Minamishimabara, Nagasaki

Minamishimabara
南島原市
City

Location of Minamishimabara in Nagasaki Prefecture
Minamishimabara

Location in Japan

Coordinates: 32°40′N 130°18′E / 32.667°N 130.300°ECoordinates: 32°40′N 130°18′E / 32.667°N 130.300°E
Country Japan
Region Kyushu
Prefecture Nagasaki Prefecture
Area
 • Total 169.89 km2 (65.59 sq mi)
Population (January 1, 2009)
 • Total 51,476
 • Density 303/km2 (780/sq mi)
Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Symbols
- Tree Ficus superba
- Flower Sunflower
Address 859-2211
Phone number 050-3381-5000
Website City of Minamishimabara

Minami-Shimabara (南島原市 Minami-Shimabara-shi) (English: South Shimabara City) is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It occupies the southern tip of Shimabara Peninsula.

As of January 1, 2009, the city has an estimated population of 51,476 and a population density of 303 persons per km². The total area is 169.89 km².

The modern city of Minamishimabara was founded on March 31, 2006, from the merger of the towns of Arie, Fukae, Futsu, Kazusa, Kita-Arima, Kuchinotsu, Minami-Arima and Nishi-Arie (all from Minamitakaki District). Therefore, Minamitakaki District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

History

The area now comprising Minamishimabara was under the control of the Arima clan, who ruled from Hinoe Castle in the Muromachi period. The area was the site of considerable foreign trade and Portuguese and Spanish missionary activity, and by the early Edo period, a large percentage of the population were Kirishitan. After the start of the national isolation policy, the Tokugawa Bakufu banned Christianity from 1614 and replaced Arima Naozumi with Matsukura Shigemasa, who relocated the capital of Shimabara Domain to Shimabara Castle is what is now Shimabara. Due to misgovernment, high taxes and persecution of Christianity, the population rose in the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637, with the peasants occupying the fortress of Hara Castle as their strongpoint. The rebellion was suppressed with extreme severity by the Tokugawa Bakufu, and the area of Minamishimabara was ruled by a branch of the Matsudaira clan from 1668-1774 and from 1774-1871.

External links

Media related to Minamishimabara, Nagasaki at Wikimedia Commons