Country Japan District Saihaku - Flower Tulip Population 3,451 (1 Jun 2016) Prefecture Tottori Prefecture | Region Chūgoku
San'in - Tree Black pine Area 4.2 km² Local time Saturday 1:28 PM | |
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Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) Weather 12°C, Wind N at 11 km/h, 49% Humidity | ||
Hiezu (日吉津村, Hiezu-son) is a village located in Saihaku District, Tottori Prefecture, Japan.
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Map of Hiezu, Saihaku District, Tottori Prefecture, Japan
As of 2012, the village has an estimated population of 3,442 and a population density of 827.4 persons per km². The total area is 4.16 square kilometres (1.61 sq mi).
Geography
Hiezu faces the Miho Bay on the Sea of Japan and is surrounded on three sides by the city of Yonago. The town has three districts: Hiezu, Tomiyoshi, and Imayoshi. Hiezu sits at east the mouth of the Hino River (77 kilometres (48 mi)), which crosses much of western Tottori Prefecture before emptying into the Sea of Japan. The village sits on low, damp, sandy land. 57% of the area of Hiezu is arable.
History
Hiezu, unlike other areas of Tottori Prefecture, has no evidence of ancient settlements. The area was inhospitable to early settlement due to coastal flooding and its sandy soil. The area of present-day Hiezu appears in a Heian-period dictionary compilaed in 934, the Wamyō Ruijushō, as part of the village of Mino in Aimi District. Hiezu became part of the Kayashima shōen estate after this period, but all three areas of the village were destroyed by fire in 1571 in a regional conflict during the Sengoku period (1467 – 1573). By 1617 the village came under the control of the Ikeda clan, which controlled Hiezu as part of the Tottori Domain through the Edo period (1603 – 1868). The present-day village of Hiezu was formed by the merger of the villages on Hiezu, Tomiyoshi, and Imayoshi in 1889. The residents of Hiezu rejected a referendum on a merger with the city of Yonago in 2006. Hiezu, despite its small size, is the only village in Tottori Prefecture and remains an autonomous municipality.