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Wakayama 和歌山市
Core city
Wakayama City
Wakayama Castle, Nishinomaru Garden, Saikazaki, Kimiidera Temple, Downtown Wakayama viewed from the castle keep
FlagSeal
Location of Wakayama in Wakayama Prefecture
Wakayama
Coordinates: 34°14′N 135°10′E / 34.233°N 135.167°E / 34.233; 135.167
Country	Japan
Region	Honshu (Kansai)
Prefecture	Wakayama
Government
• Mayor	Masahiro Obana
Area
• Total	208.84 km (80.63 sq mi)
Population
• Total	351,391
• Density	1,700/km (4,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- Tree	Cinnamomum camphora
- Flower	Azalea
Address	23 Shichibancho, Wakayama-shi, Wakayama-ken 640-8511
Website	Official website

Wakayama (和歌山市, Wakayama-shi, pronounced [wakaꜜjama]) is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. As of 1 December 2021, the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 households and a population density of 1700 persons per km². The total area of the city is 208.84 square kilometres (80.63 sq mi).

Geography

Wakayama is located at the northwest corner of Wakayama Prefecture, bordered by Osaka Prefecture to the north and the Kii Channel and Kitan Strait to the west. It is located on the mouth of the Kinokawa River with the main urban center of the city on the river's left bank.

Neighboring municipalities

Hyōgo Prefecture

• Sumoto, Hyōgo (separated by the Kitan Strait)

Osaka Prefecture

• Hannan
• Misaki

Wakayama Prefecture

• Iwade
• Kainan
• Kinokawa

Climate

Wakayama has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Wakayama is 15.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1713 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.4 °C. The area is subject to typhoons in summer.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Wakayama peaked in the 1980s and has been declining slowly since.

History

The area of the modern city of Wakayama was the center of ancient Kii Province, and the Iwase-Senzuka Kofun Cluster is one of the largest clusters of kofun burial mounds in Japan. The area the home of the Kii Kuni no miyatsuko, a local king ruling the Kinokawa River Valley prior to the rise of the Yamato State. During the Nara period priests from Tang China built the Kimii-dera temple. From the Muromachi period, Waka-no-ura was a port on the Kinokawa River, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed the predecessor of Wakayama Castle during his conquest of Kii Province during the Sengoku period. During the Edo period, the castle town at the base of Wakayama Castle grew and prospered under the rule of the Kii Tokugawa clan as the center of Kishū Domain. After the Meiji restoration, Wakayama was granted city status on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The city suffered 1208 deaths and 1560 critically wounded in the July 9, 1945 Bombing of Wakayama during World War II, which destroyed more than half of the urban area. On April 1, 1997, Wakayama attained core city status, with increased local autonomy.

Government

Wakayama has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 38 members. Wakayama contributes 15 members to the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between Wakayama 1st district and Wakayama 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Wakayama is the main commercial city of northern Wakayama and is the largest city in Wakayama Prefecture. Primary industries include agriculture, notably rice and citrus fruits, and commercial fishing. Secondary industries are centered around electronics and heavy industry. Nippon Steel remains a major employer, although the city suffered considerably when former Sumitomo Steel shifted much of its production to China. Other major employers include Kao Corporation and Mitsubishi Electric.

Education

Colleges and universities

• Wakayama College of Science Studies
• Wakayama Medical University
• Wakayama Shin-ai University
• Wakayama University
• Takarazuka University of Medical and Health Care Medical School
• Tokyo Health Care University School of Nursing

Primary and secondary education

Wakayama has 50 public elementary schools, 19 public middle schools and one public high school operated by the city government and one private elementary school and three private middle schools. The Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education operates two public middle schools and 10 public high schools. There are also four private high schools. In addition, there is one elementary school and one high school run by Wakayama University.

The prefecture also operates five special education school for the handicapped, and one more is operated by Wakayama University.

The city has one North Korean school, Wakayama Korean Elementary and Middle School [ja] (和歌山朝鮮初中級学校).

Transportation

Railway

JR West – Hanwa Line

• Kii - Musota - Kii-Nakanoshima - Wakayama

JR West – Kisei Main Line

• Kimiidera - Miyamae - Wakayama - Kiwa - Wakayamashi

JR West – Wakayama Line

• Kii-Ogura - Hoshiya - Senda - Tainose - Wakayama

Wakayama Electric Railway Kishigawa Line

• Wakayama - Tanakaguchi - Nichizengū - Kōzaki - Kamayama - Kōtsū Center Mae - Okazakimae - Kire - Idakiso - Sandō

Nankai Electric Railway Nankai Main Line

• Wakayamadaigakumae - Kinokawa - Wakayamashi

Nankai Electric Railway Wakayamako Line

• Wakayamashi - Wakayamakō

Nankai Electric Railway Kada Line

• Wakayamashi - Kinokawa - Higashi-Matsue - Nakamatsue - Hachimanmae - Nishinoshō - Nirigahama - Isonoura - Kada

