Kyūga, Mimasaka

Kyūga (丘川市 Kyūga-shi) is a city in Shirakawa, Chisei. It is located on the northern border of Mimasaka Province, forming a with the city of Mazawa, Akazawa. As of 2019, the city has a population of 141,052.

The city is best known for the Kyūga Locks, a series of, and other structures which connect the lower stretch of the Ōshirakawa River to the city's east with the upper stretch, allowing large vessels to venture as far inland as Yenokaji and Eito. The growth and development of Kyūga has largely historically been tied to that of the locks, with the city's founding coinciding with their initial construction in 1683.

As a strategic link between the Shirakawan west coast and its capital, as well as a notable industrial center, Kyūga has been the site of numerous historic battles. The city was placed under siege three times, in 1804, 1806 and 1808, during the Chiseian Civil War, and switched hands frequently between loyalist and rebel factions. It was among the cities bombed by Yamataian aircraft in the First Escar-Varunan War.

A major expansion and modernisation of the lock and canal system from 1891 - 1906 and from 1926 - 1936 allowed for dramatically greater volumes of traffic. During the Second Escar-Varunan War the city was part of the Enokaji Line and was heavily shelled during the First and Second battles of Kyūga in 1938 and 1942. It was also the subject of a concerted strategic bombing effort by the Chiseian Royal Airforce after its capture by Yamatai, with the most severe being the Kyūga firestorm in 1941 that killed 13,000 and destroyed two thirds of buildings in the city (though failed to destroy the locks or Imperial barracks, the actual military targets of the raid.) The city was among the most thoroughly decimated in Chisei relative to it's size, though it recovered relatively quickly.

Kyūga remains a notable city to this day. It retains some of the best preserved examples of wartime fortifications in Shirakawa, many of which have been converted for use as museums or tourist attractions, such as the Kyūga tower, originally built as an air-defence emplacement. The locks continue to be the heart of the city's fortunes, with some 3.5 million tonnes of cargo, fuel, building materials, and seafood products passing through the locks each year. The east-west Eito-Wanshu high-speed railway line, built in 1998, and the north-south Mimasaka-Akazawa Line both run through the city.