Matsusaka, Mie

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**Matsusaka**
**松阪市**
Matsusaka's location in Mie, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Mie
Physical characteristics
Area	623.80 km² (240.85 sq mi)
Population (as of November 2006)
Total	171,065
Density	274.23 /km² (710 /sq mi)
Location	34°35′N, 136°32′E
Symbols
Tree	Pine
Flag
Matsusaka Government Office
Mayor	Takeshi Shimomura
Address	〒515-8515 1340-1 Tonomachi, Matsusaka-shi, Mie-ken
Phone number	0598-53-4311
Official website: City of Matsusaka

Matsusaka (松阪市, Matsusaka-shi^?), sometimes called Matsuzaka, is a city located in central Mie Prefecture, on the island of Honshū, Japan. The city is famous for its beef.

1 History
- 1.1 Founding
- 1.2 Significant Events
2 Famous People
3 Neighbors
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Founding

Matsusaka was founded in 1588 in Ise Province (伊勢国; -no kuni) or Seishu (勢州; seishū) by Gamo Ujisato. Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent Gamo to Ise's Matsugashima, a fief of 120,000 koku, in 1584. In 1588, Gamo began construction of a castle in the Yoiho (四五百; yoiho) forest and named the site "Matsusaka" (松阪; matsusaka), with characters meaning "pine" and "hill/slope".

[edit] Significant Events

Feb 01, 1933 - Matsusaka city is founded.
Jan 01, 2005 - Matsusaka merges with the surrounding towns of Ureshino, Mikumo, Iinan, and Iitaka to form a new expanded Matsusaka city.

[edit] Famous People

Mitsui Takatoshi (三井高利) (1622 - 1694) - founder of the Mitsui zaibatsu.
Motoori Norinaga (本居宣長) (1730 - 1801) - scholar of the Edo period whose teachings were based on the kokugaku, the rejection all foreign, particularly Chinese, influence on Japanese culture.