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Ōita (city)

Coordinates: 33°14′0″N 131°36′24″E / 33.23333°N 131.60667°E / 33.23333; 131.60667
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Ōita
大分市
Core city
From top, left to right: Funai Castle, Monkeys in Mount Takasaki, Motomachi Stone Buddhas, Ōita Stadium, Old Ōita Bank [ja], Shopping street in central Ōita [ja]
From top, left to right: Funai Castle, Monkeys in Mount Takasaki, Motomachi Stone Buddhas, Ōita Stadium, Old Ōita Bank [ja], Shopping street in central Ōita [ja]
Flag of Ōita
Flag
Official seal of Ōita
Seal
Map
Location of Ōita in Ōita Prefecture
Location of Ōita
Ōita is located in Japan
Ōita
Ōita
Location in Japan
Coordinates: 33°14′0″N 131°36′24″E / 33.23333°N 131.60667°E / 33.23333; 131.60667
CountryJapan
RegionKyushu
Prefecture Ōita
Government
 • MayorShinya Adachi (since April 2023)
Area
 • Total
502.38 km2 (193.97 sq mi)
Population
 (November 30, 2023)
 • Total
474,804
 • Density950/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC 09:00 (JST)
City hall address2–31 Niage-machi, Ōita-shi, Ōita-ken 870-8504
WebsiteOfficial website
Symbols
FlowerCamellia sasanqua
TreeElaeocarpus sylvestris
Ōita City Hall
Main street of Ōita
City view from city centre

Ōita (大分市, Ōita-shi) is the capital city of Ōita Prefecture, located on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of 30 November 2023, the city had an estimated population of 474,804 in 230,867 households, and a population density of 950 persons per km2. [1] The total area of the city is 502.38 km2 (193.97 sq mi).

Geography

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Ōita city is located in east-central Ōita Prefecture, facing Beppu Bay on the Seto Inland Sea. The Ōno River flows from the south to the east, and the Ōita River flows from the west to the west, with the main urban center on the west side of the mouth of the Ōita River, with the Ōita Plain consisting of deltas and alluvial plains formed by the Ōita River and the Ōno River, and surrounding hills. The Takashima area in of the city is within the borders of the Seto Inland Sea National Park.

Neighboring municipalities

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Ōita Prefecture

Climate

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Ōita has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ōita is 15.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1663 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.1 °C.[2]

Climate data for Oita City Nagahama District、elevation 5 meters
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 24.6
(76.3) 		25.5
(77.9) 		29.3
(84.7) 		31.2
(88.2) 		32.7
(90.9) 		35.4
(95.7) 		37.8
(100.0) 		37.6
(99.7) 		36.5
(97.7) 		33.1
(91.6) 		28.0
(82.4) 		25.0
(77.0) 		37.8
(100.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 10.7
(51.3) 		11.5
(52.7) 		14.6
(58.3) 		19.7
(67.5) 		24.1
(75.4) 		26.5
(79.7) 		30.9
(87.6) 		32.2
(90.0) 		28.2
(82.8) 		23.3
(73.9) 		18.1
(64.6) 		13.0
(55.4) 		21.1
(70.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 6.5
(43.7) 		7.2
(45.0) 		10.2
(50.4) 		14.8
(58.6) 		19.3
(66.7) 		22.6
(72.7) 		26.8
(80.2) 		27.7
(81.9) 		24.2
(75.6) 		19.1
(66.4) 		13.8
(56.8) 		8.7
(47.7) 		16.8
(62.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 2.6
(36.7) 		3.0
(37.4) 		5.9
(42.6) 		10.3
(50.5) 		15.0
(59.0) 		19.3
(66.7) 		23.5
(74.3) 		24.3
(75.7) 		20.9
(69.6) 		15.2
(59.4) 		9.5
(49.1) 		4.6
(40.3) 		12.8
(55.0)
Record low °C (°F) −7.3
(18.9) 		−7.8
(18.0) 		−5.2
(22.6) 		−2.1
(28.2) 		1.7
(35.1) 		7.2
(45.0) 		14.0
(57.2) 		14.1
(57.4) 		8.8
(47.8) 		2.0
(35.6) 		−2.0
(28.4) 		−6.1
(21.0) 		−7.8
(18.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 49.8
(1.96) 		64.1
(2.52) 		99.2
(3.91) 		119.7
(4.71) 		133.6
(5.26) 		313.6
(12.35) 		261.3
(10.29) 		165.7
(6.52) 		255.2
(10.05) 		144.8
(5.70) 		72.9
(2.87) 		47.1
(1.85) 		1,727
(67.99)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		1
(0.4)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.5 mm) 5.9 7.7 10.0 10.0 9.7 14.0 12.0 10.6 11.1 7.7 6.9 5.5 111.0
Average snowy days 6.4 4.6 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 4.6 17.3
Average relative humidity (%) 62 63 65 65 68 77 77 75 74 70 69 64 69
Mean monthly sunshine hours 149.4 149.1 175.0 190.1 194.6 135.7 180.8 202.8 151.5 164.2 148.2 151.2 1,992.4
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (Averages：1991-2020, Peaks：1887-present)[3]

