Shimada, Shizuoka
| Shimada 島田市 |
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Horai bridge in Shimada
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 Location of Shimada in Shizuoka Prefecture |
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 Shimada
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| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
| Country | Japan | ||
| Region | Chūbu (Tōkai) | ||
| Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture | ||
| Government | |||
| • -Mayor | Katsurō Sakurai | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 315.70 km2 (121.89 sq mi) | ||
| Population (September 2015) | |||
| • Total | 97,684 | ||
| • Density | 309/km2 (800/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) | ||
| Symbols | |||
| • Tree | Osmanthus | ||
| • Flowers | Rose, azalea | ||
| • Bird | Blue-and-white flycatcher | ||
| Phone number | 0547-37-8200 | ||
| Address | 1-1 Chūō-chō, Shimada-shi, Shizuoka-ken 427-8501 | ||
| Website | www |
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Shimada (島田市 Shimada-shi?) is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
As of September 2015, the city had an estimated population of 97,684 and a population density of 309 persons per km2. The total area was 315.7 square kilometres (121.9 sq mi).
Contents
Geography
Shimada is located in the Shida Plains of west-central Shizuoka Prefecture. It is located on both banks of the Ōi River. The area enjoys a warm maritime climate with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters.
Surrounding municipalities
Shizuoka Prefecture
- Aoi-ku, Shizuoka
- Tenryū-ku, Hamamatsu
- Fujieda
- Kakegawa
- Kikugawa
- Makinohara
- Yaizu
- Yoshida, Haibara District
- Kawanehon, Haibara District
- Mori, Shuchi District
History
Shimada (Kanaya) began as an outlying fortification to Kakegawa Castle erected by Yamauchi Kazutoyo in the Sengoku period to control the crossing of the Ōi River. In the Edo period, Kanaya-juku and Shimada-juku developed as post towns on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto. The area was mostly tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate with a daikansho based at a Jinya located within Shimada-juku. As the Tokugawa shogunate forbade the construction of any bridge or establishment of a ferry service on the Ōi River for defensive purposes, travellers were often detained at either Shimada or Kanaya for days, sometimes weeks, waiting for the river levels to fall to fordable levels. The first bridge (the Hōrai Bridge) across the river connected these two towns in 1879, after the Meiji Restoration.
During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period in 1889, Kanaya Town was created within Haibara District, and Shimada Town within Shida District. On April 16, 1889, the two towns were connected by rail, with the opening of Shimada Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line.
Shimada was elevated to city status on January 1, 1948. On January 1, 1955, it annexed neighboring Rokugo Village, Otsu Village, Daichō Village and a portion of Ikumi Village. On June 1, 1961 it further expanded through annexation of Hatsukura Village.
On May 1, 2005, the town of Kanaya (from Haibara District) was merged into Shimada.
On April 1, 2008, the town of Kawane (also from Haibara District) was also merged into Shimada.
On March 15, 2012, the city became the second municipality, after Tokyo, outside Tōhoku to accept debris from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami for disposal in the town's incinerators. Other cities had been reluctant to accept debris from the disaster, in spite of being asked to help recovery efforts, because of fears that the debris were contaminated by radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.[1]
Economy
The economy of Shimada is primarily agricultural, with green tea as the main crop. Light industries include factories for the production of automobile components.
Education
Shimada has 18 elementary schools, nine middle schools and five high schools, as well as one special education school.
Transportation
Railway
Owada • Ieyama • Nukuri • Kawaneonsen-Sasamado
Highway
International relations
Shimada is twinned with the following cities.
Himi, Toyama, Japan, from April 15, 1987
Huzhou, Zhejiang, China,[2] from May 1987
Brienz, Switzerland,[2] from August 10, 1986
Richmond, California, United States,[3] from December 1961. There is currently a student exchange program between Shimada and Richmond.
Local attractions
Notable people from Shimada
- Masafumi Gotō - musician
- Tarzan Goto - professional wrestler
- Yukihiro Ikeda - musician
- Takahiro Kawamura - professional football player
- Kayoko Kishimoto - actress
- Sho Naruoka - professional football player
- Hirotoki Onozawa - professional rugby player
- Masaki Yamamoto - professional football player
References
- ↑ Kyodo News, "City of Shimada to accept debris from Iwate to help reconstruction", Japan Times, 16 March 2012, p. 1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Official website (Japanese)
- Shimada City official website (English)
| Wards of Shizuoka (capital city) |
 |
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|---|---|---|
| Wards of Hamamatsu | ||
| Other cities | ||
| Kamo District | ||
| Tagata District | ||
| Suntō District | ||
| Haibara District | ||
| Shūchi District | ||
