Yokkaichi, Mie

Infobox City Japan
Name= Yokkaichi
JapaneseName= 四日市市
Map

Region= Kansai
Prefecture= Mie
District=
Area_km2= 205.53
PopDate= 2007
Population= 313,403
Density_km2=
Coords=
LatitudeDegrees= 34
LatitudeMinutes= 58
LatitudeSeconds=
LongtitudeDegrees= 136
LongtitudeMinutes= 37
LongtitudeSeconds=
Tree= Camphor tree
Flower= Salvia
Bird= Black-headed Gull
Symbol
!border
SymbolDescription= Flag
Mayor= Tetsuo Inoue
CityHallPostalCode= 510-8601
CityHallAddress= 1-5 Suwa-chō, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie-ken
CityHallPhone= [phone]
CityHallLink= [http://www.city.yokkaichi.mie.jp City of Yokkaichi]

nihongo|Yokkaichi|四日市市|Yokkaichi-shi|lit. "four days market" is a city located in Mie, Japan.

As of 2007, the city has an estimated population of 313,403. The total area is 205.53 km².

The closest major city is Nagoya in Aichi prefecture.

It is a manufacturing center that produces "banko" ware (a kind of porcelain), automobiles, cotton textiles, chemicals, tea, cement, and computer parts such as DRAM by Toshiba subsidiary Yokkaichi Toshiba Electronics.

History

In Azuchi-Momoyama period, the port was developed and a regular market was open on 4, 14, 24 in each month. Thus, the city is named Yokkaichi because "yokkaichi" means "market on fourth day." In Edo period, Yokkaichi-juku was the forty-third station on the Tōkaidō.

Yokkaichi's port advanced remarkably during the Meiji period, primarily under the guidance of Inaba Sanuemon, a resident merchant interested increasing trade into Yokkaichi and the Ise area by modernizing the port facilities. Started in 1872, the project took 12 years to complete due to typhoons and difficulties in financing the project. This led to the port city being designated an Official International Port in 1899. The primary trade items shipped through Yokkaichi were originally seed oil, Banko ceramics, and Ise tea; but now it has developed into a port that now handles cotton, wool, glass, and heavy equipment.

The city was designated a 'modern city' on August 1, 1897. From 1960 to 1972, the city residents suffered health problems caused by the emission of SOx into the atmosphere from local oil chemical plants. In Japan, a disease called "Yokkaichi zensoku" (Yokkaichi Asthma) derives its name from the city, and it is considered one of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan.

Transportation

Yokkaichi is served by both JR and Kintetsu rail lines.

The Higashi Meihan Highway (東名阪自動車道), which leads to Nagoya, was built along the foot of Suzuka Mountains.

Port of Yokkaichi is the secondary port in Ise Bay. Ferries for the Chūbu Centrair International Airport depart from there.

ister cities

Yokkaichi has 2 sister cities and 1 sister port.
* Long Beach, California(USA)- October 7,1963
* Tianjin(China)- October 28,1980
*

Famous people from Yokkaichi

*Katsunori Matsui - manga artist
*Goseki Kojima - manga artist
*Jun Kuki - tennis player
*Miki Mizuno - actress
*Fumio Niwa - author
*Toshiya Fujita - movie director
*Katsuya Okada - former president of the Democratic Party of Japan
*Takuya Okada - chairman emeritus of AEON Group
*Katsuaki Watanabe - president of Toyota Motor Corporation
*Yumehito of Ayabie (Ex-Soroban)- musician

External links

* [http://www.city.yokkaichi.mie.jp/ Yokkaichi official website] in Japanese
* [http://www.miesc.ne.jp/yia/frame_e.htm Yokkaichi International Association] in English
* [http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/hiroshige/tokaido_editions/tokaido_editions_44.htm Hiroshige prints of the Tokaido - Station 44 Yokkaichi]