Kyoshi

Kyoshi is the capital and largest city of the State of Shiratoku of the Federal Commonwealth of Sekowo.

History
The city of Kyoshi was founded in 2512 by the first groups of colonists from Sekowo, primarily from the Hasowar region, particularly the Kasmenai Metropolis. The city, originally built to be hub for the then Eastern Territories saw massive growth early on fueled by the large waves of Gao-Showa imigrants from the West.

In 2556 the city ceased being the primary transit hub for the area as land transport was eclipsed by sea transport following the opens of the large ports in the three other Eastern territories. The city however was not adversely affected, as it had had reached a point of self-sufficiency and a population of nearly two-million. The cessation of being a hub is seen by many to be one of the major events that helped the unique culture in the city and state overall form.

In 2600 the city became the de jure capital (having alredy been the de facto capital for some time) at the beginning of the 'New Era'.

Geography
Kyoshi lies on a relatively flat plain criscrossed by six different rivers. The outer regions of the metropolitan area are less geologically homoginous do to expansion into the Riyoza valley andn onto the slopes of Mt. Hakurai.

Climate
Kyoshi has a unique climate marked by the occurence of multi-day long rains in the early spring and fall, thiunderstorms in the summer and stretches of warm clear days in between. Winter in Kyoshi is moderate, but somewhat long, with the city being covered in a light to medium layer of snow from late November to mid January.

Media
Kyoshi is served by three major news agencies, of which only one produces regular physical newspaper, namely the Kyo-to Shimbun (Kyoshi city Newspaper). The other two are the Kyoshi Times and the Imperial Standard.

Kyoshi has no private Internet providers as it is considered an extension of the right to communication and knowledge and as such the city and state government have built and maintained the city (and states) portion of the network, leading to private sector disinterest.

Education
Kyoshi is home to several prestigious Universities and over two dozen primary education schools.

Primary Education
The Kyoshi metropolitan area has fifteen Elementary schools, fifteen middle-schools and fifteen High Schools with one school from each category serving two districts.

Higher Education
Kyoshi is home to five Universities, Colleges and Institutions of Higher Education, the Imperial University of Kyoshi, Shiratoku Institute of Technology, Kyoshi University, Sekowo University Kyoshi Campus and the Kyoshi Art Institute.

Government
The government of Kyoshi takes place in a hybrid system of an elected non-partisan city council and direct democracy.

The Kyoshi Metropolitan Council (KMC) is comprised of thirty representatives, elected in single-seat constituencies through a method of Instant Run-off Voting from each of the cities thirty districts. All candidates must be politically independant (IE having no official membership in a political party) and are limited in both the amount of non-public funds they can both recieive and spend.

While the KMC is the legislature and one of the only two branches of city government, the other being the Juiciary, legislation can be created, passed or recalled through civil initiatives. In terms of general legislation to have a civil initiaitve put to vote requires the collection of signatures from 10,000 people and requires a majority yes vote of atleast 50% of all registered voters.

Notable Residents

 * Hinata Ishida (Empress)
 * Danael Ishida (Prince)
 * Toru Ishida (Prince)
 * Kyumi Ishida (Current Empress)
 * Ayako Ishida (Princess, Leader of the DSP)
 * Sasuke Itokawa (Writer)