Odawara

Coordinates: 35°15′N 139°9′E / 35.250°N 139.150°E / 35.250; 139.150
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Ōtawara.
Odawara
小田原市
Special city
Top left: Odawara Castle, Top right: Panorama view of Odawara, from Odawara Castle Park, Middle left: Odawara Fishing Port, Middle right: Odawara Station, Bottom left: Sontoku Ninomiya Shrine, Bottom right: Ishigakiyama Castle Park
Top left: Odawara Castle, Top right: Panorama view of Odawara, from Odawara Castle Park, Middle left: Odawara Fishing Port, Middle right: Odawara Station, Bottom left: Sontoku Ninomiya Shrine, Bottom right: Ishigakiyama Castle Park
Japanese black pine
Odawara Castle
The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō

Odawara (小田原市, Odawara-shi) is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 June 2021, the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2.[1] The total area of the city is 113.79 square kilometres (43.93 sq mi).

Geography

Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in the far western portion of Kanagawa Prefecture at the southwestern tip of the Kantō region. It is bordered by the Hakone Mountains to the north and west, the Sakawa River to the east, and Sagami Bay of the Pacific Ocean to the south.

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture

Climate

Odawara has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Odawara is 13.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2,144 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.9 °C.[2]

Climate data for Odawara (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1978−present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.1
(68.2) 		26.1
(79.0) 		25.5
(77.9) 		29.7
(85.5) 		32.3
(90.1) 		35.4
(95.7) 		37.3
(99.1) 		38.0
(100.4) 		35.9
(96.6) 		32.8
(91.0) 		26.2
(79.2) 		24.0
(75.2) 		36.6
(97.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 10.6
(51.1) 		11.3
(52.3) 		14.1
(57.4) 		18.9
(66.0) 		22.8
(73.0) 		25.2
(77.4) 		29.0
(84.2) 		30.6
(87.1) 		27.2
(81.0) 		22.2
(72.0) 		17.4
(63.3) 		13.0
(55.4) 		20.2
(68.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) 5.3
(41.5) 		6.1
(43.0) 		9.2
(48.6) 		14.0
(57.2) 		18.2
(64.8) 		21.3
(70.3) 		25.2
(77.4) 		26.4
(79.5) 		23.0
(73.4) 		17.8
(64.0) 		12.6
(54.7) 		7.8
(46.0) 		15.6
(60.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 0.6
(33.1) 		1.3
(34.3) 		4.4
(39.9) 		9.2
(48.6) 		13.8
(56.8) 		18.0
(64.4) 		22.0
(71.6) 		23.0
(73.4) 		19.6
(67.3) 		14.1
(57.4) 		8.3
(46.9) 		3.1
(37.6) 		11.5
(52.6)
Record low °C (°F) −5.7
(21.7) 		−8.0
(17.6) 		−4.4
(24.1) 		−0.9
(30.4) 		4.8
(40.6) 		11.1
(52.0) 		14.1
(57.4) 		16.0
(60.8) 		10.4
(50.7) 		4.2
(39.6) 		−0.4
(31.3) 		−3.8
(25.2) 		−8.0
(17.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 83.7
(3.30) 		89.5
(3.52) 		175.6
(6.91) 		181.7
(7.15) 		182.2
(7.17) 		219.3
(8.63) 		216.0
(8.50) 		167.2
(6.58) 		248.7
(9.79) 		238.7
(9.40) 		119.5
(4.70) 		74.7
(2.94) 		1,996.5
(78.60)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 6.0 6.6 11.1 10.3 10.6 12.8 11.9 9.2 12.0 10.9 8.0 6.3 115.7
Mean monthly sunshine hours 179.9 159.5 161.2 176.9 182.2 130.5 163.2 201.8 138.3 131.0 149.4 171.0 1,945
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency[3][4]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,[5] the population of Odawara peaked around the year 2000 and declined slightly since then.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1960 131,366—    
1970 163,631+24.6%
1980 177,467+8.5%
1990 193,417+9.0%
2000 200,173+3.5%
2010 198,327−0.9%
2020 188,856−4.8%

History

The area around present-day Odawara has been settled since prehistoric times, and archaeological evidence indicates that the area had a high population density in the

daimyō. The town prospered as Odawara-juku, a post station on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto
.

