Taiji (Wakayama)

Taiji-chō 太 地 町
Geographical location in Japan
Region :	Kinki
Prefecture :	Wakayama
Coordinates :	33 ° 36 '  N , 135 ° 57'  E Coordinates: 33 ° 35 '39 "  N , 135 ° 56' 39"  E
Basic data
Surface:	5.96 km²
Residents :	2848 (October 1, 2019)
Population density :	478 inhabitants per km²
Community key :	30422-1
Symbols
Flag / coat of arms:
Tree :	Euodia meliifolia
Flower :	Crinum asiaticum
Bird :	Blue Bear
town hall
Address :	Taiji Town Hall 3767 - 1 , OÁZA Taiji Taiji -chō, Higashimuro-gun Wakayama  649-5171
Website URL:	www.town.taiji.wakayama.jp
Location Taijis in Wakayama Prefecture

Taiji ( Jap. 太地町 , - chō ) is a coastal town in the district Higashimuro of Wakayama Prefecture , in Japan .

geography

It is located on the eastern tip of the Kii Peninsula , which is characterized by its ria at this point , on the Kumano Sea ( 熊 野 灘 , Kumano-nada ) of the Pacific Ocean . The warm Kuroshio sea ​​current also runs close to the coast, providing waters rich in fish. The municipality is characterized by a hilly landscape, the highest elevation being 92 m and located on the eastern edge of the center of Moriura.

The community is divided into two districts: Taiji forms the western municipality area, with the settlement mainly extending along the Taiji Bay ( 太 地 湾 , Taiji-wan ). The much smaller Moriura ( 森 浦 ) extends along the eastern Moriura Bay ( 森 浦 湾 , Moriura-wan ) with the settlement center at the southern end where the Yoneko-gawa ( 与 根子 川 ) is the only river to flow into the municipality.

history

With the introduction of the modern Japanese community system in 1878, Taiji became a mura (village community). On April 1, 1889, the neighboring village of Moriura was incorporated. The appointment to the chō (municipality) took place on April 1, 1925.

In contrast to most of the other municipalities in Japan that exist today, the city was spared the various waves of incorporation. Since 1889 there have been no further incorporations and the city again managed not to be incorporated itself, so that the area of ​​the municipality is unusually small at just under 6 km².

Taiji, for example, resisted this trend during the wave of incorporation in the 1950s, as it was more affluent than its neighboring communities, but also out of fear of losing its own identity as a whaling destination.

whaling

The city advertises to be the "place of origin of Japanese traditional whaling " ( 日本 の 古 式 捕鯨 発 祥 の 地 , Nihon no koshiki hogei hasshō no chi ).

This goes back to the fact that Wada Yorimoto ( 和田 頼 元 ), called Chūbē ( 忠 兵衛 ), founded organized whaling in Taiji in 1606 by having the whalers hunt in groups using special harpoons . In 1675 his descendant Wada Yoriharu ( 和田 頼 治 , later called Taiji Kakuemon ( 太 地 角 右衛門 )) introduced the "net hunting method" ( 網 取 り 法 , amitori-hō ), which was to be used for the following 200 years. The greatest misfortune in Taiji whaling occurred in December 1878 when more than 100 people were killed in a hunt.

Before the commercial whaling ban came into force in 1986, a large part of the city's population was employed in whaling or in related trades. Since the ban sharply reduced the demand for whale meat , the focus of the local economy was realigned to whale tourism.

Today dolphins are still hunted every year, partly for human consumption and partly for dolphinariums , with up to around 1,600 specimens being caught in 2007. These driven hunts became known around the world and internationally criticized by the film The Bay in 2009 .

and display information about the image

Koshiki Hogei Maki-e ( 古 式 捕鯨 蒔 絵 ). Lacquer painting from the Edo period showing whaling in Taiji.

traffic

The most important highway is the National Road 42 to Hamamatsu or the prefecture capital Wakayama .

Connection to the rail network is via the JR Central Kisei main line to Kameyama or Wakayama.

