Minamishimabara

Minamishimabara 南島原市
City
Location of Minamishimabara in Nagasaki Prefecture
Minamishimabara Location in Japan
Coordinates: 32°40′N 130°18′E / 32.667°N 130.300°ECoordinates: 32°40′N 130°18′E / 32.667°N 130.300°E
Country	Japan
Region	Kyushu
Prefecture	Nagasaki Prefecture
Area
• Total	169.89 km^2 (65.59 sq mi)
Population (January 1, 2009)
• Total	51,476
• Density	303/km^2 (780/sq mi)
Symbols
• Tree	Ficus superba
• Flower	Sunflower
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City hall address	859-2211
Website	www.city.minamishimabara.lg.jp

Minamishimabara (南島原市 Minami-Shimabara-shi, lit. South Shimabara City) is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It occupies the southern tip of Shimabara Peninsula.

As of 1 January 2009, the city has an estimated population of 51,476 and a population density of 303 persons per km². The total area is 169.89 km².

The modern city of Minamishimabara was founded on March 31, 2006, from the merger of the towns of Arie, Fukae, Futsu, Kazusa, Kitaarima, Kuchinotsu, Minamiarima and Nishiarie (all from Minamitakaki District). Minamitakaki District was therefore dissolved as a result of this merger.

History

The area now comprising Minamishimabara was under the control of the Arima clan, who ruled from Hinoe Castle in the Muromachi period. The area was the site of considerable foreign trade and Portuguese and Spanish missionary activity, and by the early Edo period, a large percentage of the population were Kirishitan. After the start of the national isolation policy, the Tokugawa Bakufu banned Christianity from 1614 and replaced Arima Naozumi with Matsukura Shigemasa, who relocated the capital of Shimabara Domain to Shimabara Castle is what is now Shimabara. Due to misgovernment, high taxes and persecution of Christianity, the population rose in the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637, with the peasants occupying the fortress of Hara Castle as their strongpoint. The rebellion was suppressed with extreme severity by the Tokugawa Bakufu, and the area of Minamishimabara was ruled by a branch of the Matsudaira clan from 1668-1774 and from 1774-1871.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)