is a village located in

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. , the village had an estimated population of 3,693 in 1558 households, and a population density of 16 persons per km². The total area of the village is .

Geography

Ōkuwa is located in the Kiso Mountains of southwest Nagano Prefecture, bordered by the Atera Mountains to the west. The

Kiso River The is a river in the Chubu region of Japan roughly long, flowing through the prefectures of Nagano, Gifu, Aichi, and Mie before emptying into Ise Bay a short distance away from the city of Nagoya.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005) ...

flows through the village.

Mount Utsugi is a mountain located on the boundary of Okuwa, Iijima and Miyada, Nagano Prefecture, in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is tall and part of the Kiso Mountains are a mountain range in Nagano and Gifu prefectures in Japan. They are als ...

(2864 meters) and

Mount Minamikoma is a mountain located on the border between Okuwa, Nagano, Okuwa, Kiso District, Nagano, Kiso District, and Iijima, Nagano, Iijima, Kamiina District, Nagano, Kamiina District, Nagano Prefecture, in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is tall and part ...

(2841 meters) are on the border of the village.

Surrounding municipalities

*Nagano Prefecture ** Iida ** Komagane ** Iijima **

Agematsu is a town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 4,451 in 2091 households, and a population density of 26 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Agematsu is located in a mountainou ...

** Nagiso ** Ōtaki *

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

Nakatsugawa Magome-juku on the Nakasendō is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 78,930, and a population density of 120 persons per km2 in 30,788 households The total area of the city was . Geography Nakatsugawa is in ...

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōkuwa has decreased over the past 50 years.

Climate

The town has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and cold winters ( Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Ōkuwa is 12.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1680 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.4 °C.Ōkuwa climate data
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History

The area of present-day Ōkuwa was part of ancient

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. The area developed as Suhara-juku and Nojiri-shuku two post stations on the Nakasendō highway connecting

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with Kyoto during the Edo period. The present village of Ōkuwa was established on April 1, 1889 by the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

Education

Ōkuwa has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the town government. The village does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

R Tōkai - Chūō Main Line ** - -

Highway

International relations

* – Shelbyville, Illinois, USA, sister city

References

External links

*
Official Website
Villages in Nagano Prefecture {{Nagano-geo-stub