is a city

Cities of Japan

||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...

 located in Ishikawa prefecture

Ishikawa Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is Kanazawa.- History :Ishikawa was formed from the merger of Kaga Province and the smaller Noto Province.- Geography :Ishikawa is on the Sea of Japan coast...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

As of March 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 58,204 and a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 183 persons per km². Nanao is the fifth largest city by population in Ishikawa, behind Kanazawa

Kanazawa, Ishikawa

is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.-Geography, climate, and population:Kanazawa sits on the Sea of Japan, bordered by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. The city sits between the Sai and Asano rivers. Its total area is 467.77 km².Kanazawa's...

, Hakusan

Hakusan, Ishikawa

is a city located in Ishikawa, Japan.The city was founded on February 1, 2005 from the merger of the city of Mattō with seven towns and villages from Ishikawa District. As of April 1, 2008 population data, the city has an estimated population of 110,654 and a density of 147 persons per km²...

, Komatsu

Komatsu, Ishikawa

is a city located in Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 109,285 with a density of 294 persons per km². The total area is 371.13 km²....

, and Kaga

Kaga, Ishikawa

is a city located in the southwest of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.Created as an old temple town, the city was greatly developed by the Maeda clan in the early Edo period...

.

Nanao is situated in the middle of the Noto Peninsula

Noto Peninsula

thumb|right|240px|Landsat image with high-resolution data from Space Shuttle.Noto Peninsula is a peninsula that projects north into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Ishikawa prefecture in central Honshū, the main island of Japan...

 and was the ancient capital of Noto Province

Noto Province

was an old province in the area that is today the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, including the Noto Peninsula which is surrounded by the Sea of Japan. It was sometimes called . Noto bordered on Etchū and Kaga provinces....

. It has several popular onsen

Onsen

An is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth...

 (hot springs) such as Wakura Onsen

Wakura Onsen

is a hot spring resort located on the edge of Nanao Bay at the base of the Noto Peninsula in Nanao, Ishikawa, Japan. It one of several well-known, high-end onsen resorts in Japan...

, a resort town which is regarded as one of the best onsen in Japan.

On March 25, 2007, the 2007 Noto earthquake

2007 Noto earthquake

At 9:42 a.m. on March 25, 2007, the , a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, struck the Hokuriku region of Japan, near the Noto Peninsula. The earthquake shook the city of Nanao and the town of Anamizu with a seismic intensity of 6+ on Japan's shindo scale. One death, in the city of Wajima, and at least 214...

 shook Nanao and nearby communities.

History

The city of Nanao was founded on July 20, 1939. The name "Nanao" (七尾) literally means "Seven Tails" and is said to be named for the seven mountain ridges (or "tails") surrounding Nanao that are visible when viewed from Joyama (七尾城山), site of the city's historical castle ruins. These ridges are called Kikuo (菊尾, "Chrysanthemum Tail"), Kameo (亀尾, "Turtle Tail"), Matsuo (松尾, "Pine Tail"), Torano'o (虎尾, "Tiger Tail"), Takeo (竹尾, "Bamboo Tail"), Umeo (梅尾, "Plum Tail"), and Tatsuo (龍尾, "Dragon Tail").

City merger

On October 1, 2004, Nanao expanded due to the merger

Merger and dissolution of municipalities of Japan

Municipal mergers and dissolutions carried out in Japan can take place within one municipality or between multiple municipalities and are required to be based upon consensus.- Merger policy:...

 of the old with the towns of Tatsuruhama

Tatsuruhama, Ishikawa

was a town located in Kashima District, Ishikawa, Japan.On October 1, 2004 Tatsuruhama, along with the towns of Nakajima and Notojima, all from Kashima District, was merged into the expanded city of Nanao and no longer exists as an independent municipality....

, Nakajima

Nakajima, Ishikawa

was a town located in Kashima District, Ishikawa, Japan.On October 1, 2004 Nakajima, along with the towns of Tatsuruhama and Notojima, all from Kashima District, was merged into the expanded city of Nanao and no longer exists as an independent municipality....

, and Notojima

Notojima, Ishikawa

was a town located in Kashima District, Ishikawa, Japan.On October 1, 2004 Notojima, along with the towns of Tatsuruhama and Nakajima, all from Kashima District, was merged into the expanded city of Nanao and no longer exists as an independent municipality....

, all from the Kashima District

Kashima District, Ishikawa

is a district located in Ishikawa, Japan.As of April 1, 2005 population data, the district has an estimated population of 18,952 and a density of 212 persons per km²...

.

Notable persons

• Min Ayahana
  Min Ayahana
  is a Japanese manga artist, born in Nanao in Ishikawa, Japan. She debuted with the manga Warera High School Hero, published in the 1991 Autumn issue of Ribon Bikkuri Daizoukan...
  
   — manga
  Manga
  Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
  
   artist
• Hasegawa Tōhaku
  Hasegawa Tohaku
  was a Japanese painter and founder of the Hasegawa school of Japanese painting during the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history.The man known today as Hasegawa Tōhaku was born in 1539 in Nanao, a town in Noto Province to a noted local family of cloth dyers, although evidence shows that...
  
   — ancient Japanese painter
• Wajima Hiroshi
  Wajima Hiroshi
  is a former sumo wrestler and professional wrestler from Nanao, Ishikawa, Japan. He was sumo's 54th Yokozuna. He won a total of 14 tournament championships or yusho during his career and retired in March 1981....
  
   — sumo
  Sumo
  is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
  
   wrestler

Sister cities

Jinzhou

Jinzhou (Dalian)

Jinzhou District is one of the six districts of Dalian, Liaoning, China. It is located about northeast of the city centre and facing the Bohai Sea to the west and has a longer history than Dalian itself, and used to be a thriving walled city where the officials of this area were dispatched from...

, Dalian

Dalian

Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...

, China (unknown) Gimcheon

Gimcheon

Gimcheon is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is situated on the major land transportation routes between Seoul and Busan, namely the Gyeongbu Expressway and Gyeongbu Line railway.-Administrative divisions:...

, North Gyeongsang

Gyeongsangbuk-do

Gyeongsangbuk-do or shortly Gyeongbuk is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, remained a province of Korea until the country's division in 1945, then became part of South Korea.The Gyeongsangbuk-do Office is...

, South Korea Bratsk

Bratsk

Bratsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. Population: Although the name sounds like the Russian word for 'brother' , it actually comes from 'bratskiye lyudi', an old name for the Buryats.-History:The first Europeans in the area arrived...

, Irkutsk Oblast

Irkutsk Oblast

Irkutsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of Angara River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk. Population: -History:...

, Russia Monterey

Monterey, California

The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States Morgantown

Morgantown, Kentucky

Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,544 at the 2000 census. The city had a sister city in Tatsuruhama, Ishikawa, Japan, which city is now part of Nanao, Ishikawa, Japan.-History:...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

United States

External links

• A list of festivals in Nanao