Ōtsuki, Kōchi

Etymology

"Ōtsuki" literally means "large moon". The name comes from the first characters of the town of Ōuchi (大内町, Ōuchi-chō) and the village of Tsukinada (月灘村, Tsukinada-son) when they merged as Ōtsuki on February 11, 1957.

History

Signs of human presence, including stone knives and tools, date back as far as 20,000 years ago. In more recent years, granite blocks cut from stones in the Kashira Tsudoi (頭集い) area of town were shipped from Otsuki and used in the construction of Osaka Castle (大阪城) and Nagoya Castle (名古屋城), in 1585 and 1610 respectively.

One of the town's most unusual traditions, an event called the Mizu Abise (水浴びせ), has its roots in the year 1662. A massive fire occurred in the fishing village of Komame (古満目), and to prevent a similar catastrophe from reoccurring, a ritual to be carried out each new year was prescribed. In the modern day, this ritual is carried out every year on January 2, and includes elders making offerings at several locations in the village while young men sit waiting outside wearing only simple yukatas. When the elders come out, they douse the young men with bucket after bucket of cold sea water, and the procession moves on to the next location of prayer. After 2 to 3 hours of enduring the cold and making prayers to ward off disaster, the event comes to a close as families prepare warm baths to reinvigorate the freezing participants.

The town of Otsuki itself came to be known as Ōtsuki on February 11, 1957 after the union of Ōuchi (大内町, Ōuchi-chō) and Tsukinada (月灘村, Tsukinada-son).

Demographics

The Ōtsuki Town Hall displays its demographics on its homepage. These statistics are updated bi-monthly. The population of Ōtsuki peaked at 13,688 in 1960, and has seen a steady yearly decline since. Ōtsuki has issues with rural flight and population decline, much like other parts of rural Japan. As can be seen in the graph provided, the majority of residents in Ōtsuki were between 45 and 84 years of age in 2006.

As of August 2014, Ōtsuki contains 2,785 households, with an overall estimated population of 5,719, and a gender ratio of 1.11 females to each male.

Geography

Ōtsuki covers an area of 103.03 km², with approximately 70% of this area being heavily wooded mountain forests. Ōtsuki is bordered by Sukumo to the north and Tosashimizu to the east, and faces the Pacific Ocean to the south. The Bungo Channel, which separates Kyushu and Shikoku, runs along the west of Ōtsuki, while the Kuroshio Current brushes up against its south shores. To its south, Ōtsuki has a small collection of islands, including Kashiwajima, Okinojima, and Ugurushima.

Seismicity

Otsuki, along with the coastline along Kochi prefecture, is close to the Nankai Trough, and experiences seismic activity related to the Nankai megathrust earthquakes. These earthquakes typically result in landslides, flooding, and tsunamis, in addition to damage from seismic activity. These earthquakes occur approximately 100–200 years apart, with the most recent earthquake occurring in 1946.

Transportation

Education

Ōtsuki formerly had nine elementary schools, which were consolidated into one school in 2009, and five middle schools, which were consolidated into one in 2001. Ōtsuki additionally had a Sukumo High School campus in town, but it is closed as of April 2014.

Ōtsuki has three nursery schools located in Hiromi, Kashiwajima, and Himenoi.

Beaches and diving

Places of Interest