Aragijima rice terraces is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Arida District, in central

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 25,940 in 10680 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 74 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Aridagawa is located in the north-center of Wakayama prefecture, with the Aridagawa River running through the center of the town. Although there are some flatlands along the Aridagawa River, most of the town tends to be mountainous. * Mountains: Mt. Washigamine (589m) * Flatlands: Aridagawa Plain * Rivers: Aridagawa River (Futagawa Dam)It was established on January 1, 2006, by the merger of the towns of Kanaya, Kibi and Shimizu, all from Arida District.

Neighboring municipalities

Wakayama Prefecture : Arida, Kainan, Tanabe : Arida District: Yuasa, Hirogawa : Kaisō District: Kimino : Hidaka District: Hidakagawa : Ito District: Katsuragi Nara Prefecture : Yoshino District: Nosegawa

Climate

Aridagawa has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Aridagawa is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The area is subject to

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

s in summer.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Aridagawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Aridagawa has been declining steadily over the past 70 years.

History

Aridagawa was established on January 1, 2006, by the merger of the towns of Kanaya, Kibi and Shimizu, all from Arida District.

Government

Aridagawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 16 members. Hidaka collectively with the other municipalities of Arida District, contributes two members to the

Wakayama Prefectural Assembly The is the prefectural parliament of Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefe ...

. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Wakayama 3rd district Wakayama 3rd district is a former constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan (national legislature), located in Wakayama Prefecture and consisted of Arida, Gobo, Shingu, and Tanabe cities and the Arida, Hidaka, Higashi ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

The economy of Aridagawa is dominated by agriculture (

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

), especially with citrus fruits. The town is also a major producer of ''sanshō'' pepper.

Education

Aridagawa has nine public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education..

Transportation

Railway

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

–

Kisei Main Line The is a railway line that parallels the coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the ''kanji'' characters from the names of the old provinces of and . The line is operated by Cen ...

* Fujinami Station

Highways

Hanwa Expressway Road * JP Expressway E42

Yuasa-Gobo Road * * * *

Local attractions

*Aragijima rice terraces * Kōya-Ryūjin Quasi-National Park

References

External links

*
Aridagawa official website
Towns in Wakayama Prefecture Aridagawa, Wakayama {{Wakayama-geo-stub