Kameyama-shi

In the latest Population Census the population is about 50,000 (49,835 in 2020). Because this city was launched at the start of 2005, when the castle town and the neighboring station town newly became one, the step in the population for the city area appears between 2000 and 2005, when the merger is mirrored in the Census. The population of the castle town alone was 39,334 in 2000; for the post-merger city area it was 49,253 in 2005, 51,023 in 2010, 50,254 in 2015 and 49,835 in 2020, holding around fifty thousand.

Looking inside, the figure of an industrial city holding a Tokaido castle town appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 18.3% in 2000 for the castle town alone to 25.6% in 2020 for the post-merger city area — about seven points in twenty years, yet still far from three in ten. The household-with-children share is 20.9% in 2020. The Childcare Waitlist, slight against the city’s scale, remains in some years and is not necessarily zero. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.82 in fiscal 2023, an above-median level whose own tax revenue can cover a little over eight-tenths of expenditure. The figure of a city that was a Tokaido castle town, gaining a screen factory and holding its population around fifty thousand, appears in the numbers. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without going back over the history of the pass, the castle town and the factory.

This town’s skeleton is set by the terrain of the eastern foot of the Suzuka Pass, by the Tokaido castle town and stations that crossed that pass, by the candle trade that took root, by the screen factory that came in the Heisei era, and by the merger of two municipalities. The starting layer is the pass and the castle town. This land is at the eastern foot of the Suzuka Pass, and the Tokaido crossed here. Along the highway, a castle-town station, a barrier-gate station whose townscape is well preserved, and a station controlling the pass stood in a row, and in the castle town a castle of the Ise domain was set. The castle town at the foot of the pass was this town’s old center.

In this castle town a candle trade took root, and in time a screen factory came. A trade of candles that lit the night sky took root in this land, and its name became widely known. In the Heisei era a factory of thin screens sited itself in this land, and its thin-type televisions became known by the name of the world. The course by which it became a city, too, mirrors this town. At the start of 2005, the castle town newly became one with the neighboring station town, and the present city was launched. The foot of the Suzuka Pass, the Tokaido castle town and stations, the candle trade, the screen factory, and the merger of two municipalities — this town’s shape stands upon the history of a Tokaido castle town held by the eastern foot of the Suzuka Pass.

What characterizes Kameyama is that, while holding the history of a Tokaido castle town and a screen factory, it has gained a screen factory and holds its population around fifty thousand. The 39,334 of 2000 for the castle town alone became 49,253 in 2005 for the city area bound with the neighboring station town, and thereafter it has held around fifty thousand, toward 49,835 in 2020. Behind this town holding its population, while many regional cities reduce theirs, one can read that the screen factory that came in the Heisei era held a place to work, supporting the town together with the manufacturing trades of the Higashi-Meihan area and around Suzuka.

On the other hand, the share aged 65 and over, at 25.6% in 2020, is still far from three in ten, even while rising about seven points in twenty years. The household-with-children share is 20.9% in 2020. The Childcare Waitlist, slight against the city’s scale, remains in some years. The Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.82 is a level whose own tax revenue can cover a little over eight-tenths of expenditure, above the median. One can read that the manufacturing trades, including the screen factory, support the tax source above the median. The city that was a Tokaido castle town still, having gained a screen factory, holds its population around fifty thousand while raising the town’s age. The population is almost level, the aging is still far from three in ten, and the fiscal stamina is above the median. The above-median finances are the expression that the manufacturing trades, including the screen factory drawn to the castle town at the foot of the pass, support the tax source.

Kameyama holds several functions of its own. One is its history as a Tokaido castle town, where, at the eastern foot of the Suzuka Pass, the Tokaido crossed, a castle-town station and a barrier-gate station whose townscape is well preserved stood in a row, and a castle of the Ise domain was set. Another is its character of modern industry, where a trade of candles that lit the night sky took root, and in the Heisei era a factory of thin screens became known by the name of the world. And the terrain of the eastern foot of the Suzuka Pass drew both the Tokaido castle town and the modern factory into this land.

Kameyama is a town where the eastern foot of the Suzuka Pass held a Tokaido castle town and a screen factory. From the Tokaido castle town and stations, to the candle trade, the screen factory, and the merger of two municipalities — the geography "the eastern foot of the Suzuka Pass" set the Tokaido castle town and drew the modern factory to its foot. In the Tokaido castle town crossing the pass a candle trade took root, and at that same foot, in the Heisei era, a factory of thin screens stood and became known by the name of the world. The advantage of the foot of the pass set the highway’s castle town and drew in the modern factory.