Kumamoto

Kumamoto
Climate diagram
	Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
	Source: [Japan Meteorological Agency]

Kumamoto City Hall
Kumamoto-shi ; 熊本市
Geographical location in Japan
Region :	Kyushu
Prefecture :	Kumamoto
Coordinates :	32 ° 48 ' N , 130 ° 42' E Coordinates: 32 ° 48 '11 " N , 130 ° 42' 28" E
Basic data
Surface:	389.54 km²
Residents :	739,393 ; (October 1, 2019)
Population density :	1898 inhabitants per km²
Community key :	431001
Postal code area :	860-0006 - 862-0961
Symbols
Flag / coat of arms:
Tree :	ginkgo
Flower :	Higo - camellia
Bird :	Great tit
town hall
Address :	Kumamoto City Hall ; 1 - 1 , Tetori-honchō; Kumamoto -shi ; Kumamoto 860-8601
Website URL:	http://www.city.kumamoto.jp/
Location of Kumamoto in Kumamoto Prefecture

Kumamoto ( Japanese 熊本市 , - shi ) is a city and the administrative seat of the prefecture of the same name Kumamoto on Kyūshū , the southernmost of the large islands of Japan . On April 1, 2012, Kumamoto was designated a city ( seirei shitei toshi ) by government decree . This makes Kumamoto the 20th such city in Japan.

geography

Kumamoto is located north-central in the prefecture of Kumamoto approx. 110 km south of Fukuoka and approx. 180 km north of Kagoshima . With 739,393 inhabitants, Kumamoto is the 17th largest city in Japan and the third largest on Kyushu after Fukuoka and Kitakyushu .

Kumamoto's boroughs

City structure

Since April 1, 2012, Kumamoto has been divided into five districts ( - ku ):

code	Surname		Area (in km²)	population	Population density (inh / km²)	...
code	Rōmaji	Kanji	01.10.2017 ¹	01.10.2018 ²	01/10/2015 ³	...
43101	Chūō-ku	中央区	25.45	188.108	186,300	7,320.24	Mitte district
43102	Higashi-ku	東区	50.19	188,695	190.451	3,794.60	East district
43103	Nishi-ku	西区	89.33	91,273	93.171	1,043.00	West district
43104	Minami-ku	南区	110.01	129,695	127,769	1,161.43	South district
43105	Kita-ku	北区	115.34	141,785	143.131	1,240.95	North district
Kumamoto-shi		熊本市	390.32	739,556	740.822	1,897.99

Neighboring cities and communities

climate

The annual average temperature is approx. 16 ° C and precipitation between 1,500 mm and 2,400 mm per year. Apart from the regions on the Ariake Sea , there is a continental warm-temperate climate with large temperature differences between summer and winter. Summer is characterized by great heat and high humidity. In winter, temperatures drop below freezing at times and it snows occasionally.

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Kumamoto

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	10.5	12.1	15.7	21.3	25.6	28.2	31.7	33.2	29.2	24.6	18.5	13.0	O	22nd
Min. Temperature (° C)	1.2	2.3	5.6	10.3	15.2	19.8	24.0	24.4	20.8	14.2	8.3	3.1	O	12.5

Precipitation ( mm )	60.1	83.3	137.9	145.9	195.5	404.9	400.8	173.5	170.4	79.4	80.6	53.6	Σ	1,985.9

Rainy days ( d )	8.6	9.0	12.4	10.9	11.1	14.4	13.5	10.7	10.6	6.9	7.9	8.2	Σ	124.2

Source: [Japan Meteorological Agency]

politics

City parliament groups
(as of May 2019)

A total of 48 seats

LDP : 22
Shimin rengō ("Citizens' Union"): 8
Kōmeitō : 8
Reiwa ・ Jimin Club (" Reiwa LDP Club"): 5
KPY : 2
Two other factions: 3

Mayor of Kumamoto City (Kumamoto-shichō) has been Kazufumi Ōnishi since 2014 , previously since 1997 a member of the Kumamoto Prefectural Parliament for the then constituency of Kumamoto City. He replaced Seishi Kōyama , who was not running for a fourth term. In the mayoral election in 2018, Ōnishi was confirmed with LDP - Kōmeitō -support against only one, KPD -supported challenger with almost 89% of the votes for a second term.

