Yokkaichi

Yokkaichi (四日市市, Yokkaichi-shi, lit. "fourth day market") is a city located in Mie, Japan.

As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 314,393. The total area is 205.53 km².

The closest major city is Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture.

It is a manufacturing center that produces banko ware (a kind of porcelain), automobiles, cotton textiles, chemicals, tea, cement, and computer parts such as DRAM by Toshiba subsidiary Yokkaichi Toshiba Electronics.

History

File:近畿日本鉄道近鉄四日市駅周辺.jpg

around Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station

In Azuchi-Momoyama period, the port was developed and a regular market was open on 4, 14, 24 in each month. Thus, the city is named Yokkaichi because "yokkaichi" means "market on fourth day." In Edo period, Yokkaichi-juku was the forty-third station on the Tōkaidō.

Yokkaichi's port advanced remarkably during the Meiji period, primarily under the guidance of Inaba Sanuemon, a resident merchant interested increasing trade into Yokkaichi and the Ise area by modernizing the port facilities. Started in 1872, the project took 12 years to complete due to typhoons and difficulties in financing the project. This led to the port city being designated an Official International Port in 1899. The primary trade items shipped through Yokkaichi were originally seed oil, Banko ceramics, and Ise tea; but now it has developed into a port that now handles cotton, wool, glass, and heavy equipment.

The city was designated a 'modern city' on August 1, 1897. From 1960 to 1972, the city residents suffered health problems caused by the emission of SOx into the atmosphere from local oil chemical plants. In Japan, a disease called Yokkaichi zensoku (Yokkaichi Asthma) derives its name from the city, and it is considered one of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan.