Chita Peninsula

The Chita Peninsula (知多半島 Chita Hantō) is a peninsula to the south of Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It runs approximately north-south. To the west is Ise Bay, while to the east it encloses Mikawa Bay. It faces the Atsumi Peninsula southeast across Mikawa Bay. Chūbu Centrair International Airport is located off the west coast of the peninsula.

Geography

The peninsula is relatively narrow and consists of a hilly terrain.

Economy

The northern part of the peninsula is industrialized, with a western part of them being a part of Chūkyō Industrial Area. The southern part is relatively less industrialized and fishing villages and beaches can be seen.

In 2005, Chubu Centrair International Airport was opened in a man-made island near Tokoname, making the peninsula the main gateway for people coming to Tōkai region by air.

Overview of 10 municipalities

There was a referendum in December 2004 to merge Mihama and Minamichita to form the city of Minami-Centrair(Japanese:南セントレア市). However, the name was not suggested by anyone who voted on the name and was selected by the Mihama-Minamichita merge council with an intent of the city growing as a bedroom community of the airport. This met severe backlash as the Chubu Centrair International airport was in Tokoname, and the name using Katakana, which was not related to the history of the area.^[1]

Due to these incidents, the referendum was not passed by the residents, which ended the talks for merge with the council disbanding in the March of 2005.

Ōbu

The city is industrialized with factories from companies such as Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Toyota Industries. The production of grapes are the highest in the prefecture. Wellness valley, a place with welfare, health facilities extending over south of the city to northern Higashiura is being developed.