Twelve Japanese Cities from Asahikawa to Kurashiki in Order of Recorded Latitude, North to South

Asahikawa sits furthest north on this path, at a recorded latitude of 43.770639. It is a core city and subprefectural capital in Hokkaido, the second largest city on the island after Sapporo, and it developed as an industrial center for lumber, brewing, furniture and paper pulp. Its page also records Japan lowest ever temperature, minus 41.0 degrees Celsius, set on January 25, 1902.

Matsumoto lies at a recorded latitude of 36.238, in the mountain ringed Matsumoto Basin of Nagano Prefecture. It was the provincial capital of the former Shinano Province from the Heian period onward and grew as a castle town under the Tokugawa shogunate. Matsumoto Castle, built more than 400 years ago, is designated a Japanese National Treasure.

Kasukabe is recorded at latitude 35.975278, in Saitama Prefecture. It was one of the special cities of Japan until that designation was abolished in 2015. The city is known for kiri-tansu, traditional dressers made from paulownia wood, and the paulownia is the city official tree.

Abiko is recorded at latitude 35.867, in Chiba Prefecture roughly 30 to 40 kilometers from central Tokyo. Its area has been inhabited since the Paleolithic period, and in the Edo period it served as a river port and post station. From the Taisho into the early Showa era it drew literary and artistic figures and was nicknamed Kamakura in the north.

Hachiōji is recorded at latitude 35.666444, in western Tokyo. It grew along the Koshu Kaido, a historical road connecting Edo to western Japan, and gained city status in 1917. It prospered as a silk center in the Meiji period and hosted cycling events at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Sagamihara is recorded at latitude 35.571417, in Kanagawa Prefecture. It is the third most populous city in its prefecture after Yokohama and Kawasaki, and its page calls it the fifth most populous suburb of the Greater Tokyo Area. Its northern neighbor is Machida, with which a cross-prefectural merger has been proposed.

Ichinomiya is recorded at latitude 35.303889, in Aichi Prefecture. It is sometimes called Owarichinomiya to tell it apart from other municipalities of the same name, including places called Ichinomiya in Chiba Prefecture. Its page records a total area of 113.82 square kilometers.

Himeji is recorded at latitude 34.815167, on the central western part of the Harima Plain in Hyogo Prefecture, with the Seto Inland Sea to its south. Its economy combines coastal heavy industry such as steel mills and chemical plants with inland agriculture and tourism. It is best known for Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site nicknamed the white heron.

Toyohashi is recorded at latitude 34.769167, in southeastern Aichi Prefecture, and serves as the informal capital of the Higashi-Mikawa region. The modern municipality was established as a town in 1879 and achieved city status in 1906. Core city designation in 1999 gave it more autonomy from the Aichi prefectural government.

Hamamatsu is recorded at latitude 34.710889, in western Shizuoka Prefecture. Its page records a total urban area of 1,558.06 square kilometers and calls it the largest city in the prefecture. It ranked first in the Japan Research Institute happiness index of government designated cities in both 2018 and 2022.

Akashi is recorded at latitude 34.643139, on the Seto Inland Sea in southern Hyogo Prefecture. The 135th meridian east, which defines Japan Standard Time, passes through the city and is marked by its municipal planetarium. Akashi is known for the local dish akashiyaki and for sake production dating to the Edo period, and it suffered significant damage in the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake.

Kurashiki ends the path at a recorded latitude of 34.585083, in Okayama Prefecture in the Chugoku region. It is the second largest city in its prefecture, with a mixed economy based on commerce, agriculture and heavy industry. It reached town status on April 1, 1891, city status on April 1, 1928, and core city designation in 2002.