is a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
located in
Niigata Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...
,
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
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 353, and a
population density
Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
of 36.1 persons per km. The total area of the village is .
Geography
The village is located on
Awashima Island, located in the
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...
off the coast of
Murakami, Niigata
is a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 58,300 in 22,594 households, and a population density of 50 persons per km². The total area of the city was .
Geography
Murakami is northernmost and eas ...
, to which it is connected by ferry.
Climate
Awashimaura has a
Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Awashimaura is 12.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2059 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 0.5 °C.
Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Awashimaura has declined steadily over the past 50 years.
History
The island of Awashima has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and fragments of
Jōmon period
The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...
pottery have been found. The
Asuka period
The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...
general
Abe no Hirafu
was a Japanese military strategist and commander of the Asuka period.
Some sources say he lived from c.575-664
Biography
Events in his life are accounted in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki, both written several decades after his death. His father ...
conquered the island from its native
Emishi
The (also called Ebisu and Ezo), written with Chinese characters that literally mean "shrimp barbarians," constituted an ancient ethnic group of people who lived in parts of Honshū, especially in the Tōhoku region, referred to as in contemp ...
inhabitants and brought it under the control of the
Yamato dynasty
The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...
. During the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, the island passed between
Murakami Domain
was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Echigo Province (modern-day Niigata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Murakami Castle in what is now the city of Murakami, Niigata.[Shōnai Domain
was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Tsuruoka Castle in what is now the city of Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture, and was thus also known as the . It was gov ...]
and direct control by the
Tokugawa Shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
several times. During the
Boshin War
The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...
, the
Schnell brothers offloaded weapons for Shōnai Domain at Awashima. After the
Meiji restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
, the village of Asahimaura was created in 1909 as part of
Iwafune District, Niigata
is a Districts of Japan, district located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
As of July 1, 2019, the district has an estimated population of 5,644 with a density of 18.2 persons per km2. The total area is 309.39 km2.
The district currently has t ...
Prefecture. The epicentre of the
1964 Niigata earthquake
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
was near Awashima, and many of the buildings in Awashimaura were damaged or destroyed.
Economy
The main industries of Awashimaura are seasonal tourism and
commercial fishing
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...
.
Education
The village has two schools, Awashimaura Village Elementary School and Awashimaura Village Junior High School. There are also programs for study abroad and visiting students.
Transportation
Sea
* Awashima Kisen Ferry
**Iwafune (Murakami) - Uchiura (Awashimaura)
File:Awashima Line - 粟島汽船 - panoramio.jpg, Ferry Awashima
See also
*
Awashima Island, Niigata
is an Islands of Japan, island in the Sea of Japan. The island is located approximately west of the city of Murakami, Niigata, Murakami in northern Niigata Prefecture.
Awashima is administratively the village of Awashimaura, Niigata, Awashi ...
References
External links
*
Official Website
{{Authority control
Villages in Niigata Prefecture
Populated coastal places in Japan
Awashimaura, Niigata