Suzuka, Mie

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Suzuka (鈴鹿市; -shi) is a city located in Mie, Japan, about 50 miles south west of Nagoya.

As of 2006, the city has an estimated population of 199,975 and the density of 1027.25 people per km². The total area is 194.67 km².

Suzuka City is in a unique position within Mie prefecture, located by the Suzuka Quasi National Park (The Suzuka, Shiga Dividing range), since the industrial boom it has been a major funnel or interchange point for the main commuter train lines for some years. The train lines from South Mie (Ise/Toba) meet the Kansai (Osaka/Nara/Wakayama) line and The Nagoya, local, tetsudo line all pass through the city. Due to the unique mix of commuter passage through Suzuka city, the local dialect (in Japanese "hoegen") is a highly unique mixture of three, very disimilar variations of Japanese depending specifically on proximity to a particular train line which are all within 20 kilometers of each other. In recent years this mix of populus has posed a highly unique problem within the city as communication problems with city officials, police, citizens and industry visitors have been exposed to a severe communication breakdown. The cities governing officials have recently impemented a plan requiring all members of an authoritarian position to be coherent in all dialects, which is rare milestone in Japan.

Suzuka also bosts a significant industrial market, having major factories for both Sharp and Honda within its bounds. These companies outsource the majority of its labor to Brazilian or South American Nationals in order to secure a contract based workforce. Although the Japanese Federal Government is encouraging mandatory English education across the nation within Suzuka city there are many courses offered, not only by cram schools (in Japanese "juku") but also by publicly funded institutions, supporting Portuguese and Spanish in order to compensate for the ever growing South American Community. In a controversial move, the city's governing body, from April 2004, requires all garbage information and local signage to be displayed in both Japanese and Portuguese but not English.

The city was founded on December 1, 1942.

[edit] Motor racing circuit

Suzuka Circuit has been the home of the Japanese Grand Prix since 1987. It is the only figure-of-eight circuit in the championship, and is very popular with the drivers. Located next to the circuit is the Honda Safety Riding/Driving School, where thousands of car and motorcycle drivers have been trained, including many police officers and instructors throughout the world.