On the islands off this land, on the seafloor, the memory of war sleeps. More than seven hundred years ago, when a great country across the sea attacked twice, fierce battles were fought in the sea around these islands. The relics of sunken ships are still found on the seafloor even now. This sea was also a rich fishing ground, and in the landing of a flat silver fish this became one of Japan’s leading districts. The band that arose in this land was a gathering of those who made their living from the sea. This land of islands struck by the Mongol invasions, with the mainland city having incorporated the towns of the surrounding islands, walks on while losing population. Matsuura’s numbers are the record of a town in which the memory of sea battles and the merger are inscribed.
A city that opens in the north of Nagasaki Prefecture, on the north of the Kitamatsuura Peninsula and the islands of Imari Bay. Because this city, in 2006, had the mainland city incorporate the towns of two surrounding islands, the population statistics move greatly in 2010. The former city area in 2000 was 22,082; reflecting the incorporation, 2010 was 25,145, and from there it has moved to the 21,271 of 2020. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "a city of the prefecture’s north," but the causal thread: how the memory of sea battles and the merger is translated into today’s population and finances.
01 · Seeing the present Matsuura in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about 21,000 (21,271 in 2020). Because the range this city measures changed with the merger, its population must be read with care. The former city area was 22,082 in 2000 and 21,221 in 2005; after incorporating the towns of two surrounding islands in 2006, 2010 rose once to 25,145. This is not that the population actually increased, but a step due to the widening of the range measured. After that, through the 23,309 of 2015 to the 21,271 of 2020, it has fallen.
Looking inside, the figure of a fishing city holding islands raising its age appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 33.3% in 2015 to 36.9% in 2020, well over three in ten. The household-with-children share is 17.9% in 2020, and the crude birth rate is 5.6 per thousand in 2020. The Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.53 in fiscal 2023, a level able to cover a little over half of expenditure with its own tax revenue. The island that became the battlefield of the Mongol invasions, while widening its range by incorporation, is in actual numbers losing people. Why it takes this form cannot be read without going back to the past of the memory of sea battles, the fishing ground and the incorporation.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency) / Real Estate Information Library (MLIT)
02 · The memory of sea battles, the rich fishing ground, the band of the sea, the incorporation of two islands — the history behind the numbers
What supports Matsuura’s past is the memory of sea battles, the rich fishing ground, the band that made its living from the sea, and the incorporation of the towns of two islands. The oldest layer is the memory of sea battles. More than seven hundred years ago, when a great country across the sea attacked twice, fierce battles were fought in the sea around the islands off this land. The relics of sunken ships are still found on the seafloor even now. The position of islands open toward the lands across the sea is this town’s oldest foundation.
This sea was also a rich fishing ground. In the landing of a flat silver fish, this land became one of Japan’s leading districts, and a land that holds up the fried form of that fish. The band that arose in this land was a gathering of those who made their living from the sea, and its name became the name of this land. The newest layer is the path to becoming a city. In 2006 the mainland city incorporated the towns of two surrounding islands and became the present city. By this, the range the city measured widened, and a step arose in the population statistics. The memory of sea battles, the rich fishing ground, the band of the sea, the incorporation of two islands — the land that piled these four layers in order of age is the present Matsuura.
Source: Matsuura City / Takashima and the Mongol invasions (the traces of the two Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century remain on the island, with relics sleeping on the seafloor — overview) / Matsuura City / the landing of horse mackerel (located in the north of the Kitamatsuura Peninsula; one of Japan’s leading districts for landing horse mackerel, declaring itself "the sacred ground of fried horse mackerel"; the birthplace of the Matsura band — overview) / Matsuura City (established on 2006-1-1 when the former Matsuura City incorporated Fukushima and Takashima Towns of Kitamatsuura County in a new merger; statistics move greatly in 2010 after the merger; includes the islands of Imari Bay — overview)
03 · In a land of islands struck by the Mongol invasions, losing population after the incorporation
What characterizes Matsuura is that, while it holds the past of the memory of sea battles, after incorporating the towns of two islands it is losing population. With the incorporation of 2006, the city’s population rose once to 25,145 in 2010, but this is a step due to the widening of the range measured, not that the population actually increased. After that, through the 23,309 of 2015 to the 21,271 of 2020, it has fallen. Even in this fishing land holding islands, one can read that some of the younger generation moved toward the larger cities and the town’s age as a whole rose. That the share aged 65 and over passed well over three in ten at 36.9% in 2020 is an expression of that.
