domain. A noted castle designer, Takatora spent six years building Itajima Castle, which would later be called Uwajima Castle. Following the Battle of Sekigahara and other campaigns, he was promoted to Tsu Domain in Ise Province. In 1614, Date Hidemune, the illegitimate eldest son of Date Masamune , was awarded the 100,000 koku Uwajima Domain by Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, and moved into Uwajima Castle the following year. His descendants would rule the domain until the Meiji restoration. Following the Meiji restoration, the town of Uwajima was created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. In 1917, Maruho Village was merged into Uwajima. The town of Uwajima merged with the village of Yahata on August 1, 1921 and was raised to city status. The city was extended by combining Kushima Village in 1934 and renovating the bay area for factory usage. The center of the city was largely destroyed by bombing during World War II in 1945; however, post-war reconstruction was rapid. In 1955, Uwajima annexed Miura and Takamitsu Villages and Uwaumi village in 1974. On August 1, 2005 Uwajima absorbed the towns of Mima, Tsushima and Yoshida (all from Kitauwa District) . Government Uwajima has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 24 members. Uwajima, together with Kihoku and Matsuno, contributes four members to the Ehime Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Ehime 4th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan. Economy Uwajima is the largest municipality of southwestern, but industry is poorly developed except for a single shipyard. Commercial fishing, taking advantage of the ria coastline, aquaculture and cultured pearls is the mainstay of the local economy. Education Uwajima has 30 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has five public high schools operated by the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education. Transportation Railways Shikoku Railway Company - Yosan Line - - - - Shikoku Railway Company - Yodo Line - - - - - () Highways Matsuyama Expressway Ports Port of Uwajima Local attractions Uwajima Castle is well known as one of the 12 Japanese castles to have an original donjon built in the Edo Period. Date Family Museum which features many historically important objects tied to the history of the region and the Daimyō family Date which ruled this area. Taga