Demographics

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Ōita is the most populous city in Ōita Prefecture. Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōita is as shown below

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1960 242,001—    
1970 289,951 19.8%
1980 385,635 33.0%
1990 429,927 11.5%
2000 454,424 5.7%
2010 473,955 4.3%
2020 477,393 0.7%

History

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The area of Ōita city was part of ancient Bungo Province, and the location of the Bungo Kokubun-ji and presumably the Bungo kokufu were located in this area. According to the Bungo no Kuni Fudoki, the name Ōita was given by Emperor Keiko when he visited this area in the late Kofun period; however, the main urban center was the port of Funai (府内) on the coast. During the Kamakura period, the Ōtomo clan was appointed shugo of the province, and made Funai their jōkamachi. By the Sengoku period, the Ōtomo has conquered most of Kyushu and had embraced Nanban culture, with Funai becoming a stronghold of the Kirishitan religion and western technology. However, the Ōtomo were destroyed by the Shimazu clan and after the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, their territories were divided, with Funai becoming the center of Funai Domain ruled by the Ogyū-Matsudaira clan.

The town of Ōita was established on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system, and was raised to city status in 1911. On April 1, 1997, it was designated as a core city with greater local autonomy.

On January 1, 2005, the town of Notsuharu (from Ōita District) and the town of Saganoseki (from Kitaamabe District) were merged into Ōita.

Government

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Ōita has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 44 members. Ōita contributes 13 members to the Ōita Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Ōita 1st district and Ōita 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

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During the 1960s and 1970s, an industrial region was formed along the Beppu Gulf coast. Among the plants in the region were flagship plants of Nippon Steel and Showa Denko.

In the 1970s, Toshiba and Canon built and expanded their plants in inland area. By then, the city emerged as a major production center of electronics products such as LSIs and digital cameras.

The downtown and shopping districts are located to the north of Oita Station. However, the area has been gradually declining because the main commercial areas have been dispersed due to the construction of big shopping malls in the suburbs.

Education

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National universities

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Prefectural universities

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Private universities

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Primary and secondary schools

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Ōita has 54 public elementary schools, 25 public junior high schools, and two combined elementary/junior high schools operated by the city government. The city has 14 public high schools and one combined middle/high school operated by the Ōita Prefectural Board of Education, six private high schools and three private combined middle/high schools. The city also operates four and the prefecture operates one special education schools for the handicapped.

Transportation

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Airports

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  • Oita Airport is located in neighbouring Kunisaki, and used to be accessible in 30 minutes via hovercraft. This service has been suspended since late 2009, but the hovercraft service is planned to resume in fall of 2024.[4] Other ways of accessing the airport include by bus, taxi or private vehicle.

Railways

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The luxury Aru Ressha train was designed by Eiji Mitooka. It runs between Ōita and Hita and is in service to also revive tourism and the local economy.[5] JR Kyushu - Nippō Main Line

JR Kyushu - Hōhi Main Line

JR Kyushu - Kyūdai Main Line

Highways

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Japan National Route 10 at Oita, Oita

Ports

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Sister cities

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  • United States Austin, Texas, United States, sister city since October 1990
  • Portugal Aveiro, Portugal, sister city since October 1978
  • China Guangzhou, China, exchange promotion city partnership since September 1997
  • China Wuhan, China, friendship city since September 1979

Local attractions

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Marine Palace AKA "Umi Tamago"
Takasaki Mountain

Festivals and events

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  • The Ōita Tanabata Festival (大分七夕まつり, Ōita Tanabata Matsuri) is annually held on the first weekend of August. On the first night of the festival, an event called Funai Pacchin (府内戦紙) in which Matsuri floats depicting warriors are paraded through the central streets of the city is held.[7]
    Funai Pacchin float

Sports

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Annual sporting events include:

Sporting events held in Oita include:

Sports teams and facilities

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Club Sports League Venue Established
Ōita Trinita Football J.League
Division 1 		Resonac Dome Oita 1994 (as Ōita Trinity, changed to current name in 1999)
Vasagey Oita Futsal F.League Oita Prefectural General Gymnasium 2003
Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler Volleyball V.League Toto Oita factory gymnasium 1996 (as Miyoshi Department of Cardiology EKG, changed to current name in 2006)

Notable people from Ōita

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References

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  1. ^ "Ōita City official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
  2. ^ Ōita climate: Average Temperature, weather by month
  3. ^ "平年値ダウンロード" (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  4. ^ "Hovercraft to Return to Oita, Ferrying Passengers to Airport" The Japan News  September 3, 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Luxury 'dream train' designed over 100 years ago goes into service in Kyushu". The Japan Times. Tokyo. August 8, 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
  6. ^ "大分マリーンパレス水族館「うみたまご」公式サイト". Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Funai Pacchin Festival :: Discover Oita | Oita, Japan | Tourism Information". www.discover-oita.com. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  8. ^ Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. ARRS (2009-12-24). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
[edit]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Oita.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oita, Oita.
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