Yoshida, Shizuoka

Yoshida (吉田町, Yoshida-chō) is a town located in Haibara District, southern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 August 2019, the town had an estimated population of 29,593 in 11359 households,[1] and a population density of 1400 persons per km². The total area of the town is 20.73 square kilometres (8.00 sq mi).

This article is about the town in Shizuoka, Japan. There are towns, all now dissolved, with the same name (吉田町) in four other prefectures in Japan, see Yoshida, Ehime, Yoshida, Kagoshima, Yoshida, Niigata, Yoshida, Saitama, Yoshida, Hiroshima.
Yoshida

吉田町
Town
Yoshida Town hall
Flag
Seal
Location of Yoshida in Shizuoka Prefecture
Yoshida
 
Coordinates: 34°46′N 138°15′E
CountryJapan
RegionChūbu
Tōkai
PrefectureShizuoka
DistrictHaibara
Area
 • Total20.73 km2 (8.00 sq mi)
Population
 (July 2019)
 • Total29,593
 • Density1,400/km2 (3,700/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- TreePine
- FlowerChrysanthemum
Phone number548-33-1111
Address87 Sumiyoshi, Yoshida-chō, Haibara-gun, Shizuoka-ken 421-0395
WebsiteOfficial website

Geography

Yoshida is located on the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture, facing Suruga Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The Ōi River passes to the west of town. Warmed by the Kuroshio Current, the area enjoys a temperate maritime climate with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters.

Surrounding municipalities

Shizuoka Prefecture

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,[2] the population of Yoshida has been increasing over the past 50 years.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1940 14,303—    
1950 17,962+25.6%
1960 18,171+1.2%
1970 19,241+5.9%
1980 21,474+11.6%
1990 25,147+17.1%
2000 27,492+9.3%
2010 28,816+4.8%

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Yoshida is 16.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2151 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.3 °C.[3]

History

Located in former Tōtōmi Province, Yokosuka was a castle town in the Sengoku period, with Koyama castle built by the Takeda clan in 1568. The castle was destroyed by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1582 and never rebuilt, although the town continued to prosper during the Edo period as a regional commercial center due to its proximity to the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system in the early Meiji period in 1889, the area was reorganized into Yoshida Village from the merger of six pre-Meiji hamlets. It was elevated to town status on April 1, 1889.

Economy

Yoshida has a mixed economy based on agriculture, commercial fishing and light industry. Local specialities include eel, melons and iceberg lettuce. Several industries are located along the Tōmei Expressway, which passes through the town. These include Fujifilm, AGC Technologies, Sony and Kurita Kogyo.

Education

Yoshida has three public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. The town also has a private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

Yoshida has no passenger railway service.

Highway

Sister city relations

Yoshida had formerly established sister city relations with other cities of the same name around Japan. All of these cities have now been merged into other cities and no longer exist as independent municipalities.

References
  1. Yoshida Town official statistics (in Japanese)
  2. Yoshida population statistics
  3. Yoshida climate data
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