After the Meiji Restoration, Odawara Domain briefly became 'Odawara Prefecture', which was merged with the short-lived 'Ashigara Prefecture' before joining Kanagawa Prefecture in 1876. During this period, the center of economic and political life in Kanagawa shifted to Yokohama. Odawara suffered a strong decline in population, which was made more severe when the original route of the Tōkaidō Main Line bypassed the city in favor of the more northerly route via Gotemba.

The epicenter of the

Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. It devastated Tokyo, the port city of Yokohama, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka Prefectures, and caused widespread damage throughout the Kantō region. Ninety percent of the buildings in Odawara collapsed immediately, and fires burned the rubble along with anything else left standing.[6]

Odawara regained some measure of prosperity with the opening of the Tanna Tunnel in 1934, which brought the main routing of the Tōkaidō Main Line through the city. Odawara was raised from the status of town to city on December 20, 1940. On August 15, 1945, Odawara was the last city in Japan to be bombed by Allied aircraft during World War II.

On November 1, 2000, Odawara exceeded 200,000 in population, and was proclaimed a special city with increased autonomy.

Government

Odawara City Hall

Odawara has a

Diet of Japan
.

Economy

Odawara is a major commercial center for western Kanagawa Prefecture. Manufacturing includes light industry, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food processing. Agriculture and

bedroom community
for Yokohama and Tokyo.

Companies headquartered in Odawara include:

  • Suzuhiro Co.
  • Meganesuper Co., Ltd.
  • Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd
  • Odawara Auto Machine MFG. Co., Ltd.
  • Odakyu Sharyo Kogyo Co Ltd
  • Odakyu Hakone Holdings Co., Ltd.
  • Hakone Tozan Railway
  • Sagami Trust Bank
  • Nippon Injector Corporation

Education

Odawara has 25 public elementary schools and 12 public middle schools operated by the city government, and four public high schools operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Odawara also has one private elementary school, one private middle school, two private high schools, and a private junior college, the Odawara Women's Junior College.

Transportation

Railway

JR Tōkai -Tōkaidō Shinkansen

JR Tōkai - Gotemba Line

JR East - Tōkaidō Main Line

Odakyu Odawara Line

Izuhakone Railway - Daiyūzan Line

Hakone Tozan Railway - Hakone Tozan Line

Highway

Bus

Local attractions

Odawara Hōjō Godai Festival(May)

Besides

Hakone hot springs resort area and the sightseeing locations of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park
. Within the city itself, the Yugawara area is a well-known hot spring resort.

Another castle, Ishigakiyama Ichiya Castle, was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Enoura, a coastal area of Odawara known for its pristine sea, has an abundance of kumamomi, a type of fish that prefers clear and clean water. Sea turtles are sometimes present there. Because of the clear water and plentiful undersea life, many people come to Enoura for scuba diving.

Traditionally, Odawara is known for its production of kamaboko processed fish, stockfish, umeboshi salted plums, and traditional herbal medicines. The Suzuhiro Kamaboko Village is a place to experience making and learning more about Odawara Kamaboko.

The Odawara Hōjō Godai Festival, the city's biggest tourism event, takes place every May 3 during Golden Week.[7][8]

Sister city relations

Notable people from Odawara

Notes

  1. ^ "Odawara city official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
  2. ^ "Odawara climate: Average Temperature, weather by month, Odawara water temperature - Climate-Data.org". en.climate-data.org.
  3. ^ 観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）. JMA. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  4. ^ 気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値）. JMA. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "Chiba (Japan): Cities, Towns and Villages in Prefecture - Population Statistics, Charts and Map". www.citypopulation.de.
  6. ^ Hammer, Joshua. (2006). Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II, p. 113.
  7. ^ "小田原市 | 第59回小田原北條五代祭り".
  8. ^ "5月3日 北條五代祭り | イベント-年間一覧 | リトルトリップ小田原 [小田原市観光協会]". リトルトリップ小田原 [小田原市観光協会].

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Odawara.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Odawara, Kanagawa.
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