Sakaiminato, Tottori

Infobox City Japan
Name= Sakaiminato
JapaneseName= 境港市
Map

Region=Chūgoku (San'in)
Prefecture=Tottori
District=
Area_km2=28.79
PopDate=May 2008
Population=35,710
Density_km2=1240
Coords=
LatitudeDegrees= 35
LatitudeMinutes= 32
LatitudeSeconds=
LongtitudeDegrees= 133
LongtitudeMinutes= 14
LongtitudeSeconds=
Tree=Japanese Black Pine
Flower=Chrysanthemum
Bird=
Symbol
!border
SymbolDescription= Flag
Mayor= Katsuji Nakamura
CityHallPostalCode=684-8501
CityHallAddress=3000, Agarimichichō, Sakaiminato-shi, Tottori-ken
CityHallPhone= 0859-44-2111
CityHallLink= [http://www.city.sakaiminato.tottori.jp/ Sakaiminato City]

nihongo|Sakaiminato|境港市|Sakaiminato-shi is a city in the northern Tottori Prefecture, Japan. At the northern end of Yumigahama Peninsula, it faces the Sea of Japan, another sea Nakaumi and Sakai channel.

As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 35,710 and the density of 1,240 persons per km². The total area is 28.79 km².

The seaport of Sakaiminato is one of the most famous fishery ports in Japan and is the major port of Tottori prefecture. Nearby Miho airbase is run by the Ministry of Defence but is also used for civilian national and international flights, being generally referred to as 'Yonago Airport'.

The city was officially founded on April 1, 1956. Recently a merger with Yonago and other neighboring municipalities was proposed but the majority of the citizenry voted against this, and Sakaiminato is set to remain an autonomous municipality.

Sakaiminato is the home of Shigeru Mizuki, the creator of GeGeGe no Kitaro, a character seen in many forms throughout Japan. The spirit of Kitaro can be found in Sakaiminato, on Kitaro Road, a street dedicated to all the characters that appear in Mizuki's stories. One hundred bronze statues of the story’s characters line both sides of the road.

Sakaiminato was also where the photographer Shōji Ueda was born and ran a studio.

External links

* [http://www.city.sakaiminato.tottori.jp/ Official website] in Japanese