Setouchi, Okayama
Encyclopedia
is a city located in the southern part of Okayama Prefecture
Okayama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama.- History :During the Meiji Restoration, the area of Okayama Prefecture was known as Bitchū Province, Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province.- Geography :...

, 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 2004, the city has a population of 39,377. The total area is 125.51 km².

Setouchi was founded on November 1, 2004 by the merger of the former towns of Oku
Oku, Okayama
was a town located in Oku District, Okayama, Japan.On November 1, 2004 Oku was merged with the towns of Osafune and Ushimado, all from Oku District, to form the new city of Setouchi....

, Osafune
Osafune, Okayama
was a town located in Oku District, Okayama, Japan.On November 1, 2004 Osafune was merged with the towns of Oku and Ushimado, all from Oku District, to form the new city of Setouchi....

 and Ushimado
Ushimado, Okayama
was a town located in Oku District, Okayama, Japan.On November 1, 2004 Ushimado was merged with the towns of Oku and Osafune, all from Oku District, to form the new city of Setouchi....

, all from the former Oku District
Oku District, Okayama
Oku was a district located in Okayama, Japan.As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 39,365 and a density of 313.64 persons per km². The total area was 125.51 km²....

. Its city hall is the former town hall of Oku.

The name "Setouchi" derived from Seto Inland Sea (in Japanese: Setonaikai). The city faces the Inland Sea on its eastern and southern parts. The climate is moderate. Its main industries are fishery
Fishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...

, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

 and sightseeing
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

.

Port Ushimado was a famous port till the early modern era. It served messengers from Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 to 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 port is today a good spot for sightseeing and sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...

. Osafune was famous for the production of katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...

 in the 12th century under the name of Bizen Osafune (Osafune, Bizen province
Bizen Province
was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of Honshū, in what is today the southeastern part of Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bitchu and Bingo Provinces. Bizen borders Mimasaka, Harima, and Bitchū Provinces....

). Fukuoka district, which flourished as a trade center and later a political center along the Seto Inland Sea until the beginning of 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....

, served by the Yoshii River and the Seto Inland Sea, is also included as a part of the city. The Fukuoka Market (Fukuoka no Ichi) was recorded in the scroll Ippen Shonin Emaki, drawn in the 13th century. At the end of the 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....

 a castle was built in Fukuoka. In the middle Muromachi period
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...

, the daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

who governed Bizen province took this castle as their site and rebuilt and fortified it much than before. Because the Yoshii river changed its course and most of Fukuoka including the castle sank under the river, the castle was abandoned.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK