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, RurikÅji, with a five story pagoda, and a Catholic cathedral in Yamaguchi city which commemorates the visit of Saint
Francis Xavier and subsequent introduction of Christianity to Japan in 1550
Merger History
★ April 1, 1944: Yamaguchi (1st Generation) merged with ÅŒtoshi, Hirakawa, Aiofutajima, Natajima, Sue,
OgÅri,
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
OgÅri broke off from Yamaguchi.
★ November 3, 1963: The village of Suzenji from the
Yoshiki District merged into Yamaguchi.
★ May 1, 1963: The town of ÅŒuchi 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,
People's Republic of China
External links
★
Yamaguchi official website in Japanese
★