Bus

• Wakayama Bus

Highway

• Hanwa Expressway
• Keinawa Expressway
• National Route 24
• National Route 26
• National Route 42

Sister cities

Wakayama has sister-city relationships with four overseas cities:

• Bakersfield, California, United States
• Jeju, Jeju Province, South Korea
• Jinan, Shandong, China
• Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Wakayama City formed a sister-city relationship with the city of Jinan mainly due to the efforts of Hiroshi Yamazaki (山崎 宏), who was an escaped medic in the Imperial Japanese Army and stayed in China after the war. He married and runs his own clinic in China. In 1976, he visited Wakayama after nearly 40 years.

Local attractions

• Hinokuma Shrine
• Itakiso Shrine
• Kamayama Shrine
• Kimiidera
• Kishū Tōshō-gū
• The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama
• Wakayama Castle
• Wakayama Marina City
• Wakayama is home to one of Japan's three Melody Roads, which is made from grooves cut into the pavement, which when driven over causes a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the car body.

Wakayama Prefecture is famous across Japan for its umeboshi (salty pickled plums) and mikan (mandarins).

• Art Cube of Wakanoura
• Kimiidera
• The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama

References

1. "Wakayama city official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
2. Wakayama climate data
3. 気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値）. Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
4. Wakayama population statistics
5. ウリハッキョ一覧. Chongryon. Retrieved October 14, 2015. (Archive).
6. "Wakayama City: English Language Resources Center". Archived from the original on 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
7. "Wakayama City: English Language Resources Center". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
8. Johnson, Bobbie (13 November 2007). "Japan's melody roads play music as you drive". The Guardian. Farringdon Road, London, England: GMG. p. 19 (International section). Retrieved 20 October 2008.
9. "Your car as a musical instrument - Melody Roads". Noise Addicts. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.

External links

• Wakayama City official website (in Japanese)
• Wakayama City official website (in English)
• Wakayama City official Youtube channel(in Japanese)
• Wakayama City Tourist Association (in English)
• Waiker's Guide Map to Wakayama (in English)
• Geographic data related to Wakayama at OpenStreetMap

v t e Wakayama Prefecture
Wakayama (capital)
Core city	Wakayama
Cities	Arida Gobō Hashimoto Iwade Kainan Kinokawa Shingū Tanabe
Districts	Arida District Aridagawa Hirogawa Yuasa Hidaka District Hidaka Hidakagawa Inami Mihama Minabe Yura Higashimuro District Kitayama Kozagawa Kushimoto Nachikatsuura Taiji Ito District Katsuragi Kōya Kudoyama Kaisō District Kimino Nishimuro District Kamitonda Shirahama Susami
List of mergers in Wakayama Prefecture

v t e Cities in Japan with a population of 200,000+
2,000,000 and more	Tokyo (capital) Yokohama Osaka Nagoya
1,000,000–1,999,999	Sapporo Fukuoka Kobe Kyoto Kawasaki Saitama Hiroshima Sendai
500,000–999,999	Kitakyushu Chiba Setagaya Sakai Niigata Hamamatsu Shizuoka Sagamihara Nerima Okayama Ōta Kumamoto Edogawa Adachi Kagoshima Funabashi Hachiōji Kawaguchi Himeji Suginami Itabashi Matsuyama Higashiōsaka Utsunomiya
200,000–499,999	Matsudo Nishinomiya Kurashiki Ichikawa, Chiba Oita Fukuyama Amagasaki Kanazawa Nagasaki Kōtō Katsushika Yokosuka Toyama Toyota Takamatsu Machida Gifu Hirakata Fujisawa Kashiwa Toyonaka Nagano Toyohashi Ichinomiya Wakayama Okazaki Miyazaki Nara Suita Takatsuki Shinagawa Asahikawa Iwaki Kochi Takasaki Kōriyama Tokorozawa Kawagoe Kita Akita Ōtsu Koshigaya Maebashi Naha Nakano, Tokyo Shinjuku Yokkaichi Aomori Kurume Kasugai Morioka Akashi Fukushima Tsu Shimonoseki Nagaoka Ichihara Hakodate Yao Ibaraki, Osaka Fukui Meguro Kakogawa Tokushima Mito Hiratsuka Toshima Yamagata Sasebo Fuchū, Tokyo Kure, Hiroshima Hachinohe Saga Neyagawa Sōka Sumida Fuji Kasukabe Chigasaki Matsumoto Atsugi Yamato Ageo Takarazuka Chōfu Ōta, Gunma Tsukuba Numazu Joetsu Shibuya Minato Kumagaya Isesaki Nishitokyo Kishiwada Tottori

• Wakayama (city)
• Cities in Wakayama Prefecture
• Port settlements in Japan
• Populated coastal places in Japan