Wakayama is located at the northwest corner of Wakayama Prefecture, bordered by Osaka Prefecture to the north and theKii Channel andKitan Strait to the west. It is located on the mouth of theKinokawa River with the main urban center of the city on the river's left bank.
Wakayama has aHumid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Wakayama is 15.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1713 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.4 °C.[2] The area is subject totyphoons in summer.
Climate data for Wakayama (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1879−present)
Wakayama has amayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and aunicameral city council of 38 members. Wakayama contributes 15 members to the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between Wakayama 1st district and Wakayama 2nd district of thelower house of theDiet of Japan.
Wakayama is the main commercial city of northern Wakayama and is the largest city in Wakayama Prefecture. Primary industries include agriculture, notably rice and citrus fruits, andcommercial fishing. Secondary industries are centered around electronics and heavy industry.Nippon Steel remains a major employer, although the city suffered considerably when former Sumitomo Steel shifted much of its production to China. Other major employers includeKao Corporation andMitsubishi Electric.
Wakayama has 50 public elementary schools, 19 public middle schools and one public high school operated by the city government and one private elementary school and three private middle schools. The Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education operates two public middle schools and 10 public high schools. There are also four private high schools. In addition, there is one elementary school and one high school run by Wakayama University.
The prefecture also operates five special education school for the handicapped, and one more is operated by Wakayama University.
Wakayama City formed a sister-city relationship with the city ofJinan mainly due to the efforts of Hiroshi Yamazaki (山崎 宏), who was an escaped medic in theImperial Japanese Army and stayed in China after the war. He married and runs his own clinic in China. In 1976, he visited Wakayama after nearly 40 years.[citation needed]
Wakayama is home to one of Japan's threeMelody Road[broken anchor]s, which is made from grooves cut into the pavement, which when driven over causes a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the car body.[8][9]
Wakayama Prefecture is famous across Japan for itsumeboshi (salty pickled plums) andmikan (mandarins).
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