Attractions

"Whale Museum"

In the north of the municipality is the " Whale Beach Park " ( く じ ら 浜 公園 , Kujirahama-kōen ) on the grounds of which are:

• the “whale museum” ( く じ ら の 博物館 , kujira no hakubutsukan ) with over 1000 exhibits from the 400-year history of Taiji whaling;
• a dolphinarium with orca and porpoise shows;
• the Ozeaneum Marinarium ( マ リ ナ リ ュ ウ ム , Marinaryūmu );
• a complete 26 m long skeleton of a blue whale ;
• a historic, restored battue ship ( 勢 子 船 , sekobune );
• the "whaling museum ship" ( 捕鯨船 資料 館 , hogeisen shiryōkan ) - a walk-in whaling ship (weight: 696.94 t, length: 63.44 m, year of construction: 1956) -;
• the "Ishigaki Memorial" ( 石 垣 記念 館 , Ishigaki kinenkan ) in honor of the Taiji-born painter Ishigaki Eitarō ( 石 垣 栄 太郎 ; 1893–1958); such as
• the bathing beach of Hatakejiri Bay ( 畠 尻 湾 , Hatakejiri-wan ).

There are also other dolphinariums such as the Dolphin Base ( ド ル フ ィ ン ・ ベ ェ イ ス , Dorufin Beisu ) or the Dolphin Resort ( ド ル フ ィ ン リ ゾ ー ト , Dorufin Risōto ). Another memorial is the "Hiromitsu Ochiai Baseball Memorial" ( 落 合 博 満 野球 記念 館 , Ochiai Hiromitsu Yakyū Kinenkan ) in honor of the baseball player Hiromitsu Ochiai , who vacationed here several times. It was the first memorial to honor a professional player in Japan.

Every year on August 14th the “Waltanz” ( く じ ら 踊 , Kujira Odori ) is performed at the summer festival . The special thing about this dance is that it is only performed with the upper body, as the dancers sit in boats. This dance has been recognized as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Wakayama Prefecture since May 25, 1970.

education

There is a primary and a middle school in Taiji.

Town twinning

• Broome : On May 7, 1981, Broome, Australia , became the sister city of Taiji. The links between the two cities date back to the beginning of the century, when Japan was instrumental in establishing Broome's pearl fishery. After the release of the film The Bay and strong national and international pressure, Broome City Council decided on August 22, 2009 that it could no longer continue the relationship as a sister city. However, the Broome City Council withdrew this decision shortly afterwards with an apology to Taiji.

• Hakuba : Since October 31, 1984, there has also been a domestic friendship with the ski resort of Hakuba in Nagano prefecture .

sons and daughters of the town

• Ishigaki Eitarō (1893-1958), painter

literature

• Kalland, A./Moeran, B. 1992. Japanese Whaling: End of an Era? London: Curzon Press, ISBN 0-7007-0244-X
• Sowa, F. 2013. Taiji: A Japanese whaling city after the moratorium. In: Fluke. Magazine for whale motif collectors , issue 25, issue 2/2013, pp. 50–53.
• Sowa, F. 2013. The construction of indigenousness using the example of international whaling: Greenlandic and Japanese whalers striving for recognition. In: Anthropos. International Journal of Ethnology and Linguistics. 108 (2), pp. 445-462.

Web links

Commons : Taiji, Wakayama  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} 地理 院 地 図 - 国土 地理 地 図 - "Map of the Authority for Geographical Information - Geographical National Map". In: watchizu.gsi.go.jp. Retrieved September 7, 2019 (Japanese, official topographic map). 
2. ↑ Arne Kalland, Brian Moeran: Japanese Whaling. End of an era? Routledge, 2011, ISBN 978-0-415-58819-5 , pp. 25 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search - first edition from 1992).
3. ↑ ^{a b} ク ジ ラ の 町 太 地 町 の 観 光 情報 . Taiji, accessed September 8, 2011 (Japanese). 
4. ↑ ^{a b} 太 地 町 の 歴 史 と 文化 を 探 る . Taiji, accessed September 8, 2011 (Japanese). 
5. ↑ Arne Kalland, Brian Moeran: Japanese Whaling. End of an era? Routledge, 2011, ISBN 978-0-415-58819-5 , pp. 21 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search - first edition from 1992).
6. ↑ Minoru Matsutani: Taiji told to stop dolphin carnage or sister ties end. In: The Japan Times Online. Retrieved January 12, 2011 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} く じ ら 浜 公園 . Taiji, accessed September 9, 2011 (Japanese). 
8. ↑ ま つ り だ 和 歌 山 . (No longer available online.) In: 和 歌 山 県 ガ イ ド ブ ッ ク WEB . Wakayama Prefecture, archived from the original on April 17, 2012 ; Retrieved September 1, 2019 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ 県 指定 文化 財 ・ 民俗 文化 財 . (No longer available online.) Wakayama Prefecture, archived from original on June 1, 2009 ; Retrieved September 1, 2019 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ Australian town embraces Taiji again. In: The Japan Times Online. October 15, 2009, accessed September 9, 2011 .