The parliament of the city of Kumamoto (Kumamoto-shigikai) has a regular 48 members, after being named a major city, the districts have functioned as constituencies since 2015 (Chūō-ku 11, Higashi-ku 13, Nishi-ku 6, Minami-ku 8, Kita- ku 10). It was re-elected in the uniform regional elections in April 2019 . 23 candidates without party nominations were elected, 14 from the LDP.

In elections to the 48-member parliament of Kumamoto Prefecture (Kumamoto-kengikai) , the city of Kumamoto is now divided into two constituencies, which together elect 17 members (Kumamoto City I: 12, Kumamoto City II: 5). Of these (as of May 10, 2019) eight belong to the LDP parliamentary group, three from the “Democratic Bund Kumamoto” parliamentary group (Kumamoto minshu rengō) , one from the KDP parliamentary group, three from the Kōmeitō and one from the CPJ , one member is non-attached.

In elections to the House of Representatives ( Shūgiin ) , the lower house of the State Assembly ( Kokkai ) , the current city of Kumamoto extends into constituencies I and II since a reorganization of the constituencies in Kumamoto Prefecture for the 2017 House of Representatives elections , the latter also including the city of Arao and district and City of Tamana. Both constituencies defended the liberal democratic incumbents of the old constituencies I and II, Minoru Kihara (56.2%, 4th election victory) and Takeshi Noda (47.5%, 16th election; formerly LDP →… → NFP → LP → KP → ) in 2017 LDP).

Culture and sights

Kumamoto Castle

Suizenji Park

Attractions

The cityscape is shaped by the Kumamoto Castle , which was partially reconstructed in the 1960s . Some of the outbuildings of the castle, which was built in 1607 and destroyed by fire during the Satsuma rebellion in 1877, were still in their original state until the Kumamoto earthquake in 2016 . However, large parts of the castle were damaged or even destroyed by the earthquake.
The former residence of Hosokawa Gyobo, a younger brother of Hosokawa Tadatoshi , who was the daimyo of the Kumamoto feud from 1633 to 1641 , is a well-preserved samurai house that was moved to its current location near the castle in 1993.
Suizenji Park ( 水前寺成趣園 ), also known by the name ( 水前寺公園 ), is a landscape garden that was laid out by Hosokawa Tadatoshi beginning in 1636. Around the pond in the center of the park, stations of the historic Tōkaidō have been reproduced in miniature, including Mount Fuji.

Museums

Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art ( 熊本県立美術館 )
Kumamoto Municipal Museum ( 熊本市立熊本博物館 )
Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto ( 熊本市現代美術館 )

traffic

Street:
- Kyushu Highway
- National road 3 : to Kagoshima or Kitakyushu
Train:
- JR Kyushu Shinkansen : to Kagoshima or Fukuoka
- JR Kagoshima Main Line : to Kagoshima or Kitakyushu
- JR Hōhi main line : to Beppu

Kumamoto Airport is northeast of the city .

economy

In addition to the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, textile processing, paper manufacture and handicrafts are also of economic importance, there are production sites of semiconductor companies in the surrounding area and rice and tobacco are grown.

science and education

Universities and colleges

sons and daughters of the town

Sakurama Banma (1835-1917), no-actor
Mikiya Etō (* 1999), football player
Shōgo Matsuo (* 1987), football player
Masatoshi Mihara (* 1988), football player
Seiichirō Nakagawa (* 1979), track cyclist
Eiichirō Oda (* 1975), Mangaka
Kōki Ōtani (* 1989), football player
Kōdai Sakamoto (born 1995), football player
Yōko Shimada (born 1953), actress
Tokunaga Sunao (1899-1958), writer
Leo Takae (* 1998), soccer player

The ancestors of the former President of Peru , Alberto Fujimori , also come from the Kumamoto area.

Sports

Kumamoto is the home of the Roasso Kumamoto football club .
From November 30 to December 15, 2019, Kumamoto, along with Yamaga and Yatsushiro , hosted the 24th women's handball world championship . The final took place in the Park Dome Kumamoto .