The largest city in Shikoku Island

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The largest city in Shikoku Island

Matsuyama City

Matsuyama City is located in Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan. It is the largest city in the county and the entire Shikoku Island, with an area of ??428.88 square meters. km, population 510,000 (2006). A large modern industrial base has been built along the coast of Songshan City, focusing on petroleum, chemical industry, agricultural machinery and food industries. Ehime University is located here. Matsuyama City has developed sea, land and air transportation. Together with Takamatsu City, it is called the Shikoku Gate, also known as the Shikoku West Gate. There are many historical sites in the city, especially Matsuyama Castle and Dogo Onsen.

History

Since the Edo period, it has become the political center of Iyo Matsuyama Domain and a castle town of Matsuyama Castle. It was successively ruled by Kato Yoshiaki, Kamao Tadachi, and Matsudaira Sadyuki. Eventually it became the territory of the Matsudaira Hisamatsu family, the feudal lord.

Introduction to Shikoku Island

Shikoku (Japanese pseudonym: しこく), also known as Shikoku Island, was called Iyo's Two Names Island (Iyo Two Names Island) in ancient times and was later referred to as Iyo Island. (Iyo Island), Niina Island (Nina Island). According to the administrative divisions of Japan, it includes Tokushima Prefecture (Awa), Kagawa Prefecture (Sanuki), Ehime Prefecture (Iyo) and Kochi Prefecture (Tosa). (Both belong to the Nankaido divided into five regions and seven regions). Since it is divided into four countries, it was called Shikoku Island in modern times.

Shikoku Island is located in the southwest of Honshu, south of China, and northeast of Kyushu. It is separated from Honshu by the Seto Inland Sea.

It is bordered by the Seto Inland Sea to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Kinki region of Honshu to the east across the Naruto Strait and the Kii Waterway, and to the west across the Bunyo Strait and Bungo Waterway from Kyushu. Together with the islands, it covers an area of ??about 18,800 square kilometers and a population of 4.25 million (1986). It includes the 4 prefectures of Tokushima, Kagawa, Aise, and Kochi.

Most of Shikoku Island is mountainous, and the Shikoku Mountains separate Tosa, Iyo and Awa. In Shikoku, there are very few plains. There is a very small piece of Tokushima Plain in Tokushima, there is Kochi Plain in Kochi, and there is only a very small Matsuyama Plain in Ehime Prefecture. Because there are many mountains, most cities are concentrated on these originally small plains. For example, Songshan Castle was built in the Songshan Plain. In Songshan City, you can find the ruins of Songshan Castle. Friends who like ancient cities are worth a visit. Kochi Prefecture is separated from the Seto Inland Sea by steep mountains to the west, and has a long coastline facing the Pacific Ocean to the east. It is a major fishery prefecture.

Except for the Kochi Plain and the Nakamura Plain, most of Kochi Prefecture is mountainous. There is Muroto Cape in the east, Ashizuri Mountain in the west, and Tosa Bay in the central area. It is rich in natural resources and has the highest forest coverage rate in Japan. It is one of the few forestry prefectures in Japan.

Industrial development is lower than the national level, with output value accounting for only 2.8% of the country’s total. The northern coast of the Seto Inland Sea is an emerging coastal industrial zone. Larger industrial centers include Matsuyama (chemistry, machinery), Niihama (non-ferrous metals, chemistry), Tokushima (chemistry), and Sakade (petroleum, shipbuilding, aluminum manufacturing) in land reclamation. Aime and Xiangchuan counties have higher rice harvests. Aimei's citrus production and quality rank first in the country. Kochi has developed vegetable horticulture, fishery, and aquaculture industries. External relations mainly rely on sea transportation. The bridge to Honshu was built after World War II. The northern Shikoku coastal area belongs to the Seto Inland Sea National Park and has long been known for its beautiful natural scenery.

There are now 4 bridges connecting Shikoku Island with Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Honshu, where Kobe is located: Seto Ohashi Bridge, Ohnaruto Bridge, Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, and Shimanami Kaido. Among them, the Seto Bridge has the second longest total length in the world (it was originally the first in the world, and its position was replaced by the Hangzhou Bay Cross-sea Bridge on May 1, 2008). It is the longest suspension bridge (two The distance between bridge towers is 1,100 meters long, ranking first in the world; the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is the longest cross-sea bridge in the world.