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Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi (山口市, Yamaguchi-shi^?) is the capital city of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is the smallest prefectural capital in Japan.

In 2004 the city had an estimated population of 191,195 and a population density of 261.82 persons per km². The total area is 730.23 km².

The city was founded on April 10, 1929 (1st generation), April 1, 1944 (2nd Generation), and October 1, 2005 (3rd Generation)

There is a famous Buddhist temple, Rurikōji, with a five story pagoda, a Catholic cathedral in Yamaguchi city which commemorates the visit of Saint Francis Xavier and subsequent introduction of Christianity to Japan in 1550, and an art gallery.

Yamaguchi Ube Airport in nearby Ube serves Yamaguchi.

Merger History

• April 1, 1944: Yamaguchi (1st Generation) merged with Ōtoshi, Hirakawa, Aiofutajima, Natajima, Sue, Ogōri, Ajisu, Kagawa and Sayama to form the new city of Yamaguchi (2nd Generation). (At that time of the merger, all of them were from Yoshiki District.)
• November 23, 1947: The town of Ajisu broke off from Yamaguchi.
• November 1, 1949: The town of Ogōri broke off from Yamaguchi.
• November 3, 1963: The village of Suzenji from the Yoshiki District merged into Yamaguchi.
• May 1, 1963: The town of Ōuchi from Yoshiki District merged into Yamaguchi.
• October 1, 2005: Yamaguchi (2nd Generation) merged with the remaining parts of Yoshiki District (Dissolved by this action) and the town of Tokuji from Saba District (also dissolved by this action) to form the 3rd city of Yamaguchi.

Trivia

As of January 1, 2006, Yamaguchi, Hikari (both from Yamaguchi Prefecture), and Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture are the only cities to be founded for three times.

Sister cities

• Pamplona, Spain
• Jinan, People's Republic of China
• Gongju, South Korea
• Zouping (county), People's Republic of China, Binzhou

External links

• Yamaguchi official website in Japanese
• Yamaguchi travel guide from Wikitravel