Omaezaki

Omaezaki City lies approximately 80 miles (130 km) south of Shizuoka City at the tip of a peninsula of the same name, stretching east into the Pacific Ocean. The majority of the city consists of gentle hills and valleys with some steep cliffs on the peninsula's east coast. Like much of Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture is an earthquake zone, and small tremors frequently occur in the area. Omaezaki is also in an area at risk from tsunami.

• Shizuoka Prefecture
  • Kakegawa
  • Kikugawa
  • Makinohara

Omaezaki has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). Due to its location, Omaezaki experiences strong coastal winds between October and April. The Japanese rainy season also affects Omaezaki, with typhoons liable to hit the city between July and September. During summer, the region is cooler than the majority of inland Shizuoka Prefecture.The average annual temperature in Omaezaki is 16.7 °C (62.1 °F). The average annual rainfall is 2,094.8 mm (82.47 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.7 °C (80.1 °F), and lowest in January, at around 6.9 °C (44.4 °F).^[2]

Per Japanese census data,^[4] the population of Omaezaki has fairly constant over the past 50 years.

With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the village of Omaezaki was created within Haibara District of Shizuoka Prefecture. It was elevated to town status on March 31, 1955. On April 1, 2004, Omaezaki merged with the town of Hamaoka (formerly of the now-defunct Ogasa District) to form the city of Omaezaki.

During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the England national football team was based in former Hamaoka Town.

Omaezaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 16 members.

Omaezaki has a long history of commercial fishing and of green tea cultivation and these continue to play a central role in the local economy. More recently, the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant situated in the former town of Hamaoka brought investment to the city; however, operations at the plant have been suspended from May 2011. Water sports account for a large number of visitors daily to the city, and during the summer months, tourism attracted by Omaezaki's beaches is an important part of the economy, and water sports made possible by strong coastal winds have become as much a part of Omaezaki's identity as that of a rural town.

Omaezaki has five public elementary schools and two public middle schools and one high public school operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one vocational training school.

 

Omaezaki does not have any passenger rail services.

•   National Route 150

• Port of Omaezaki

Omaezaki City has long been famed for its Omaesaki Lighthouse and its extensive green tea fields. In recent years the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, the visitor centre of which also hosts an Omnimax Cinema, has become a well-known local landmark. Due to the active seismic nature of the region, the nuclear power station has been built to a high level of safety, and its operator, Chubu Electric Power, claims that it can withstand strong tremors.

As a result of the strong coastal winds, Omaezaki offers some of the best windsurfing in Japan. As well as being Japan's most famous windsurfing spot, Omaezaki is renowned as a popular surfing and bodyboarding destination. This is especially true during the summer months, although surfers and bodyboarders can be seen all year round at Omaezaki Long Beach (御前崎ロングビーチ). The city also has a beach as part of Omaezaki Marine Park (御前崎マリーンパーク) which is a popular destination during the region's hot and humid summer months.

•   Takamori, Nagano, since September 24, 2007^[5]
•   Uljin County, North Gyeongsang, South Korea, since August 4, 2009^[6]

•   Media related to Omaezaki, Shizuoka at Wikimedia Commons
•   Geographic data related to Omaezaki at OpenStreetMap
• Official website (in Japanese)