Wakayama

• Name — Wakayama • Official Name — Wakayama City • Type — Prefecture capital and Core city • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Japan • Subdivision Type1 — Region • Subdivision Name1 — Honshu (Kansai) • Subdivision Type2 — Prefecture • Subdivision Name2 — Wakayama • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Masahiro Obana • Area Total Km2 — 208.84 • Population Total — 351391 • Population As Of — December 1, 2021 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Time Zone1 — Japan Standard Time • Utc Offset1 — +9 • Custom Label Sec1 — City symbols • Custom Label1 Sec1 — - Tree • Custom Data1 Sec1 — Cinnamomum camphora • Custom Label2 Sec1 — - Flower • Custom Data2 Sec1 — Azalea • Custom Label Sec2 — Phone number • Custom Label1 Sec2 — Address • Custom Data1 Sec2 — 23 Shichibancho, Wakayama-shi, Wakayama-ken 640-8511 • Illustration — Wakayama City Hall

Wakayama is located at the northwest corner of Wakayama Prefecture, bordered by Osaka Prefecture to the north and the Kii Channel and Kitan Strait to the west. It is located on the mouth of the Kinokawa River with the main urban center of the city on the river's left bank.

Hyōgo Prefecture • Sumoto, Hyōgo (separated by the Kitan Strait) Osaka Prefecture • Hannan • Misaki Wakayama Prefecture • Iwade • Kainan • Kinokawa

Wakayama has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) 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. The area is subject to typhoons in summer.

Per Japanese census data, the population of Wakayama peaked in the 1980s and has been declining slowly since.

The area of the modern city of Wakayama was the center of ancient Kii Province, and the Iwase-Senzuka Kofun Cluster is one of the largest clusters of kofun burial mounds in Japan. The area was the home of the Kii Kuni no miyatsuko, a local king ruling the Kinokawa River Valley prior to the rise of the Yamato State. During the Nara period priests from Tang China built the Kimii-dera temple. From the Muromachi period, Waka-no-ura was a port on the Kinokawa River, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed the predecessor of Wakayama Castle during his conquest of Kii Province during the Sengoku period. During the Edo period, the castle town at the base of Wakayama Castle grew and prospered under the rule of the Kii Tokugawa clan as the center of Kishū Domain. After the Meiji restoration, Wakayama was granted city status on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The city suffered 1208 deaths and 1560 critically wounded in the July 9, 1945 Bombing of Wakayama during World War II, which destroyed more than half of the urban area. On April 1, 1997, Wakayama attained core city status, with increased local autonomy.

Wakayama has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral 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 the lower house of the Diet 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, and commercial 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 include Kao Corporation and Mitsubishi Electric.

• Wakayama College of Science Studies • Wakayama Medical University • Wakayama Shin-ai University • Wakayama University • Takarazuka University of Medical and Health Care Medical School • Tokyo Health Care University School of Nursing

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. The city has one North Korean school, Wakayama Korean Elementary and Middle School.

JR West – Hanwa Line • - Musota - Kii-Nakanoshima - Wakayama JR West – Kisei Main Line • Kimiidera - Miyamae - Wakayama - - Wakayamashi JR West – Wakayama Line • Kii-Ogura - Hoshiya - Senda - Tainose - Wakayama Wakayama Electric Railway Kishigawa Line • Wakayama - Tanakaguchi - Nichizengū - - Kamayama - Kōtsū Center Mae - Okazakimae - Kire - Idakiso - Sandō Nankai Electric Railway Nankai Main Line • Wakayamadaigakumae - Kinokawa - Wakayamashi Nankai Electric Railway Wakayamako Line • Wakayamashi - Wakayamakō Nankai Electric Railway Kada Line • Wakayamashi - Kinokawa - - Nakamatsue - - Nishinoshō - Nirigahama - Isonoura - Kada

• Wakayama Bus

• Hanwa Expressway • Keinawa Expressway • Route • Route • Route

Wakayama is close to Kansai International Airport which is 35 km away. Nanki–Shirahama Airport is also close which is located 65 km south east of the city. However, the airport only provides one daily flight to Tokyo which is operated by Japan Airlines.

Wakayama has sister-city relationships with four overseas cities: • United States Bakersfield, California, United States • South Korea Jeju, Jeju Province, South Korea • Jinan, Shandong, China • Canada Richmond, British Columbia, Canada Wakayama City formed a sister-city relationship with the city of Jinan mainly due to the efforts of Hiroshi Yamazaki, who was an escaped medic in the Imperial 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.

• Hinokuma Shrine • Itakiso Shrine • Kamayama Shrine • Kimiidera • Kishū Tōshō-gū • The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama • Wakayama Castle • Wakayama Marina City • Wakayama is home to one of Japan's three Melody Roads, 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. Wakayama Prefecture is famous across Japan for its umeboshi (salty pickled plums) and mikan (mandarins). • Illustration — Art Cube of Wakanoura • Illustration — Kimiidera • Illustration — The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama