is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in Ayauta District,

Kagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the southwest and Tok ...

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 town 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 23,427 in 10108 households 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 960 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Ayagawa is located almost in the center of Kagawa Prefecture, and is bordered by the

Sanuki Mountains The are a mountain range running along the southern border of Kagawa and the northern border of Tokushima prefectures on the island of Shikoku, Japan. The highest peak is at 1059.9 m.Takamatsu 270px, Takamatsu City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a city located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 414,134 in 190120 households and a popul ...

Marugame is a city located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 108,541 in 46101 households and a population density of 970 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Marugame is located in north-ce ...

* Sakaide * Mannō

Climate

Ayagawa has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa'') with hot, humid summers, and cool winters. Some rain falls throughout the year, but the months from May to September have the heaviest rain. The average annual temperature in Ayagawa is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Ayagawa was on 11 August 2013; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 17 February 1986.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ayagawa in 2020 is 22,693 people. Ayagawa has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

The area of Ayagawa was part of ancient

Sanuki Province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sanuki''" in . Sanuki bordered on Awa to the south, and Iyo to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, ...

. There're over 60

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s and numerous pottery kiln sites from the

Kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

and

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

s within the town borders. 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 town area was part of the holdings of

Takamatsu Domain 270px, Matsudaira Yoritoshi. pre-1903 270px, Takamatsu Castle Tsukimi Yagura was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Takamatsu Ca ...

. With the creation of the modern municipalities system on February 15, 1890, the area was divided into villages within

Ayauta District, Kagawa is a district located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of the Takamatsu merger but using 2000 population data, the district has an estimated population of 41,598 and a density of 353 persons per km2. The total area is 117.74 km2. Towns and ...

. The village of Ayakami (綾上村) was created from the merger of four villages in 1954 and raised to town status in 1962. The town of Ryōnan (綾南町) was likewise founded in 1954 from the merger of four villages. The town of Ayagawa was founded on March 21, 2006, from the merger of the towns of Ayakami and Ryōnan.

Government

Ayagawa 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, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

town council of 16 members. Ayagawa contributes one member to the Kagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kagawa 2nd district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

The local economy is heavily centered on agriculture. The town also claims to be the "birthplace of

Sanuki udon Sanuki udon () has been the type of udon noodle most popular in the Kagawa prefecture in Japan, but is now easily found throughout the neighboring Kansai region and much of Japan. It is characterized by its square shape and flat edges with rathe ...

" noodles, which were taught to a local by the famed Buddhist priest

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon sec ...

, who brought the dish to Japan from

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

to his parents in his hometown of Takinomiya, which is now within the town limits.

Education

Ayagawa has five public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Kagawa Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school.

Transportation

Railways

Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad The (or Kotoden) is a transportation company in Kagawa Prefecture, which is on the island of Shikoku, Japan. With headquarters in Takamatsu, the company operates three passenger railway lines, as well as bus subsidiaries. It was established on t ...

Kotoden Kotohira Line The is a Japanese railway line in Kagawa Prefecture, which connects Takamatsu-Chikkō Station in Takamatsu with Kotoden-Kotohira Station in Kotohira. It is owned and operated by the Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad. The line color is yellow ...

* - - - - -

Highways

* *

Local attractions

*Takinomiya Tenman-gū, noted

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

References

External links

*
Official website
Towns in Kagawa Prefecture Ayagawa, Kagawa {{Kagawa-geo-stub