yamatotakada, nara

Yamatotakada (大和高田市; -shi) is a city located in Nara, Japan. Yamato means the old name of Nara Prefecture. As a lot of Takada place names are found all over Japan, the city is particularly called Yamato-Takada. The city continues to develop as a local business and government center in the central region of Nara Prefecture. As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 72,291 and the density of 4,386.59 persons per km². The total area is 16.48 km².

History

Inhabited since the Paleolithic age, the city area nurtured paddy field agriculture in the fertile Nara Basin since ancient times. Large key-hole type burial mounds were constructed in the northwestern part of the city around the fifth century A.D.. A local samurai family ruled the area in the medieval age, but the lord of Takada was perished in 1580 by a local vassal of powerful　Oda Nobunaga.In the early modern age, the city area developed as a local market town with a big Buddhist temple at its core. With the introduction of Western civilisation into Japan, a modern spinning factory was set up here at the end of the nineteenth century. Since then, the city turned out to be a modern center of textile industry. After the Second World War, Takada was designated as a city in 1948. In 1963, the city of Yamato-Takada established, through the arrangement of an Australian Catholic father, sister city relationship with Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. It is known as the first case of such relationship between the two countries.

Recent News

MATSUDA Toshiharu, who served as major of the city since 1992, resigned in 2003. During his terms of office he executed ambitious construction plans resulting with huge borrowings. He was also criticized for his connection with a gangster boss in Nara City. YOSHIDA Masakatsu, elected as new major in April, 2003, has to cope with the deteorierating financial problems with curtailed national subsidy and mounting unpaid city tax. A citizens' group advocates new freindship relation with Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province in central China, though city administrators are still reluctant.

External link

Official website with link to English pages

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