Rittō, Shiga

Rittō (栗東市, Rittō-shi) is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It is well known to Japanese horse racing fans because it is home to the Japan Racing Association's training center and the famous jockey brothers, Yutaka Take and Koshiro Take who were also born in Rittō.

As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 67,149 and a population density of 1,300 persons per km². The total area is 52.75 km².

The kanji characters for Rittō are "chestnut" (栗; kuri) and "East" (東; higashi), despite the fact that Rittō is both in the west region of Japan and it does not have particularly many chestnut trees. The kanji "栗" in Rittō does not directly refer chestnuts but rather refers to Kurita District (栗太郡; Kurita-gun), a former district, the eastern portion of which Rittō was located.

Municipal timeline

• October 1, 1954 - The villages of Konze, Hayama, Haruta and Daihō were merged to create the town of Rittō.
• October 1, 2001 - The city was founded by declaring the former town of Rittō city status.

Geography

Neighboring municipalities

• Shiga Prefecture
  • Yasu
  • Konan
  • Kōka
  • Ōtsu
  • Kusatsu
  • Moriyama

Sister cities

• Birmingham, Michigan, United States
• Hengyang, Hunan, China

External links

• Media related to Rittō, Shiga at Wikimedia Commons
• Rittō City official website (in Japanese)