42 km2.
Shimanto city is divided into thirteen districts.
The largest district is Nakamura, with a population of 9,352 residents as of November 2013. The smallest is Toyama, with 882 residents.
Shimanto's population is spread across a large area, broken up by rivers, mountains and uninhabited or sparsely inhabited areas. Both the Shimanto River and the Ushirogawa River run through the city. River levels often rise in summer and autumn due to the rainy season and seasonal typhoons.
Shimanto has a wet subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with hot humid summers and cool to cold winters. Humidity levels are high during the hot summer months. Snow is rare and occurs only once or twice in a year. Rainfall is significant throughout the year, but heavier during the rainy season in June and July, and also in September, when a large number of typhoons hit Japan.
On August 12, 2013, Shimanto recorded a temperature of 41.0 degrees Celsius, the highest ever recorded in Japan.
In 1468, Norifusa Ichijo, an aristocrat, fled Kyoto with his family to escape the chaos of the Onin War, which devastated the city. He settled in Nakamura, in what is now part of Shimanto. The Ichijo family established a stronghold there, and they modelled Nakamura on Kyoto, giving rise to the nickname of "the little Kyoto of Tosa", Tosa being the former name of Kōchi Prefecture.
Nakamura maintained itself as a small castle town until 1689. In this year, the head of the Nakamura fief was punished for the offence of turning down a post on the Tokugawa Junior Council. The local castle was destroyed, the fief's finances were confiscated, retainers were stripped of their incomes, and the samurai dwellings were destroyed, forcing them to scatter and become farmers or merchants. The Nakamura area lost a great of wealth and independence, and became a minor rural region.
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