Yuasa, Wakayama

Yuasa is located on the coast in north-central Wakayama Prefecture, facing the Kii Channel. The coastline is a ria coast and the climate is mild due to the effects of the offshore Kuroshio Current.

Wakayama Prefecture

• Arida
• Aridagawa
• Hirogawa

Yuasa has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Yuasa is 15.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1878 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.8 °C.^[3] The area is subject to typhoons in summer.

Per Japanese census data,^[4] the population of Yuasa has been slowly declining over the past 40 years.

The area of the modern town of Yuasa was within ancient Kii Province. The name "Yuasa" appears in Heian period documents in conjunction with Yuasa Shōen, a landed estate in the area which existed into the Nanboku-chō period. During the Edo period, it was the location of a daikansho which administered the surrounding area for Kishū Domain. The village of Yuasa was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was elevated to town status on June 22, 1896. The neighboring village of Tasukawa was annexed on March 31, 1956.

Yuasa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 10 members. Yuasa collectively with the other municipalities of Arida District, contributes three members to the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Wakayama 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Yuasa is famous for its soy sauce industry, which has flourished since the Edo period. Commercial fishing, especially for whitebait, agriculture and tourism are all-important contributors to the local economy.

Yuasa has four public elementary schools and one public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education.

  JR West – Kisei Main Line

• Yuasa

•   Yuasa-Gobo Road
•   National Route 42

•   Cambridge, Minnesota, United States, sister cities since March 15, 1986
•   Braham, Minnesota, United States, sister cities since March 15, 1986
•   Kerikeri, New Zealand, sister cities since May 13, 1993

• Yuasa old town, designated an Important Preservation District for Traditional Buildings
• Mukai-ji, National Historic Site

•   Media related to Yuasa, Wakayama at Wikimedia Commons
• Yuasa official website (in Japanese)
• CNN Travel Yuasa: Birthplace of Japanese soy sauce and Edo-era treasures.