Nichinan, Miyazaki

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**Nichinan City**
**日南市**
Nichinan City's location in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Kyūshū
Prefecture	Miyazaki Prefecture
Physical characteristics
Area	294.46 km²
Population (as of 2006)
Total	43,976
Density	149.35/km²
Symbols
Tree	Obi Cedar
Flower	Japanese Silverleaf
Bird	Kingfisher
Nichinan City City Hall
Mayor	Mr. Yoshiyuki Taniguchi
Address	〒887-8585 1-1-1 Chuo Dori
Phone number	0987-31-1113
Official website: http://www.city-nichinan.jp/

Nichinan (日南市, Nichinan-shi^?) is a city located in Miyazaki, Japan.

As of April 1 2006 according to the 2005 National Census, the city has an estimated population of 43,976 and the density of 149.35 persons per km². The total area is 294.46 km². 3 and there are 17, 595 households in Nichinan.

Nichinan’s most productive industries are agriculture (mandarins and the early rice harvest thanks to the warmer climate), forestry (Obi Cedar), fishing (tuna and bonito) and paper (Oji paper Company’s Nichinan Factory).

Nichinan is on Kyushu which is subtropical, Nichinan's average annual temperature is 18.7 degrees celsius. The average annual rainfall is 2573.5 millilitres.

The city was founded on January 1, 1950.

1 Development and History
2 Tourism
3 City Lifestyle
- 3.1 Education
- 3.2 Medical Facilities
4 International Partnerships
5 Industry
6 Trivia
7 See also
8 External links
9 References

[edit] Development and History

It is said that Nichinan city began as part of the Fujiwara Manor in the Heian Era. Obi was one of the eight districts of Hyuga. After the Fief Ito became head of Hyuga in the Kamakura Era a long battle between Ito and Shimatsu surrounding Obi Castle continued throughout the civil war period. In 1587 Ito was finally able to take control of the castle by order of the Kyushu Shogun Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

In the period after the Edo Era, efforts were poured into quality education at the Shintoku Clan School in Obi which is where the Meiji Era diplomat Baron Jutaro Komura graduated from. On 1 January 1950 the city was established through an amalgamation of Agata town, Aburatsu town Obi town and Togo village. On 1 February 1955 Futo village and Hosoda town joined and the current Nichinan city was established on 1 April 1956 when it amalgamated with Sakatani Village, Kahara village and the Odotsu district.

In 1998 the eastern Kyushu expressway was extended to come as far as Kitago and Nichinan. Also, in 1999 a 12 meter wharf was completed at the eastern head of Aburatsu port and because of preparations for it to function as a harbor it was established as regular stopover for both domestic and foreign ships. It is progressing towards becoming an authentic international trading port. From 2001 until 2010 a general plan for the future of Nichinan was drawn and it has the simple theme of progressing Nichinan as “A city that combines its fragrant history and culture with the sunshine and lush green mountains”.

[edit] Tourism

Nichinan is surrounded by sightseeing spots including the Nichinan Coastline, Udo Shrine, Obi Castle Town, Horikawa Canal, Aburatsu Port and the terraced rice fields of Sakatani; all which are visited by many sightseers every year.

Tourists -

1,072,754 people per year.

Respective Sightseeing Locations -

Udo shrine – 695,000 visitors,
Saboten Cactus Herb garden – 98,000 visitors,
Sun messe Nichinan – 123,000 visitors,
Obi castle – 98,000 visitors,
Isakibana Park – 46,000 visitors.

[edit] City Lifestyle

[edit] Education

7 Kindergartens and 516 Students.
13 Elementary schools and 2629 Students.
7 Middle School and 1430 Students.
4 High Schools and 2022 students.

[edit] Medical Facilities

8 hospitals with 1160 beds.
38 Clinics with 149 beds.
22 dental facilities.

[edit] International Partnerships

Naha City (Okinawa Prefecture) (Since 24 April 1969)

Aburatsu Port and Naha Port have a long history of exchange, both economic and cultural. And during the war residents of Naha and Okinawa prefecture sought refuge in Nichinan City so if felt natural that the two cities sign a sister city agreement. They participate in many exchange activities between the city citizens – including sports exchanges like housewives volleyball, kids baseball.

Portsmouth City (United States of America) (Since 5 September 1985)

This sister city relationship was formed because Meiji Era diplomat Baron Jutaro Komura (born in Nichinan) was a signatory to the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, signed in Portsmouth between Russia and Japan

Inuyama City (Aichi Prefecture) (Since 10 August 2000)

The second daughter of Suketaka Ito (early chief of Obi castle) married the older brother of the first chief of Inuyama castle. So this sister city relationship was formed on an historical basis. The cities enact various exchanges, such as swapping products made from their respective native trees and performances of local dances.

Sister Port, Albany Port (Australia) (Synergetic Agreement signed on 26 February 2000)

The sister port relationship was formed to promote economic and cultural exchange between the two ports. Aburatsu Port started importing woodchips from Albany Port in 2001. There are high expectations for this exchange which involves not only the import of woodchips, but also a Junior high school student homestay program between Nichinan and Albany.

[edit] Industry

[edit] Agriculture

1769 Agricultural Households,
2130 employees.
1296 hectares of land used for agriculture.
¥9,020,000,000 per year.
Main Products are Sweet Peas, Mandarins, Kumquats, Green Peppers, rice and ponkan oranges.

[edit] Fishing

143 Fishing Businesses,
335 Fishing households,
518 Employees.

[edit] Forestry

1134 Forestry Households.
3451 hectares of land used for forestry.

[edit] Manufacturing

90 factories of more than 4 workers - 2416 employees.
Annual production is worth ¥47,236,370,000 per year.

[edit] Commerce

[edit] Wholesale

105 Enterprises with 718 Employees and ¥38,928,220,000 in annual sales.

[edit] Small Businesses

730 enterprises with 3385 Employees and ¥45,893,280,000 in annual sales

[edit] Trivia

Obi, Nichinan – part of the National Trust to preserve traditional architecture
Sakamoto Terraced Rice fields – ranked in the top 100 in Japan
Nichinan Gakuen High school baseball team made it to the national finals in 2004
Nichinan is location for Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball camp since 1963
2005 was the 150th anniversary of Baron Jutaro Komura’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty.
Obi, Nichinan was location for the TV drama “Wakaba” broadcast on NHK from September 2004 to March 2005.