Kikuchi

Kikuchi is a city in Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan, about 25 kilometres northeast of Kumamoto City. It lies upstream on the Kikuchi River, with its urban centre at the northeastern edge of the Kumamoto Plain, and is centred on Kumafu, the home base of the Kikuchi clan, while the eastern part is covered by natural broadleaf trees from the outer rim of Mount Aso. The area was part of ancient Higo Province and the site of Kikuchi Castle, an Asuka period mountain fortification, and the local Kikuchi clan was a major supporter of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-cho period. Kikuchi was raised to city status on 1 August 1958 and absorbed the towns of Shichijo and Shisui and the village of Kyokushi in 2005. It has been a rice-producing area since the Edo period and is the largest dairy farming area in western Japan, and tourism centred on its hot spring resorts has flourished since the 1950s. The estimated population was 46,684 and the area is 276.85 square kilometres.