Yame

Yame (八女市) is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 37,782 in 16050 households, and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 482.44 km2. Yamecha is produced in Yame and surrounding areas, and is a tea known throughout Japan.

Geography
Yame is located in mountainous southern Fukuoka Prefecture bordering Ōita Prefecture and Kumamoto Prefecture. The Yabe River, which flows from Mount Mikuni on the prefectural border, flows through Yabe into the Ariake Sea. The land has a basin-like topography.

Neighboring municipalities
Fukuoka Prefecture Kumamoto Prefecture Ōita Prefecture
 * Kurume
 * Chikugo
 * Ukiha
 * Miyama
 * Hirokawa
 * Yamaga
 * Nagomi
 * Hita

Climate
Yame has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa). The average annual temperature in Yame is 15.4 C. The average annual rainfall is 2058.1 mm with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.7 C, and lowest in January, at around 4.1 C. The highest temperature ever recorded in Yame was 39.2 C on 16 July 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was -7.9 C on 25 January 2016.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Yame in 2020 is 60,608 people. Yame has been conducting censuses since 1950.

History
The area of Yame was part of ancient Chikugo Province. It has been inhabited since ancient times, and many ruins from the Jōmon period to the Yayoi period have been discovered, as well as more than 300 kofun burial mounds from the Kofun period. A powerful ancient state existed in the Yame region, and it was the center of the Iwai Rebellion of 527 AD against the Yamato court. The Iwatoyama Kofun, located in northern Yame, is said to be the tomb of the leader of that rebellion and is the largest keyhole-shaped tumulus in northern Kyushu. During the Edo Period, Fukushima Castle in Yame was one of the largest flatland-style Japanese castles in the region and had a three-story tenshu. It was destroyed in 1615 after the area became part of Kurume Domain, but the jōkamachi survived to be one of the largest merchant towns within Kurume Domain. Many traditional buildings from the Edo period to modern times remain along the streets, mainly lacquered houses. After the Meiji restoration, the town of Fukushima was established on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. In 1943, during World War II, Fukushima was proposed as a site for relocating the capital of Japan.

On April 1, 1954 was raised to city status.. Initially, it was planned to name the city "Chikugo-Fukushima," but due to possible confusion with neighbouring Chikugo city, it was decided to name the city "Yame" instead. At that time, there was a strong opposition to the name from the residents of the former Fukushima town.

On October 1, 2006 the town of Jōyō (from Yame District) was merged into Yame. On February 1, 2010, the towns of Kurogi and Tachibana, and the villages of Hoshino and Yabe (all from Yame District) were merged into Yame.

Government
Yame has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 22 members. Yame, collectively with the town of Hirokawa, contributes three members to the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Fukuoka 7th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy
The economy of Yame is overwhelmingly based on agriculture. Yame is a center of traditional craft industries and its total production of traditional crafts is the largest in Kyushu. These include washi paper, and various Chōchin lanterns, Butsudan, and Japanese umbrellas, and Tōrō lantern made from tuff from Mount Aso.

Education
Yame has 13 public elementary schools, eight public junior high schools and two vocational training schools operated by the city government. The city has two public high schools operated by the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education. There are also one private junior high and two private high schools.

Railways
Yame no longer has any passenger railway service. The nearest train stations to the city are JR Kyushu Hainuzuka Station or Nishitetsu Kurume Station, the former of which is about 20 minutes away from Fukushima in the city center by bus. The latter is about 30 minutes by bus.

Highways

 * JP Expressway E3.svg Kyushu Expressway

National Historic Sites

 * Yame Kofun Cluster

Notable people from Yame

 * Yasuyuki Eda, politician
 * Akiko Sugimoto, novelist
 * Eisuke Nakazono, novelist
 * Hitomi Kuroki, actress
 * Takafumi Horie, entrepreneur, founder of Livedoor