Zentsuji

History

The area of Zentsūji was part of ancient Sanuki Province and has been inhabited since prehistoric times. A number of burial mounds from the Kofun period have been identified, including the Arioka Kofun cluster. The city is the birthplace of the Buddhist monk Kūkai, also known as Kōbō Daishi. Zentsū-ji (from which the city derives its name), was established in 813 on the site of his birth, is the 75th temple on the 88-temple Shikoku Pilgrimage. The city originated as a market town which developed in front of the gates of this temple. During the Edo Period, the city area was part of the holdings of Marugame Domain, Takamatsu Domain and Tadotsu Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. Following the Meiji restoration, the village of Zentsūji was established within Tado District, Kagawa with the creation of the modern municipalities system on December 16,1878. Tado District became Nakatado District in 1899. Zentsūji was elevated to town status on November 3, 1901 and after merging with four neighboring villages, was elevated to city status on March 31, 1954. From 1896 to 1945, the IJA 11th Infantry Division was headquartered in Zentsūji, which hosted the largest military base in Shikoku. During World War II, Zentsuji was the location of a Prisoner-of-war camp in World War II. After the war, the former base site was converted into the location for the city hall and Shikoku Gakuin University, in addition to other public facilities. However, the city still retains a strong connection to the military and is the location a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force brigade headquarters and garrison.

Geography

Zentsūji is located in northwestern Kagawa Prefecture. It is the only city in Kagawa Prefecture that does not face the sea. Kagawa Prefecture *Kotohira * Mannō *Marugame *Mitoyo *Tadotsu Zentsūji has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Zentsūji is 15.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1439 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.7 °C.

Most-observed species

• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  32
• Brown-eared Bulbul

  Hypsipetes amaurotis (Temminck, 1830) · Aves
  31
• Oriental Turtle-Dove

  Streptopelia orientalis (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  29
• Large-billed Crow

  Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 · Aves
  28
• Varied Tit

  Poecile varius (Temminck & Schlegel, 1848) · Aves
  28
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow

  Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  27
• Great Cormorant/European Shag

  Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  26
• Japanese White-eye

  Zosterops japonicus Temminck & Schlegel, 1845 · Aves
  23

Most recent

• M 4 — 2023-11-10
  15 km E of Kochi, Japan
• M 4.3 — 2022-12-28
  4 km SSE of Aki, Japan
• M 4.9 — 2022-06-16
  5 km S of Komatsushimach?, Japan
• M 4 — 2022-05-22
  12 km SSW of Kamojimach?-j?gejima, Japan
• M 4.7 — 2021-07-31
  8 km SW of Anan, Japan
• M 4.6 — 2021-07-18
  7 km ESE of Ikedach?, Japan