Owase

Owase is located in southeastern Kii Peninsula, in southern Mie Prefecture, facing the Gulf of Kumano the Pacific Ocean. Ninety percent of the city area is forested or coastal rias. Sandwiched between mountains and the offshore Kuroshio Current, the area has very heavy rainfall from spring through autumn. More than 80% of the population is concentrated in former Osawe town, on the coast.

Owase has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). It has comfortable spring and autumn seasons, and warm winters with practically no snow. The warm Kuroshio Current makes its closest contact with the Japanese coast at Owase. Combined with the high mountains falling almost to the sea, this gives Owase an extremely heavy annual rainfall of {{convert|3850|mm|in|-1}}, which is the highest in the world at low altitudes in subtropical and warm temperate latitudes.[http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/annually_s.php?prec_no=53&prec_ch=%8EO%8Fd%8C%A7&block_no=47663&block_ch=%94%F6%98h&year=2006&month=&day=&elm=annually&view= Records at Owase observatory, Japan Meteorological Agency (Japanese)] Only certain parts of southern Chile, coastal British Columbia and the Adriatic Sea coast have as much rain at low elevations outside the tropics. Typhoons often pass Owase in summer.

Despite the excessive wetness of the climate, summers are no more uncomfortable or humid than in the rest of southern Japan. Humidity is marginally lower than in the cities close to the Seto Inland Sea or on the southern Sea of Japan.

{{Weather box

|width=auto

|collapsed = Y

|single line = Y

|metric first = Y

|location = Owase (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1938−present)

|Jan record high C = 22.4

|Feb record high C = 27.1

|Mar record high C = 26.5

|Apr record high C = 30.3

|May record high C = 33.1

|Jun record high C = 37.3

|Jul record high C = 38.6

|Aug record high C = 38.8

|Sep record high C = 36.6

|Oct record high C = 31.9

|Nov record high C = 29.8

|Dec record high C = 25.6

|Jan record low C = -6.9

|Feb record low C = -6.2

|Mar record low C = -5.0

|Apr record low C = -1.9

|May record low C = 2.8

|Jun record low C = 8.6

|Jul record low C = 13.8

|Aug record low C = 12.6

|Sep record low C = 9.4

|Oct record low C = 3.7

|Nov record low C = -1.3

|Dec record low C = -4.6

|Jan high C = 11.5

|Feb high C = 12.4

|Mar high C = 15.4

|Apr high C = 19.7

|May high C = 23.2

|Jun high C = 25.7

|Jul high C = 29.6

|Aug high C = 30.9

|Sep high C = 27.9

|Oct high C = 23.4

|Nov high C = 18.8

|Dec high C = 14.0

|Jan mean C = 6.5

|Feb mean C = 7.2

|Mar mean C = 10.3

|Apr mean C = 14.7

|May mean C = 18.7

|Jun mean C = 21.9

|Jul mean C = 25.8

|Aug mean C = 26.8

|Sep mean C = 23.8

|Oct mean C = 18.8

|Nov mean C = 13.7

|Dec mean C = 8.8

|Jan low C = 2.0

|Feb low C = 2.3

|Mar low C = 5.3

|Apr low C = 9.9

|May low C = 14.4

|Jun low C = 18.6

|Jul low C = 22.7

|Aug low C = 23.5

|Sep low C = 20.4

|Oct low C = 14.9

|Nov low C = 9.1

|Dec low C = 4.2

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 106.0

|Feb precipitation mm = 118.8

|Mar precipitation mm = 233.8

|Apr precipitation mm = 295.4

|May precipitation mm = 360.5

|Jun precipitation mm = 436.6

|Jul precipitation mm = 405.2

|Aug precipitation mm = 427.3

|Sep precipitation mm = 745.7

|Oct precipitation mm = 507.6

|Nov precipitation mm = 211.5

|Dec precipitation mm = 121.3

|year precipitation mm = 3969.6

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 5.6

|Feb precipitation days = 6.6

|Mar precipitation days = 9.5

|Apr precipitation days = 9.8

|May precipitation days = 11.0

|Jun precipitation days = 14.6

|Jul precipitation days = 13.0

|Aug precipitation days = 11.7

|Sep precipitation days = 13.9

|Oct precipitation days = 12.0

|Nov precipitation days = 7.3

|Dec precipitation days = 5.9

|Jan snow cm = trace

|Feb snow cm = 1

|Mar snow cm = 0

|Apr snow cm = 0

|May snow cm = 0

|Jun snow cm = 0

|Jul snow cm = 0

|Aug snow cm = 0

|Sep snow cm = 0

|Oct snow cm = 0

|Nov snow cm = 0

|Dec snow cm = trace

|year snow cm = 1

|unit snow days = 1 cm

|Jan snow days = 0.1

|Feb snow days = 0.2

|Mar snow days = 0

|Apr snow days = 0

|May snow days = 0

|Jun snow days = 0

|Jul snow days = 0

|Aug snow days = 0

|Sep snow days = 0

|Oct snow days = 0

|Nov snow days = 0

|Dec snow days = 0.1

|humidity colour= green

|Jan humidity = 60

|Feb humidity = 61

|Mar humidity = 63

|Apr humidity = 68

|May humidity = 74

|Jun humidity = 81

|Jul humidity = 82

|Aug humidity = 80

|Sep humidity = 80

|Oct humidity = 76

|Nov humidity = 71

|Dec humidity = 64

|Jan sun = 179.8

|Feb sun = 170.5

|Mar sun = 192.9

|Apr sun = 191.0

|May sun = 181.7

|Jun sun = 124.2

|Jul sun = 158.6

|Aug sun = 178.4

|Sep sun = 130.5

|Oct sun = 136.3

|Nov sun = 152.6

|Dec sun = 174.5

|year sun = 1965.9

|source 1 = Japan Meteorological Agency{{cite web

| url = http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=53&block_no=47663&year=&month=&day=&view=

| title = 平年値（年・月ごとの値） | access-date = 2010-03-06 | publisher = Japan Meteorological Agency

}}{{cite web

| url = http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/rank_s.php?prec_no=53&block_no=47663&year=&month=&day=&view=

| title = 観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）| access-date = 2010-03-06 | publisher = Japan Meteorological Agency

}}

|date=August 2010

}}

The population of Owase has decreased steadily over the past 50 years.[https://www.citypopulation.de/php/japan-mie.php Owase population statistics]

{{Historical populations

| 1920 | 21,672

| 1930 | 25,522

| 1940 | 25,401

| 1950 | 31,744

| 1960 | 34,534

| 1970 | 31,546

| 1980 | 31,348

| 1990 | 27,114

| 2000 | 23,683

| 2010 | 20,013

|align = none

| footnote =

}}

The area of present-day Owase was part of ancient Shima Province. It was transferred to Kii Province in 1582. During this time, large-scale forestry projects were begun. After the Meiji restoration, the area became part of Mie Prefecture. The town of Owase was established in April 1889, within Kitamuro District of Mie Prefecture, with the creation of the modern municipalities system.

The city of Owase was established in June 1954, by the merger of the town of Owase with the surrounding villages of Sugari and Kuki and the villages of Kitawauchi and Minamiwauchi, both from Minamimuro District.

Owase has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 10 members. Owase, collectively with the towns of Kihoku, contributes two members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Mie 4th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Owase is mainly supported by its commercial fishery and forestry industries. Yellowtail, amberjack, Japanese horse mackerel, sauries, sea bream and bonito are among the fish landed at Owase. Japanese cypress and cryptomeria trees are found in abundance here in the mountains.

Owase has five public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the city government. One public high school is operated by the Mie Prefectural Department of Education. The prefecture operates one special education school for the handicapped.

20px JR Tōkai – Kisei Main Line

• {{STN|Owase|x}} - {{STN|Ōsoneura|x}} - {{STN|Kuki|x|Mie}} - {{STN|Mikisato|x}} - {{STN|Kata|x}}

• file:JP Expressway E42.svg Kisei Expressway
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|42}}
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|311}}
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|425}}

• Owase Port

• {{nihongo|Itadaki Ichi|イタダキ市|}} – farmers market held the first Saturday morning of every month, featuring stalls selling Owase's local produce such as fresh seafood, dried fish, sea salt, jam etc. along with special performances by the locals.
• {{nihongo|Ya Ya Matsuri|ヤーヤ祭り|}} – the largest festival in Owase, held annually on 1–5 February. In the evenings of 2-4 February, men parade around the streets, jostling each other and chanting "Ya Ya" while drinking sake before the "chosen" ones dive into the sea to purify themselves. The festival ends off with a day-long street parade on the 5th featuring dance performances and an archery contest at Owase Jinja.
• {{nihongo|Owase Minato Matsuri|おわせ港まつり|}} – a summer festival held on the first Saturday in August with a fireworks display.
• {{nihongo|Hachiman Jinja Matsuri| 八幡神社例祭|}} – held on 15 September annually, beginning with a day-long parade culminating at the local Hachiman Jinja

• {{flagicon|Canada}} Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, since September 26, 1968{{cite web|url=http://www.clair.or.jp/cgi-bin/simai/e/03.cgi?p=24&n=Mie%20Prefecture|title=International Exchange|work=List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures|publisher=Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR)|access-date=21 November 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205181930/http://www.clair.or.jp/cgi-bin/simai/e/03.cgi?p=24&n=Mie%20Prefecture|archive-date=5 February 2016}}
• {{flagicon|China}} Jinzhou District, Dalian, Liaoning, China, since July 8, 2007

• Hideo Fukuyama, professional race car driver

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikivoyage|Owase}}

{{Commons category-inline}}

• {{official|http://www.city.owase.lg.jp}} {{in lang|ja}}
• [http://owasekankou.com/ Owase sightseeing page] {{in lang|ja}}
• {{osmrelation-inline|4538803}}

{{Mie}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in Mie Prefecture

Category:Port settlements in Japan

Category:Populated coastal places in Japan

Category:Owase, Mie