Kurashiki 倉敷市 | |||||||||
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 Flag  Chapter | |||||||||
 Location of Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture | |||||||||
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  Kurashiki Location in Japan | |||||||||
| Coordinates:34°35′06″N133°46′20″E / 34.58500°N 133.77222°E /34.58500; 133.77222 | |||||||||
| Country | Japan | ||||||||
| Region | Chūgoku (San'yō) | ||||||||
| Prefecture | Okayama | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| • Mayor | Kaori Itō | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 355.63 km2 (137.31 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population (March 31, 2023) | |||||||||
• Total | 478,651 | ||||||||
| • Density | 1,345.9/km2 (3,485.9/sq mi) | ||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+09:00 (JST) | ||||||||
| City hall address | 640 Nishinakashinden, Kurashiki-shi, Okayama-ken 710-8565 | ||||||||
| Climate | Cfa | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
| Symbols | |||||||||
| Bird | Kingfisher | ||||||||
| Flower | Wysteria | ||||||||
| Tree | Camphor | ||||||||
Kurashiki (倉敷市,Kurashiki-shi) is acity located inOkayama Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 March 2023[update], the city had an estimated population of 478,651 and apopulation density of 1300 persons per km2.[1] The total area of the city is 355.63 square kilometres (137.31 sq mi).
Kurashiki is located in the south-central part of Okayama Prefecture, and theTakahashi River flows through the midwestern part of the city from north to south and empties into theSeto Inland Sea. Most of the plains are occupied byreclaimed land andalluvial plains, and are relatively flat except for the Kojima area. Kojima, Kameshimayama, Tamashima, and Tsurajima are many places in the city that have thekanji 'island' in their names; these areas were originally islands and were connected by land reclamation to form the current city limits. Okayama City, which is the prefectural capital, is adjacent to the east, and Kurashiki forms part of the Greater Okayama metropolitan area.
Kurashiki has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classificationCfa). The average annual temperature in Kurashiki is 15.8 °C (60.4 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,042.2 mm (41.03 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.9 °C (82.2 °F), and lowest in January, at around 4.6 °C (40.3 °F).[2] The highest temperature ever recorded in Kurashiki was 37.1 °C (98.8 °F) on 8 August 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −8.0 °C (17.6 °F) on 27 February 1981.[3]
| Climate data for Kurashiki (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1979−present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 16.1 (61.0) | 22.5 (72.5) | 24.7 (76.5) | 30.5 (86.9) | 32.6 (90.7) | 35.2 (95.4) | 36.8 (98.2) | 37.1 (98.8) | 36.2 (97.2) | 32.4 (90.3) | 26.1 (79.0) | 20.6 (69.1) | 37.1 (98.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.2 (48.6) | 10.0 (50.0) | 13.6 (56.5) | 19.3 (66.7) | 24.4 (75.9) | 27.3 (81.1) | 30.9 (87.6) | 32.2 (90.0) | 28.4 (83.1) | 23.1 (73.6) | 17.1 (62.8) | 11.5 (52.7) | 20.6 (69.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.6 (40.3) | 5.2 (41.4) | 8.5 (47.3) | 13.9 (57.0) | 19.1 (66.4) | 22.9 (73.2) | 26.9 (80.4) | 27.9 (82.2) | 23.9 (75.0) | 18.0 (64.4) | 12.0 (53.6) | 6.7 (44.1) | 15.8 (60.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.3 (32.5) | 0.6 (33.1) | 3.5 (38.3) | 8.6 (47.5) | 14.0 (57.2) | 19.1 (66.4) | 23.6 (74.5) | 24.4 (75.9) | 20.1 (68.2) | 13.5 (56.3) | 7.3 (45.1) | 2.4 (36.3) | 11.5 (52.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −5.4 (22.3) | −8.0 (17.6) | −3.5 (25.7) | −0.8 (30.6) | 3.1 (37.6) | 9.8 (49.6) | 16.0 (60.8) | 17.1 (62.8) | 8.9 (48.0) | 2.7 (36.9) | −0.9 (30.4) | −4.1 (24.6) | −8.0 (17.6) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 34.4 (1.35) | 42.4 (1.67) | 78.2 (3.08) | 82.5 (3.25) | 101.9 (4.01) | 149.8 (5.90) | 154.1 (6.07) | 81.3 (3.20) | 133.0 (5.24) | 93.6 (3.69) | 51.2 (2.02) | 40.4 (1.59) | 1,042.2 (41.03) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 4.8 | 6.1 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.8 | 10.6 | 9.9 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 91.5 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 152.5 | 144.5 | 175.7 | 189.8 | 199.2 | 143.1 | 173.0 | 206.5 | 155.2 | 166.7 | 149.7 | 145.8 | 2,001.3 |
| Source:Japan Meteorological Agency[3][2] | |||||||||||||
Per Japanese census data, the population of Kurashiki in 2020 is 474,592 people.[4] Kurashiki has been conducting censuses since 1960.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 286,902 | — |
| 1965 | 308,908 | +7.7% |
| 1970 | 374,385 | +21.2% |
| 1975 | 417,750 | +11.6% |
| 1980 | 432,171 | +3.5% |
| 1985 | 443,721 | +2.7% |
| 1990 | 445,059 | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 453,618 | +1.9% |
| 2000 | 460,869 | +1.6% |
| 2005 | 469,377 | +1.8% |
| 2010 | 475,421 | +1.3% |
| 2015 | 477,118 | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 474,592 | −0.5% |
| Kurashiki population statistics[4] | ||
The Kurashiki area is part of ancientBitchū Province and near the center of the ancientKingdom of Kibi. Records of human settlements date back to theJapanese Paleolithic period, more than 20,000 years ago, and the city has numerous National Historic Sites fromJōmon periodshell middens,Yayoi period settlement remains,Kofun periodburial mounds andNara period temple ruins. From theHeian period, the estuary of the Takahashi River was a port, and the surrounding area was the setting for numerous battles.
