is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 25,946 in 12287 households and a population density of 60 persons per km². The total area of the city is .
Geography
Mimasaka is located in northeast Okayama. Most of the city limits are hills and forests. The prefectural border is at the Chugoku Mountains, and there is Mount Ushiro (1344 meters), the highest peak in the prefecture is within the city limits. Parts of the city are considered to be heavy snowfall areas.
Adjoining municipalities
Okayama Prefecture
Bizen
Wake
Misaki
Shōō
Nagi
Nishiawakura
Hyōgo Prefecture
Shisō
Sayō
Tottori Prefecture
Chizu
Climate
Mimasaka has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Mimasaka is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Mimasaka was on 7 August 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 28 February 1981.
Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Mimasaka in 2020 is 25,939 people. Mimasaka has been conducting censuses since 1920.
History
The area of Mimasaka is part of ancient Mimasaka Province, from which it takes its name. The Hayashino district, which is the center of the city, has long been an important transportation hub, and since the Sengoku period, goods have been transported by boats crossing the Yoshii River. In the Edo period, the Mori clan, who were the first daimyō of Tsuyama Domain, gave local merchants the same level of authority as merchants in the castle town of Tsuyama, making it the center of eastern Mimasaka. Afterwards, it came under the direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate and a magistrate's office was established. The famed samurai Miyamoto Musashi was born in what is now part of the city.
The modern city of Mimasaka was founded on March 31, 2005 by the merger of the former town of Mimasaka, absorbing the towns of Aida, Ōhara and Sakutō, the village Higashiawakura (all from Aida District), and the town of Katsuta (from Katsuta District).
Government
Mimasaka has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 18 members. Mimasaka, collectively with the village of Nishiawakura, contributes one member to the Okayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Okayama 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
Economy
Mimasaka has a mixed economy based on manufacturing, wholesale and retail commerce, agriculture, forestry, and tourism (hot springs),
Education
Mimasaka has nine public elementary schools and five public junior high school operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Okayama prefectural Board of Education.
Transportation
Railway
JR West (JR West) - Kishin Line
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Chizu Express - Chizu Line
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Highways
Chūgoku Expressway
Tottori Expressway
Sister and Friendship cities
Former Ōhara town
Echizen (Former Imadate town), Fukui, Japan - Sister city agreement concluded in 1990 Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan - Friendship city agreement concluded in 1991 Gleizé, France - Sister city agreement concluded on March 4, 1999 Former Sakutō town Saint-Valentin, France - Sister city agreement concluded on April 6, 1988 Sankt Valentin, Austria - Sister city agreement concluded on October 25, 1994 Saint-Valentin, Canada - Sister city agreement concluded on October 24, 1997
Local attractions
Miyamoto Musashi Budokan
Yunogo Onsen
Okayama International Circuit
Village of Miyamoto Musashi
Ōhara-shuku (Shukuba) Valentine Park Sakutō