On the other hand, the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025, the household-with-children share is 17.9% in 2020, and the crude birth rate is 5.6 per thousand in 2020. The Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.53 is a level able to cover a little over half of expenditure with its own tax revenue. The population looks to have increased once with the incorporation, but that is a step in the range measured; in reality it keeps falling, and the aging is well over three in ten. Even for the same fishing city, this figure, in which the step of range and the fall of actual numbers face opposite ways, forms its image only when population, age and finances are layered on a single sheet.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
04 · Islands open toward the lands across the sea held the memory of war and a fishing ground
The functions Matsuura holds are not one. It has the face of the memory of sea battles, where more than seven hundred years ago it was attacked by a great country across the sea, war was fought in the sea around the islands off it, and the relics of sunken ships still sleep on the seafloor. It has the face of a rich fishing ground, which became one of Japan’s leading districts in the landing of a flat silver fish. And it holds the face of a land of incorporation, taking its name from a band that made its living from the sea, the mainland city having incorporated the towns of two surrounding islands. The position of islands open toward the lands across the sea set both the memory of war and the fishing ground here.
Islands open toward the lands across the sea held the memory of war and a fishing ground — that is the town Matsuura is. From the memory of sea battles, to the rich fishing ground, the band of the sea, and the incorporation of two islands, what set the skeleton was the geography of "a peninsula and islands open toward the lands across the sea." The same openness to the sea drew in a great army seven hundred years ago, and now draws in the silver fish. That the sea is near made both the disaster and the blessing of this town.
Source: Matsuura City / Takashima and the Mongol invasions (the traces of the two Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century remain on the island, with relics sleeping on the seafloor — overview) / Matsuura City / the landing of horse mackerel (located in the north of the Kitamatsuura Peninsula; one of Japan’s leading districts for landing horse mackerel, declaring itself "the sacred ground of fried horse mackerel"; the birthplace of the Matsura band — overview) / Matsuura City (established on 2006-1-1 when the former Matsuura City incorporated Fukushima and Takashima Towns of Kitamatsuura County in a new merger; statistics move greatly in 2010 after the merger; includes the islands of Imari Bay — overview)
05 · Atlas’s note — in a land of islands struck by the Mongol invasions, the openness to the sea becomes both disaster and blessing
Lay out Matsuura’s numbers and the indicators of a fishing city holding islands line up: a population with a step from incorporation, an aging rate of 36.9%, a household-with-children share of 17.9%, and a fiscal capacity of 0.53. But when I (Atlas), as a certified public accountant, read these, the first thing I want to confirm is that the population looking to have increased in 2010 is a step from the widening of the range measured by incorporating the towns of two islands, not that people actually increased. The population of a town that had a merger or incorporation will be misread unless the change in the range measured is taken into account. The step of the year the range changed must not be mistaken for an increase or decrease of population — this is the first caution in reading the numbers.
Another thing I want to consider is that this town has borne the position of "islands open toward the lands across the sea" in exactly opposite meanings according to the age. The position open toward the lands across the sea was the peril of being attacked by a great country more than seven hundred years ago, and is now the blessing of a rich fishing ground. The chain by which the same openness to the sea has been both peril and blessing explains the thickness of this town’s past well.
The same openness to the sea that drew in a great army seven hundred years ago now draws in the silver fish. The single condition that the sea is near has brought both disaster and blessing to these islands. Whether to view this land as the scene of the history of the Mongol invasions, or as a fishing city holding a rich fishing ground, changes with where one’s interest lies. The same openness to the sea that drew in a great army seven hundred years ago now draws in the silver fish.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Matsuura City / Takashima and the Mongol invasions (the traces of the two Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century remain on the island, with relics sleeping on the seafloor — overview) / Matsuura City / the landing of horse mackerel (located in the north of the Kitamatsuura Peninsula; one of Japan’s leading districts for landing horse mackerel, declaring itself "the sacred ground of fried horse mackerel"; the birthplace of the Matsura band — overview) / Matsuura City (established on 2006-1-1 when the former Matsuura City incorporated Fukushima and Takashima Towns of Kitamatsuura County in a new merger; statistics move greatly in 2010 after the merger; includes the islands of Imari Bay — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (wave34-west 2026-06-04)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: wave34w_