Kōchi, Kōchi

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Kōchi (高知市, Kōchi-shi) is the capital city of Kōchi Prefecture on Shikoku island of Japan.

Kōchi is the main city of the prefecture with over 40% of its population. As of May 31, 2008, the city had an estimated population of 340,515 and a density of 1,100 per square kilometre (2,800/sq mi). The total area is 309.22 square kilometres (119.39 sq mi).

A symbol of the city is its most famous dish, katsuo tataki, made by lightly searing and seasoning tuna.[1]

Geography and climate

Downtown Kochi, Japan

The area of Kōchi has three distinct geographic sections. The major settled part of the city lies at the head of Urado Bay, in a narrow alluvial plain crossed by several rivers, notably the Kagami River and Kokubu River. The plain is bounded by mountains to the north and a range of hills to the south and west.

The northern mountains form the least densely populated part of the city, with the only settlement being along narrow river valleys. The highest point in Kōchi is Kuishi-yama at 1176 m.

To the south of the city centre, Urado Bay cuts through the hills to its outlet into the Pacific Ocean. The land surrounding the bay and a small strip of the coastline form the third part of the city. This area, although hillier and less dense than the plain, is nevertheless a major location of housing and port-related industry.

Kōchi has a very wet climate, receiving twice as much rainfall as Shikoku’s other chief cities Matsuyama and Takamatsu. It is also the most typhoon-prone of Japan’s major cities owing to its location directly exposed to the open Pacific Ocean from which the storms enter the country, and has twice received over 20 inches (510 mm) in a day from a typhoon.

Climate data for Kōchi (1981-2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 23.5
(74.3) 		25.2
(77.4) 		26.3
(79.3) 		30.0
(86.0) 		32.3
(90.1) 		34.7
(94.5) 		38.3
(100.9) 		38.4
(101.1) 		36.9
(98.4) 		32.2
(90.0) 		28.0
(82.4) 		23.5
(74.3) 		38.4
(101.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 11.9
(53.4) 		12.9
(55.2) 		15.9
(60.6) 		20.8
(69.4) 		24.4
(75.9) 		27.0
(80.6) 		30.7
(87.3) 		31.9
(89.4) 		29.3
(84.7) 		24.5
(76.1) 		19.3
(66.7) 		14.3
(57.7) 		21.9
(71.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 1.6
(34.9) 		2.7
(36.9) 		6.0
(42.8) 		10.7
(51.3) 		15.2
(59.4) 		19.4
(66.9) 		23.5
(74.3) 		24.0
(75.2) 		21.0
(69.8) 		14.9
(58.8) 		9.2
(48.6) 		3.8
(38.8) 		12.7
(54.8)
Record low °C (°F) −7.6
(18.3) 		−7.9
(17.8) 		−6.5
(20.3) 		−0.9
(30.4) 		3.8
(38.8) 		9.1
(48.4) 		14.6
(58.3) 		15.9
(60.6) 		10.0
(50.0) 		2.5
(36.5) 		−1.9
(28.6) 		−6.6
(20.1) 		−7.9
(17.8)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 58.6
(2.31) 		106.3
(4.19) 		190.0
(7.48) 		244.3
(9.62) 		292.0
(11.50) 		346.4
(13.64) 		328.3
(12.93) 		282.5
(11.12) 		350.0
(13.78) 		165.7
(6.52) 		125.1
(4.93) 		58.4
(2.30) 		2,547.6
(100.32)
Average rainy days 13.1 13.5 16.5 14.7 15.9 19.1 20.1 18.8 18.5 13.7 12.0 12.3 188.2
Average relative humidity (%) 60 59 62 64 70 77 78 75 73 68 67 63 68
Mean monthly sunshine hours 188.4 173.1 184.1 191.7 185.6 142.4 175.7 205.8 162.0 182.4 170.3 192.7 2,154.2
Source 1: 平年値（年・月ごとの値）
Source 2: 観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）

History

Kōchi Castle

The river plain now containing the city centre was originally settled as a castle town around the seat of the lords of Tosa Province, Kōchi Castle. The castle site was chosen by Lord Yamauchi Kazutoyo in 1601. The city takes its name from that of the castle. As the centre of administration for the province, and the prefecture which succeeded it, the town rapidly grew to become the largest settlement of the region.

During the time of the Meiji Restoration, Kōchi became famous as a centre of pro-imperial ideology, and later for incubating democratic and human rights movements.

The city was incorporated on April 1, 1889.

