Maizuru

Maizuru port

The district developed greatly when the Maizuru Naval District was created in 1889. the associated Maizuru Naval Arsenal for ship basing, construction, and repair was created in 1901. In the Russo-Japanese War, many warships were based there, due to its proximity to the Sea of Japan. After the Second World War, Maizuru was a key port for returning Japanese servicemen and detainees from continental Asia for over 13 years.[2] Today, Maizuru is a key district headquarters for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Like Toyooka in Hyōgo Prefecture, Maizuru has a climate resembling the Hokuriku region rather than the rest of Kansai, though it is less wet than other Hokuriku towns during the late autumn and winter because its location on a deep inlet means the northerly winds driven by the Siberian High and Aleutian Low do not produce as much rain and/or snow. In the summer, however, Maizuru can be extremely oppressive as the intense radiation creates extreme humidity around the bay: on August 13, 1994 the town recorded a minimum temperature of 29 °C (84.2 °F).

• National Institute of Technology, Maizuru College
• Maizuru Fisherise Research Station (Kyoto University)
• Japan Coast Guard School

The community previously had a North Korean school, Maizuru Korean Elementary and Junior High School (舞鶴朝鮮初中級学校).[5]

Maizuru became sister town to Nakhodka, Russia in June 1961, the first Russian - Japanese sister towns in history. More recently the town has been twinned with Dalian, China since 1982 and Portsmouth, England since 1998.[6]

Japan Marine United, a large shipbuilding corporation, has one of its shipyards in Maizuru.

Maizuru is dotted with sightseeing spots. There is Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum, a commemorative hall which documents the return of half a million servicemen and detainees from Soviet internment, and an observatory which overlooks the Rias seashore of the Maizuru bay.

• Arisa Inoue, Japanese volleyball player (Hisamitsu Springs and Japan women's national volleyball team)
• Tatsuya Ishihara, Japanese television and film director (Kyoto Animation)
• Hatsuho Matsuzawa, Japanese swimmer
• Kengo Mashimo, Japanese professional wrestler (Kaientai Dojo)
• Mamoru Nagano, Japanese manga artist, animator, and mecha and character designer
• Mai Ohara, Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives of Japan
• Jin Ueda, Japanese table tennis player
• Yuki Yamaguchi, former Japanese sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maizuru.

• Maizuru City — official website (in Japanese) – some English can be accessed.
• Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum — official website (in English)