Mimasaka, Okayama

Mimasaka (美作市) is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 25,946 in 12287 households and a population density of 60 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 429.29 sqkm.

Geography
Mimasaka is located in northeast Okayama. Most of the city limits are hills and forests. The prefectural border is at the Chugoku Mountains, and there is Mount Ushiro (1344 meters), the highest peak in the prefecture is within the city limits. Parts of the city are considered to be heavy snowfall areas.

Adjoining municipalities
Okayama Prefecture Hyōgo Prefecture Tottori Prefecture
 * Bizen
 * Wake
 * Misaki
 * Shōō
 * Nagi
 * Nishiawakura
 * Shisō
 * Sayō
 * Chizu

Climate
Mimasaka has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Mimasaka is 13.3 C. The average annual rainfall is 1620.4 mm with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.6 C, and lowest in January, at around 1.6 C. The highest temperature ever recorded in Mimasaka was 38.5 C on 7 August 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was -13.6 C on 28 February 1981.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Mimasaka in 2020 is 25,939 people. Mimasaka has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History
The area of Mimasaka is part of ancient Mimasaka Province, from which it takes its name. The Hayashino district, which is the center of the city, has long been an important transportation hub, and since the Sengoku period, goods have been transported by boats crossing the Yoshii River. In the Edo period, the Mori clan, who were the first daimyō of Tsuyama Domain, gave local merchants the same level of authority as merchants in the castle town of Tsuyama, making it the center of eastern Mimasaka. Afterwards, it came under the direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate and a magistrate's office was established. The famed samurai Miyamoto Musashi was born in what is now part of the city.

The modern city of Mimasaka was founded on March 31, 2005, by the merger of the former town of Mimasaka, absorbing the towns of Aida, Ōhara and Sakutō, the village Higashiawakura (all from Aida District), and the town of Katsuta (from Katsuta District).

Government
Mimasaka has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 18 members. Mimasaka, collectively with the village of Nishiawakura, contributes one member to the Okayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Okayama 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy
Mimasaka has a mixed economy based on manufacturing, wholesale and retail commerce, agriculture, forestry, and tourism (hot springs).

Education
Mimasaka has nine public elementary schools and five public junior high school operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Okayama prefectural Board of Education.

Railway
JR West (JR West) - Kishin Line Chizu Express - Chizu Line
 * Mimasaka-Doi - Mimasaka-Emi - Narahara - Hayashino
 * Miyamoto Musashi - Ōhara

Highways

 * JP Expressway E2A.svg Chūgoku Expressway
 * JP Expressway E29.svg Tottori Expressway

Sister and Friendship cities

 * Former Ōhara town
 * 🇯🇵 Echizen (Former Imadate town), Fukui, Japan — Sister city agreement concluded in 1990
 * 🇯🇵 Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan — Friendship city agreement concluded in 1991
 * 🇫🇷 Gleizé, France - Sister city agreement concluded on March 4, 1999
 * Former Sakutō town
 * 🇫🇷 Saint-Valentin, France — Sister city agreement concluded on April 6, 1988
 * 🇦🇹 Sankt Valentin, Austria — Sister city agreement concluded on October 25, 1994
 * 🇨🇦 Saint-Valentin, Canada — Sister city agreement concluded on October 24, 1997

Local attractions

 * Miyamoto Musashi Budokan
 * Yunogo Onsen
 * Okayama International Circuit
 * Village of Miyamoto Musashi
 * Ōhara-shuku (Shukuba)
 * Valentine Park Sakutō
 * Chōfuku-ji
 * Japan museum of contemporary toy & Hall of music box

Notable people from Mimasaka

 * Miyamoto Musashi, noted samurai in the Edo Period
 * Tomoji Abe, author
 * Doshin So, founder of Shorinji Kempo
 * Atsuko Asano, author