Tram service began in the city on May 2, 1904, and the city was connected to the national rail network on November 12, 1951.

On April 1, 1998, the city was designated as the first core city on Shikoku.

On January 1, 2005 the villages of Kagami and Tosayama, both from Tosa District, merged with the city, and on January 1, 2008 the town of Haruno from Agawa District also merged with the city.

Government

The administrative functions of the city of Kōchi are directed by an elected mayor and 42-member assembly. The current mayor (since 2003) is Seiya Okazaki.

Education

Kōchi is home to two universities, Kōchi University and Kōchi Women's University, and four junior colleges. The city directly administers Kōchi Commercial High School, and 15 other high schools are located within the city boundaries.

Events

Kōchi's most famous festival is the Yosakoi which is held in August. Teams of dancers dance to traditional and modern songs at various places around Kōchi. The total number of dancers is in the thousands.

Obiyamachi in downtown Kochi

Tourism

For the most relevant tourist information regarding what to do, where to eat, and art/music events updated by local authors, the Kochi Beat is the best English guide that exist for the prefecture. It is a must check resource for anyone interested in visiting or living in Kochi.

Kōchi Castle still exists in its pre-restoration form, and is one of the main tourist attractions. Other places of interest in the city centre are the Obiyamachi (帯屋町) shopping arcade, the regular Sunday street markets which are close to a kilometre in length, and Harimaya-bashi (はりまや橋), a bridge that featured in a famous Kōchi song about the forbidden love of a Buddhist priest.

The mountain Godaisan (五台山) holds a public park with views of the city, and is home to stop 31 on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, Chikurin-ji (竹林寺), as well as the Makino Botanical Garden.

The Shinto Shrine Tosa jinja is located west of the city, not far from the Buddhist temmple Zenraku-ji.[2]

Harimaya-bashi

Off of Museum Road (Kenritsu Bijutsukandori) is the Kōchi Art Museum, where the main collection is composed of expressionistic works related to Kōchi.[3]

At the mouth of Urado Bay, the remnants of Urado Castle (an earlier provincial seat) stand above Katsurahama (桂浜), a famous beach with an aquarium and statue of the Kōchi hero Sakamoto Ryōma. Nearby on the grounds is the Sakamoto Ryōma Memorial Museum.[4]

Transport

The most visible form of transport within Kōchi is the tram service run by Tosa Electric Railway. Its three lines with historic cars service the major north-south and east-west axes of the city.

The city also has an extensive bus network.

Kōchi is located on the JR Shikoku's Dosan Line connecting it to northern Shikoku, and via interchanges with the Tosa Kuroshio Railway to the eastern and western parts of Kōchi Prefecture. JR's central station in Kōchi is Kōchi Station.

Kōchi is also serviced by the Kōchi interchange of the Kōchi Expressway which connects to the national expressway system.

Kōchi Ryōma Airport in nearby Nankoku serves Kōchi.

Notable natives and residents

  • Nakahama Manjirō (1827 – 1898) was one of the first Japanese people to visit the United States and an important translator during the Opening of Japan.
  • Okada Izō (1832 – 1865) was a samurai of the late Edo period, feared as one of the four most notable assassins of the Bakumatsu period.
  • Sakamoto Ryōma (1836 – 1867) was a leader of the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period.
  • Itagaki Taisuke (1837 – 1919) was a politician and leader of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, which evolved into Japan's first political party.
  • Tsutomu Seki (born 1930) is an astronomer who has discovered a number of comets and asteroids.
  • Nobuo Uematsu (born 1959) is a video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series.
  • Ryōko Hirosue (born 1980) is an actress and pop star, best known in the West for her roles in the Luc Besson-produced Wasabi and the Academy Award-winning Japanese film Departures.
  • Aaron Zagory (born 1985) is a Kōchi-born former US college football player, and the starting kicker for Stanford University in 2006 and 2008.

Sister cities

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Tosa Cuisine" Kochi City Online Guide, in English
  2. ^ Kochi Prefectural Museum of History, map; retrieved 2011-08-09
  3. ^ "Welcome to the Museum of Art, Kōchi" 財団法人 高知県文化財団 (Cultural Foundation, Kochi Prefecture, Japan) in English
  4. ^ "Sakamoto Ryōma Memorial Museum" 財団法人 高知県文化財団 (Cultural Foundation, Kochi Prefecture, Japan) in English
  5. ^ "The Twin City".

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kochi, Kochi.
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