Kihoku, Mie

Kihoku 紀北町
Town
Kumano Bay in Kihoku
Flag Seal
Location of Kihoku in Mie Prefecture
Kihoku
Coordinates:
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Mie Prefecture
District	Kitamuro
Area
• Total	257.01 km2 (99.23 sq mi)
Population (September 2012)
• Total	17,885
• Density	69.6/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City symbols
• Tree	Hinoki
• Flower	Japanese lily
• Bird	Japanese murrelet
• Fish	Ocean sunfish
Phone number	0597-32-3901
Address	495-8 Aikga, Kihoku-chō, Kitamuro-gun, Mie-ken 519-5701
Website	www.town.mie-kihoku.lg.jp

Kihoku (紀北町, Kihoku-chō) is a town located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. As of September 2012, the town had an estimated population of 17,885 and a population density of 69.6 persons per km². The total area was 257.01 km².

Geography

Kihoku is located in southeastern the Kii Peninsula in southern Mie Prefecture, facing the Pacific Ocean. Kihoku is surrounded by river, sea, and mountain, and has a beautiful setting.

Neighboring municipalities

• Mie Prefecture
  • Owase, Mie
  • Ōdai, Mie
  • Taiki, Mie
• Nara Prefecture
  • Kamikitayama, Nara

History

The town of Kihoku was established on October 11, 2005 by the merger of the towns Kii-Nagashima and Miyama.

Economy

Kihoku serves as a commercial center for the surrounding region. Commercial fishing and forestry are the major employers. A well-known product of the former town of Miyama is saury sushi because of the large local catch of saury. At Kihoku, there is the static inverter plant of Kii Channel HVDC system.

Transportation

Railway

• JR Central – Kisei Main Line
  • Kii-Nagashima - Minose - Funatsu - Aiga

Highway

• Kisei Expressway
• Japan National Route 42
• Japan National Route 260
• Japan National Route 422

Local attractions

A portion of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is located within Kihoku.

Noted people

• Yoshihiko Wada - artist

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Kihoku official website (Japanese)