During theEdo Period, the area had a complicated administration, with portions held by various feudal domains. The old town of Kurashiki and its port was held directly by theTokugawa shogunate astenryō territory and was a collection point for the annual rice taxes. Distinctive white-walled, black-tiled warehouses were built to store goods. The Kurashiki magistrate's office recognized the autonomy of the merchants and gave preferential treatment to them, resulting in an increase in the population as well as increasedkokudaka, and local industries included cotton cloth weaving and salt production.
Following theMeiji restoration, the village of Kurashiki was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on June 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on April 1, 1891 and to city status April 1, 1928.[5]
On August 1, 2005, the town ofMabi (fromKibi District), and the town ofFunao (fromAsakuchi District) were merged with Kurashiki.
In 2002, Kurashiki was designed aCore city with increased local autonomy.
Kurashiki has amayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and aunicameral city council of 43 members. Kurashiki contributes 14 members to the Okayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Okayama 4th district and Okayama 5th district of thelower house of theDiet of Japan.
Kurashiki is the second largest city in Okayama, and has a mixed economy based on commerce, agriculture and heavy industry. The Mizushima Rinkai Industrial Area, which spans the Mizushima and Tamashima areas, has factories centering on petrochemicals, steel, automobiles, and shipbuilding and is one of Japan's leading industrial complexes.
The city is home to severalprivate universities and one public university.
Kurashiki has 62 public elementary schools, and 26 public junior high schools and five public high school operated by the city government. There are ten public high schools operated by the Okayama Prefectural Board of Education and on combined middle/high school. In addition, there are four private high schools. The prefecture also operates three special education schools for the disabled.
The city has aNorth Korean school, Okayama Korean Elementary and Junior High School (岡山朝鮮初中級学校).[6]
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JR West (JR West) -San'yō Shinkansen
JR West (JR West) -San'yō Main Line
JR West (JR West) -Hakubi Line
Mizushima Rinkai Railway -Mizushima Main Line
Ibara Railway Company -Ibara Line
San'yō Expressway
Seto-Chūō Expressway
National Route 2
National Route 429
National Route 430
National Route 486Kurashiki maintains the followingsister cities:[7]
Sankt Pölten, Austria, September 29, 1957
Kansas City, Missouri, United States since May 28, 1972[8][9]
Christchurch, New Zealand, March 7, 1973
Zhenjiang,Jiangsu, China, November 18, 1997
Kurashiki is the home of Japan's first museum forWestern art, theOhara Museum of Art. Established in 1930 byMagosaburō Ōhara, it contains paintings byEl Greco,Monet,Matisse,Gauguin, andRenoir. The collection also presents fine examples of Asian and contemporary art. The main building is designed in the style ofNeoclassicism.
The old merchant quarter is called the Bikan historical area. It contains many fine examples of 17th century wooden warehouses (kura, 倉) painted white with traditional black tiles, along a canal framed with weeping willows and filled withkoi. The area has no electric poles in order to make it more closely resemble the look of the Meiji period. One of the city's former town halls was located in the Kurashiki Kan, a European style building constructed in 1917.
In 1997 a theme park calledTivoli (after thepark of the same name inCopenhagen) opened near Kurashiki Station. After ten years of operation it was closed in 2008, with a massive debt.
TheGreat Seto Bridge connects the city toSakaide inKagawa Prefecture across the Inland Sea.
Kenzo Tange, winner of the 1987Pritzker Prize for architecture, designed the former Kurashiki City Hall in 1960.
Kurashiki has a variety of sports clubs, including formerJapan Football League sideMitsubishi Mizushima.
Kurashiki was also the place where currentJ. League sidesVissel Kobe andFagiano Okayama had their origins before moving.
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