Kaiyō, Tokushima

Geography

Kaiyō is located in the southeastern corner of Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It is bordered by the Kii Channel to the southeast and Kochi Prefecture to the southwest. Parts of the town are within the borders of the Chūbu Sankei Prefectural Natural Park.

Neighbouring municipalities

Kōchi Prefecture

• Kitagawa
• Tōyō
• Umaji Tokushima Prefecture
• Minami
• Mugi
• Naka

Climate

Kaiyō has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is high, but there is a pronounced difference between the wetter summers and drier winters. The average annual temperature in Kaiyō is 16.5 C. The average annual rainfall is 3195.9 mm with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.4 C, and lowest in January, at around 5.9 C. The highest temperature ever recorded in Kaiyō was 36.9 C on 23 August 2013; the coldest temperature ever recorded was -7.3 C on 9 January 2021. |Jan record high C = 20.4 |Feb record high C = 24.3 |Mar record high C = 25.7 |Apr record high C = 28.8 |May record high C = 30.2 |Jun record high C = 33.7 |Jul record high C = 36.0 |Aug record high C = 36.9 |Sep record high C = 35.8 |Oct record high C = 31.5 |Nov record high C = 27.4 |Dec record high C = 24.3 |Jan record low C = -7.3 |Feb record low C = -6.7 |Mar record low C = -2.7 |Apr record low C = 0.0 |May record low C = 5.2 |Jun record low C = 11.8 |Jul record low C = 17.7 |Aug record low C = 17.1 |Sep record low C = 11.5 |Oct record low C = 5.9 |Nov record low C = -0.4 |Dec record low C = -4.2 |script-title=ja:観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値） | access-date = April 13, 2022}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値） | access-date = April 13, 2022}}}}

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kaiyō in 2020 is 8,358 people. Kaiyō has been conducting censuses since 1920. | 1920 | 16287 | 1925 | 16567 | 1930 | 16222 | 1935 | 16195 | 1940 | 16205 | 1945 | 20348 | 1950 | 20591 | 1955 | 20467 | 1960 | 19485 | 1965 | 17720 | 1970 | 15867 | 1975 | 14909 | 1980 | 14397 | 1985 | 13915 | 1990 | 12949 | 1995 | 12399 | 2000 | 12104 | 2005 | 11507 | 2010 | 10450 | 2015 | 9283 | 2020 | 8358

History

As with all of Tokushima Prefecture, the area of Kaiyō was part of ancient Awa Province. It was noted for ocean-borne shipping, especially of timber, from Tosa Province to the Kinai region . During the Edo period, the area was part of the holdings of Tokushima Domain ruled by the Hachisuka clan from their seat at Tokushima Castle. The area was divided into villages within Kaifu District, Tokushima with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889.

The town of Kaiyō was founded on March 31, 2006 from the merger of the towns of Kaifu, Kainan, and Shishikui, all from Kaifu District.

Government

Kaiyō has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 14 members. Kaiyō, together with the other municipalities of Kaifu District, contributes two members to the Tokushima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Tokushima 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Kaiyō has a mixed economy of agriculture and commercial fishing.

Education

Kaiyō has three public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Tokushima Prefectural Department of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Asa Kaigan Railway – Asatō Line

Highways

Local attractions

• Chūbu Sankei Prefectural Natural Park

Noted people from Kaiyō

• Toshiharu Ueda, baseball player and coach

References

References

1. "Kaiyō town official statistics".
2. [https://www.citypopulation.de/en/japan/tokushima/ Kaiyō population statistics]