Matsusaka (松阪市,Matsusaka-shi, Local dialect:Mattsaka orMassaka) is acity located inMie Prefecture,Japan. As of 1 August 2021^[update], the city had an estimatedpopulation of 157,235 in 66,018 households and apopulation density of 250 people per km².^[1] The total area of the city is 623.64 square kilometres (240.79 sq mi). The city is famous forMatsusaka beef.

Matsusaka 松阪市
City
Traditional street in central Matsusaka
Flag Emblem
Location of Matsusaka in Mie Prefecture
Matsusaka
Coordinates:34°34′40.6″N136°31′39.3″E / 34.577944°N 136.527583°E /34.577944; 136.527583
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Mie
Government
• Mayor	Masato Takegami
Area
• Total	623.64 km2 (240.79 sq mi)
Population  (August 2021)
• Total	157,235
• Density	250/km2 (650/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
Phone number	0598-53-4311
Address	1340-1 Tonomachi, Matsusaka-shi, Mie-ken 515-8515
Climate	Cfa
Website	Official website
Symbols
Bird	Japanese bush-warbler
Flower	Lilium auratum
Tree	Pine

Matsusaka is located in east-centralKii Peninsula, in central Mie Prefecture. It stretches the width of Mie Prefecture, and is bordered byIse Bay on thePacific Ocean to the east, andNara Prefecture to the west. Parts of the city are within the limits of theYoshino-Kumano National Park.

Matsusaka has aHumid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Matsusaka is 14.8 °C (58.6 °F). The average annual rainfall is 2,157.8 mm (84.95 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.1 °C (79.0 °F), and lowest in January, at around 4.2 °C (39.6 °F).^[2]

The population of Matsusaka has been increasing slowly over the past 50 years.^[4]

Matsusaka developed as a commercial center during theSengoku period, andOda Nobukatsu, the younger son ofOda Nobunaga built acastle in the area in 1580. The area came under the control ofGamō Ujisato shortly thereafter, and the Gamō began construction of a castle in the Yoiho forest (四五百森,Yoiho no mori) and named the site "Matsusaka," meaning "slope (坂) covered with pines (松)" in 1588.Matsusaka Castle was the center of the short-livedMatsusaka Domain in the earlyTokugawa shogunate, but for most of theEdo period, the castle was the eastern outpost ofKishu Domain based atWakayama Castle.

Following theMeiji restoration, the area became part of Mie Prefecture. The town of Matsusaka was created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The secondkanji character of Matsusaka was changed to 阪 from 坂 in those days. On March 26, 1893, 1318 houses in the town were destroyed in a fire. Matsusaka was raised to city status on February 1, 1933. The city suffered only light damage inWorld War II, when an air raid killed four people on February 4, 1945. About 700 houses in the city were destroyed by a fire on December 16, 1951. On October 15, 1956, a majorrailway accident occurred atRokken Station on the outskirts of the city, killing 42 people. On August 1, 1982,Typhoon Bess left nine people dead in its wake. The city officially celebrated its 500th anniversary in 1988.

On January 1, 2005, the city expanded to its present borders, with the absorption the towns ofMikumo andUreshino (both fromIchishi District), and the towns ofIinan andIitaka (both fromIinan District).

Matsusaka has amayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and aunicameral city council of 28 members. Matsusaka contributes four members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Mie 1st district of thelower house of theDiet of Japan.

Matsusaka has 36 public elementary schools and 12 public middle schools operated by the city government and four public high schools operated by the Mie Prefectural Board of Education. There are also one private middle school and two private high schools. The prefectural also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.Mie Chukyo University, formerly located in Matsusaka, closed in 2013.

 JR Tōkai –Kisei Main Line

• Rokken -Matsusaka -Tokuwa

 JR Tōkai –Meishō Line

• Matsusaka -Kaminoshō -Gongemmae

 Kintetsu Railway -Osaka Line

• Ise-Nakagawa

 Kintetsu Railway -Nagoya Line

• Ise-Nakagawa

 Kintetsu Railway -Yamada Line

• Ise-Nakagawa -Ise-Nakahara -Matsugasaki -Matsusaka -Higashi-Matsusaka -Kushida -Koishiro

•  Ise Expressway
•  National Route 23
•  National Route 42
•  National Route 166
•  National Route 368
•  National Route 422

• Port of Matsusaka

•  Binhu District,Wuxi,Jiangsu Province, China^[5]

• Azaka Castle ruins
• Matsusaka Castle ruins
• Takarazuka kofun ancient burial mound

• Yotsukasa Dai, sumo wrestler
• Aki Deguchi, J-pop idol and singer
• Keisuke Funatani, professional soccer player
• Satoshi Hida, professional soccer player
• Hiroki Mizumoto, professional soccer player
• Tetsuo Morimoto, politician
• Masaharu Nakagawa, politician
• Kana Nishino, J-pop/R&B singer
• Motoori Norinaga, Edo periodkokugaku scholar
• Ikuzo Saito, Olympic wrestler
• Matsuura Takeshirō,explorer,cartographer,writer,painter,priest, andantiquarian
• Mitsui Takatoshi, founder of theMitsui group.
• Norihisa Tamura, politician
• Mienoumi Tsuyoshi, sumo wrestler
• Ben Wada, film director

  Media related toMatsusaka, Mie at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website(in Japanese)
• Matsusaka city guide^[usurped] from theMie Guidebook^[usurped] atMie JETs^[usurped]