Tomigusuku, Okinawa

Tomigusuku (Japanese豊 见 城市, - shi) is a Japanese city of Okinawa Prefecture. The name comes from the Ryukyu language and would in standard Japanese really Tomishiro read.

Geography

The city lies between Naha, Okinawa's capital, in the north and in the south Itoman, is 19.25 km ² and counted in December 2006, 54 177 inhabitants.

The quiet town consists mainly of single-family homes and some prefabricated buildings from the 50s and 60s and is very buoyant. Many of the old prefabricated buildings are continually torn down and replaced by new ones. Not least because of the growing prosperity of the community and the very low crime rising land prices continuously.

Tomigusuku begins seamlessly on the outskirts of Naha, directly south of the district Oroku. In the 50s and 60s Tomigusuku was conceived as a " bed town " for Naha and expanded. Many of the residents worked there in Naha. However, this has changed a lot over the years. With many construction projects, the city continued to grow and the commuting flows to Naha decreased, since a wide range of jobs and leisure activities in the city itself is caused by the fact and will continue Matured. Therefore, one can not understand Tomigusuku as a satellite city of Naha, but rather as an independent municipality with its own identity.

Apart from a few flying over Navy helicopters, the U.S. military in Tomigusuku is not present.

History

On 1 April 2002 the then largest village in Japan, the city status ( shi) (now this is Takizawa Iwate ), without making any incorporations awarded.

City ​​Arms

The coat of arms probably represents an abstract version of the bougainvillea that thrives almost anywhere in the region. Some residents say, partly in jest, that it show the character "と" (to) " three times " ( Japanese mi), what could be read "to mi" for Tomigusuku. For this reason, the bougainvillea had been chosen as a flower of the city.

Traffic

The terrain is sometimes extremely hilly, which is very difficult to drive a car part. Access to public transport there are only a few bus lines. The road network is sufficient in the residential areas, but confusing. At many curves and intersections there are, due to the narrowness view mirror. The main roads are at peak times always crowded. Traffic jams are the everyday. Okinawa has one of the highest accident rates in Japan. But this is not due to go too fast, but much more on drinking and driving, as well as the large number of American soldiers who can not cope with the left driving. The special training of the soldiers on the transport system, which is a prerequisite for driving there seems not sufficiently prepare for it. The Okinawa Expressway, a motorway which forms the main road from north to south, is currently (2006) on Tomigusuku extended by Itoman. In Tomigusuku even this highway is then passed through a series of tunnels under the residential areas, which is also due to the mountainous landscape.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Uehara Takako (上原 多 香 子, born 14 January 1983), actress and member of the Japanese pop group SPEED

Adjacent Cities and Towns

• Naha
• Itoman
• Haebaru
• Yaese