Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Matsuura in 2020 is 21,271 people.
History
Mention of a "Matsuura County" appears in written records from the Heian period, and this area was the home of the Matsura clan, a local warrior clan. Takashima, within the borders of the modern town, is the location where the Mongol invasions of Japan, floundered due to the winds of typhoons in 1274 and 1281, giving rise to the legend of the kamikaze. In the Edo period, the area was largely under the control of the Hirado Domain.
The villages of Sasa, Mikuriya, Hoshika, Chokawa, Imabuku, Fukushima, and Takashima were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The discovery of coal in the early Meiji period led to the rapid economic development of the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; however, the coal mines closed in the 1960s. The city was previously part of Nagasaki 4th district, which was abolished in 2022.
Economy
In the Meiji period, the area was known for its coal fields; however, by the 1960s the last coal mines had been closed. Matsuura is located in a now primarily rural area, with several industrial companies located near the city center including a steel works, a commercial fish market, and a regional power plant.