Sakai, Osaka

For other uses, see Sakai.

Sakai 堺市
Designated city
Sakai City
From top left: Daisen kofun, Old Sakai Lighthouse, Ruins of Rikyu's house, Ōtori taisha, Myōkoku-ji, Skyline with Daisen kofun in the center
Flag
Location of Sakai in Osaka Prefecture
Sakai Location in Japan
Coordinates:
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Osaka Prefecture
Government
• Mayor	Osami Takeyama
Area
• Total	149.99 km2 (57.91 sq mi)
Population (August 1, 2011)
• Total	842,760
• Density	5,600/km2 (15,000/sq mi)
Symbols
• Tree	Willow
• Flower	Iris
• Bird	Shrike
• Flowering tree	Tsutsuji
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City Hall Address	3-1 Minami-Kawaramachi, Sakai-ku, Sakai-shi, Osaka-fu 590-0078
Website	www.city.sakai.lg.jp/index_en.html

Sakai (堺市, Sakai-shi) is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the Medieval era.

Following the February 2005 annexation of the town of Mihara (from Minamikawachi District), the city has grown further and is now the fourteenth most populous city in Japan, with 833,414 residents as of May 1, 2007.

The current city was legally founded on April 1, 1889 according to the laws of Imperial Japan. Sakai became a designated city in April 2006 giving it a greater measure of self-determination in governmental affairs. It is divided into seven districts.

Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the 5th century. The largest of these, Daisen Kofun, is believed to be the grave of the Emperor Nintoku and is the largest grave in the world by area. Once known for samurai swords, Sakai is now famous for the quality of its kitchen knives; most high-quality Japanese cutlery originates in Sakai, and its production is a major industry in the city.

As of August 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 842,760 and a population density of 5,600 persons per km². The total area is 149.99 km².

History

In the Muromachi Period, Sakai was one of richest cities in Japan. Sakai is located on the edge of Osaka Bay and at the mouth of the Yamato River, which connected the Yamato Province (now Nara Prefecture) to the sea. Sakai thus helped to connect foreign trade with inland trade.

Sakai was an autonomous city run by merchant citizens. In those days, it was said that the richest cities were Umi no Sakai, Riku no Imai (tr. "along the sea, Sakai; inlands, Imai"; the latter is now a part of Kashihara, Nara). The famous Zen Buddhist priest Ikkyū chose to live in Sakai because of its free atmosphere. In the Sengoku Period, some Christian priests, including Francis Xavier in 1550, visited Sakai and documented its prosperity.

After the coming of Europeans, Sakai became a manufacturing base of firearms and a daimyo, Oda Nobunaga, was one of their important customers. During his ambitious attempt to unify Japan, Nobunaga attempted to take the autonomy privilege from Sakai. Sakai's citizens denied his order and pitched a desperate battle against his army. Most citizens fled and Sakai was burned and seized by Nobunaga. After the death of Nobunaga, one of his men, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, seized power. Sakai became a prosperous city again under his reign.

Sen no Rikyū, known as the greatest master of the tea ceremony, was originally a merchant of Sakai. Because of the close relationship between the tea ceremony and Zen Buddhism and because of the prosperity of its citizens, Sakai was one of the main centers of the tea ceremony in Japan.

Sakai was still an important trade center during the Edo Period but was involved only in inland trade due to the Sakoku policy of the Tokugawa government. At the end of this era, Westerners again landed in Sakai but it resulted in a tragic incident because the Japanese citizenry and the foreigners were ignorant of each other's ways. French sailors from the Dupleix and Sakai citizens clashed; some French were killed, and subsequently the Japanese responsible for these deaths were sentenced to death by seppuku. This incident is called the Sakai incident (堺事件, Sakai-jiken).

In modern times, Sakai is an industrial city with a large port. As such, its western area suffered widespread damage from bombing raids during the Second World War. It is now known for its knives and is the home of Shimano bicycle parts. With a population of over 800,000, it is the largest suburb of Osaka City and the fourteenth-largest city in Japan.

Wards

Sakai has seven wards (ku):

• Sakai-ku—administrative center
• Kita-ku
• Nishi-ku
• Naka-ku
• Higashi-ku
• Mihara-ku
• Minami-ku

• 

  A map of Sakai's Wards

• 

  Sakai City Hall

Education

Universities

• Osaka Prefecture University
• Taisei Gakuin University
• Tezukayama Gakuin University

Primary and secondary schools

The city previously had a North Korean school, Sakai Korean Elementary School (堺朝鮮初級学校).

Sister cities and friendship cities

• Berkeley, California, United States—1967
• Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China—1983
• Tanegashima, Kagoshima, Japan—1986
• Higashiyoshino, Nara, Japan—1986
• Wellington, New Zealand—1994

Notable people

• Reon Kadena
• Emperor Nintoku
• Gyōki
• Ikkyū
• Sen no Rikyū
• Tsuda Sōgyū
• Imai Sōkyū
• Ōuchi Yoshihiro
• Takeno Jōō
• OreSkaBand
• Nobuaki Kakuda
• Kentaro Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda, the members of the music group Kobukuro
• Akiko Yosano, Japanese poet and novelist
• Ryumon Yasuda, Japanese Painter and sculptor
• Hideo Nomo worked in Shin-nittetsu Sakai and played on its club team before he was scouted by the Kintetsu Buffaloes
• Yudetamago, manga artist duo (attended Hatsushiba High School in Higashi-ku)
• Akio Mori, a well known K-1 kickboxer known as Musashi (kickboxer)

See also

• Osaka Metropolis plan
• Sakai City Museum

External links

• Sakai City official website (Japanese)