is a former town

Towns of Japan

A town is a local administrative unit in Japan. It is a local public body along with prefecture , city , and village...

 located in Atsumi District

Atsumi District, Aichi

was a rural district located in southern Aichi, Japan, located on the Atsumi Peninsula in Mikawa Bay. As a result of various consolidations and mergers of municipalities, the district was incorporated into the cities of Toyohashi and Tahara in 2005....

, Aichi Prefecture

Aichi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region. The region of Aichi is also known as the Tōkai region. The capital is Nagoya. It is the focus of the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area.- History :...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. As of July 31, 2005, the town had an estimated population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 22,472 and a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 436.77 persons per km². Its total area was 82.18 km².

Geography

Atsumi was located in southest Aichi Prefecture, at the extreme tip of the Atsumi Peninsula

Atsumi Peninsula

is a peninsula in southeastern Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan.Atsumi Peninsula is a narrow strip of land running approximately east-west, separating Mikawa Bay from the Philippine Sea to the south. It faces the Chita Peninsula southeast across Mikawa Bay. It has a width ranging from to...

. The town was surrounded by the ocean on three sides, with Mikawa Bay

Mikawa Bay

thumb|right|Mikawa Bay Mikawa Bay is a bay to the south of Aichi Prefecture, Japan, surrounded by Chita Peninsula to the west and Atsumi Peninsula to the east and south. Its area is approximately 604 km2...

 to the north and west, and the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 to the south. Parts of the town was within the borders of the Mikawa Wan Quasi-National Park

Mikawa Wan Quasi-National Park

is a Quasi-National Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is rated a protected landscape according to the IUCN.The park includes the coastal areas of Atsumi Peninsula, the Pacific shoreline of Chita Peninsula as well as islands and portion of the northern shoreline of Mikawa Bay.It was founded on 10...

History

The area around Atsumi has been settled since prehistoric times, and numerous Jomon period

Jomon period

The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC.The term jōmon means "cord-patterned" in Japanese. This refers to the pottery style characteristic of the Jōmon culture, and which has markings made using sticks with cords wrapped around them...

 remains have been found in the area, including shell middens. Pottery from the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 and Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

s have also been found. In the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, the part of the area was under the control of Tahara Domain

Tahara Domain

was a minor fudai Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in southern Mikawa Province , Japan. It was centered on Tahara Castle in what is now the city of Tahara.-History:...

, and part was administered as tenryō directly by the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

. The modern town of Atsumi waa created on April 15, 1955 by the merger of the former town of Fukue with the villages of Izumi and Iragomisaki. The area was unable to support commercial agriculture until the completion of large-scale irrigation projects in the 1960s.

On October 1, 2005, Atsumi merged

Merger and dissolution of municipalities of Japan

Municipal mergers and dissolutions carried out in Japan can take place within one municipality or between multiple municipalities and are required to be based upon consensus.- Merger policy:...

 with the neighboring town of Tahara to form the new city of Tahara

Tahara, Aichi

is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of August 2011, the city had an estimated population of 63,886 and a population density of 338 persons per km². The total area was 188.81 km².-Geography:...

and thus Atsumi ceased to exist as an independent administrative division.