Wakayama Prefecture

Wakayama-ken ; 和歌山県
Basic data
Administrative headquarters :	Wakayama
Region :	Kinki
Main island :	Honshu
Area :	4,724.65 km²
Water content:	0.04 %
Residents :	923,721 ; (October 1, 2019)
Population density :	196 inhabitants per km²
Counties :	6th
Municipalities :	30th
ISO 3166-2 :	JP-30
Governor :	Yoshinobu Nisaka
Website:	www.pref.wakayama.lg.jp
Symbols
Prefecture flag :
Prefecture tree :	Stone linden oak
Prefecture flower :	Ume
Vogel prefecture :	Japanese eyeglass bird
Fish prefecture :	tuna
Prefecture song :	Wakayama-kenminka; ("Song of the Citizens of Wakayama") ; Composer: Kōsaku Yamada

The Wakayama Prefecture ( Jap. 和歌山県 , Wakayama-ken ) is a prefecture of Japan . It is located in the Kinki region on the island of Honshu . Its administrative headquarters are in Wakayama .

geography

Wakayama Prefecture is on the southwest side of the Kii Peninsula . Thus, a large part of its 600 km long coastline borders the Seto Inland Sea . To the north is Osaka Prefecture and to the northeast is Nara and Mie Prefectures . On the border of these two prefectures there are also two exclaves : a district of Shingū and the entire municipality of Kitayama , the only municipality in Japan.

As on the entire Kii Peninsula, mountains and nature determine the landscape, the larger cities are mostly on the coast. Due to the somewhat remote location, the population here is lower than in the rest of Kansai , more than a third of all residents of the prefecture live in the capital of the same name, Wakayama .

politics

Political groups in the prefecture parliament
(as of May 7, 2019)

A total of 41 seats

LDP : 27
Kaishin Club (with KDP , DVP ): 5
KPY : 4
Kōmeitō : 3
Mushozoku no Kai: 2

The governor of Wakayama has been the former central government official Yoshinobu Nisaka since 2006 , who was most recently confirmed for a fourth term in the 2018 gubernatorial election with the support of LDP, DVP , Kōmeitō and SDP against just one communist candidate with over 80% of the votes. In parliament, which held Liberal Democratic Party in the elections in April 2019 its absolute majority.

The three constituencies Wakayamas for the lower house of the national parliament won in the last elections in 2017 unchanged Shūhei Kishimoto (Constituency 1, 4. term, Kibo no Tō , meanwhile DVP), Masatoshi Ishida (Constituency 2, 7. term, LDP) and Toshihiro Nikai (Constituency 3, 12th term, LDP); in the upper house , to which Wakayama sends one MP per election, Liberal Democrats have consistently represented the prefecture since the Liberal Democratic Party was founded in 1955, with only one temporary exception ( Yōsuke Tsuruho was elected to the Liberal Party in 1998 and only joined later).

The main building of the Prefectural Administration in Wakayama City was built in 1938. The session room of the Prefectural Parliament is also located here.

Attractions

The prefecture is best known for its beautiful nature, especially in connection with the numerous sacred mountains and Shinto sites . The Kumano Sanzan and the mountain Kōya and its pilgrim routes are 2,004 in connection with the holy sites in Yoshino / Omine ( Nara Prefecture ) to the World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range been appointed. The Yoshino-Kumano National Park , the Kongō-Ikoma-Kisen and Kōya-Ryūjin quasi-national parks , as well as the marine reserve of Kushimoto are attractions for nature and hiking enthusiasts who are looking for a little relaxation from the daily stress at work. These can also be found in the popular hot springs of Katsuura Onsen, Kawayu Onsen, Shirahama Onsen or Ryūjin Onsen.

Coastal sections worth seeing are Shirahama (the sandy beaches are also popular with the Japanese in summer), Kushimoto and Yura. The Nachi waterfall in Katsuura and the castle of Wakayama are also known.

Administrative division

In 1920 there were still 232 parishes, of which 207 were villages. As in the rest of Japan, the number of parishes in Wakayama Prefecture fell steadily (1950 = 204, 1955 = 118). In 1960 there were still 52 municipalities (38 towns belonging to a district, 7 towns and villages each). The last incorporations took place in 2006 and since then there are 9 independent towns ( Shi ), 20 small towns ( Chō ) and one village ( Mura ), the latter organized in 6 districts ( Gun ). Wakayama, seat of the prefecture administration, has also been a "core city" ( chūkakushi ) since 1997 .

In the table below, the districts ( 郡 ) are shown in italics, below each (indented) the small towns ( 町 ) and the village ( 村 ) within them. A dependency between rural district and small town can also be seen in the first three digits of the code (1st column). The independent cities are at the beginning of the table.

code	Surname		Area (in km²)	population	Population density (inh / km²)
code	Rōmaji	Kanji	01.10.2017 ¹	01.10.2018 ³	01/10/2015 ²
30201	Wakayama- shi	和歌山市	208.84	357,868	364.154	1743.7
30202	Kainan- shi	海南市	101.06	49,638	51,860	513.16
30203	Hashimoto- shi	橋本市	130.55	61,599	63,621	487.33
30204	Arida- shi	有田市	36.83	26,937	28,470	773.01
30205	Gobo- shi	御坊市	43.91	23,681	24,801	564.81
30206	Tanabe- shi	田辺市	1026.91	71,563	74,770	72.81
30207	Shingu- shi	新宮市	255.23	27,769	29,331	114.92
30208	Kinokawa- shi	紀の川市	228.21	59,989	62,616	274.38
30209	Iwade- shi	岩出市	38.51	53,453	53,452	1388
30300	Kaisō-gun	海草郡	128.34	8,533	9.206	71.73
30304	Kimino-cho	紀美野町	128.34	8,533	9.206	71.73
30340	Ito-gun	伊都郡	332.88	23,483	24,721	74.26
30341	Katsuragi-cho	かつらぎ町	151.69	16,249	16,992	112.02
30343	Kudoyama-cho	九度山町	44.15	4114	4377	99.14
30344	Koya-cho	高野町	137.03	3120	3352	24.46
30360	Arida gun	有田郡	437.97	44,167	45,785	104.54
30361	Yuasa-chō	湯浅町	20.79	11,541	12,200	586.82
30362	Hirogawa-cho	広川町	65.33	6856	7224	110.58
30366	Aridagawa-cho	有田川町	351.84	2577	26361	74.92
30380	Hidaka-gun	日高郡	655.38	49,552	51,544	78.65
30381	Mihama-cho	美浜町	12.77	7179	7480	585.75
30382	Hidaka-cho	日高町	46.19	7641	7641	165.43
30383	Yura-cho	由良町	30.94	5432	5837	188.66
30390	Inami-cho	印南町	113.62	7748	8068	71.01
30391	Minabe- cho	みなべ町	120.28	12.114	12,742	105.94
30392	Hidakagawa-cho	日高川町	331.59	9438	9776	29.48
30400	Nishimuro gun	西牟婁郡	432.79	39,691	40,649	93.92
30401	Shirahama-cho	白浜町	200.98	20,787	21,533	107.14
30404	Kamitonda-cho	上富田町	57.37	15,080	14,989	261.27
30406	Susami-cho	すさみ町	174.45	3824	4127	23.66
30420	Higashimuro gun	東牟婁郡	667.22	36,128	38,599	57.85
30421	Nachikatsuura-chō	那智勝浦町	183.31	14,643	15,682	85.55
30422	Taiji- cho	太地町	5.81	2916	3087	531.33
30424	Kozagawa- chō	古座川町	294.23	2640	2826	9.6
30427	Kitayama-mura	北山村	48.20	426	446	9.25
30428	Kushimoto-cho	串本町	135.67	15,503	16,558	122.05

Shi-bu ( All shi , part of urban districts)	市部	2070.05	732.497	753.075	363.8
Gun-bu ( All gun , proportion of counties)	郡部	2654.58	201,554	210.504	79.3

30000	Wakayama-ken (Wakayama Prefecture)	和歌山県	4724.64	934.051	963.579	203.95

swell

¹ Area data from 2017
² Results of the 2015 census
³ Estimated population 2018

Biggest places

Former and existing cities (-shi)
Census year	Residents
2015	2010	2005	2000
Wakayama	364.154	370.364	375,591	386,551
Tanabe	74,770	79.119	82,499	70,360
Hashimoto	63,621	66,361	53,929	55,071
Kinokawa	62,616	65,840	——	——
Iwade	53,452	52,882	——	——
Kainan	51,860	54,783	57,744	45.507
Shingu	29,331	31,498	33,790	33.133
Arida	28,470	30,592	32,143	33,661
Gobo	24,801	26,111	27.053	28,034

On November 1, 2005, 5 municipalities merge to form the city of Kinokawa.
On April 1, 2006, the city of Iwade , which belongs to the district, receives the status of an independent city

Population development in the prefecture

Census population
Census year	Total population	male population	female population	Gender ratio men to 1000 women	Area in km ²	Population density per km ²
1920	750.411	372.058	378.353	983	4732.66	158.6
1925	787.511	392.191	395.320	992	4732.66	166.4
1930	830.748	415.035	415.713	998	4723.42	175.9
1935	864.087	428,638	435,449	984	4723.48	182.9
1940	865.074	427.217	437.857	976	4723.48	183.1
1945	936.006	430.015	505.991	850	4723.48	198.2
1950	982.113	475,324	506.789	938	4732.40	207.5
1955	1,006,819	490.533	516.286	950	4714.99	213.5
1960	1.002.191	484.994	517.197	938	4714.99	212.6
1965	1,026,975	497.256	529.719	939	4716.23	217.8
1970	1,042,736	503.202	539,534	933	4718.69	221.0
1975	1,072,118	517,868	554.250	934	4722.41	227.0
1980	1,087,012	523.467	563,545	929	4723.18	230.1
1985	1,087,206	520.172	567.034	917	4724.62	230.1
1990	1,074,325	510.777	563,548	906	4722.34	227.5
1995	1,080,435	513.450	566,985	906	4724.29	228.7
2000	1,069,912	506,882	563.030	900	4725.55	226.4
2005	1,035,969	488.022	547.947	891	4726.08	219.2
2010	1,002,198	471.397	530.801	888	4726.29	212.1
2015	963.579	453.216	510.363	888	4724.69	204.0