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 ...

in Yamagata District,

Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...

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 5,643 in 3066 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 . The total area of the town is .

Geography

Akiōta is in the

Chūgoku Mountains is a mountain range in the Chūgoku region of western Japan. It runs in an east–west direction and stretches approximately from Hyōgo Prefecture in the east to the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture. The range also reaches under the Pacific Ocean ...

of north-western Hiroshima, bordered by

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...

to the north. Due to its location and elevation, it is a heavy snowfall region.

Adjoining municipalities

* Hiroshima * Hatsukaichi * Kitahiroshima

Masuda is a city located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on August 1, 1952. As of December 2021, the city has a population of 44,976. As of December 2019, the city has a population of 46,209. As of March 2017, the city has a popula ...

Climate

Akiōta 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'') characterized by cool to mild winters and hot, humid summers. The average annual temperature in Akiōta 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 highest temperature ever recorded in Akiōta was on 5 August 2018; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 28 February 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Akiōta in 2020 is 5,740 people. Akiōta has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

The area of Akiōta was part of an ancient

Aki Province or Geishū () was a province in the Chūgoku Region of western Honshū, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture. History When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist prie ...

, and was part of the holdings of

Hiroshima Domain The was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871. The Hiroshima Domain was based at Hiroshima Castle in Aki Province, in the modern city of Hiroshima, located in the Chūgoku region of the island of Ho ...

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 ...

. Following 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 area was organized into villages within

Yamagata District, Hiroshima is a district located in northwestern Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 29,978 and a density of 30.34 persons per km2. The total area is 988.11 km2. Towns and villages * Akiōta: founded ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, including the villages Kake, Togouchi and Tsutsuga. Kake was raised to town status on February 10, 1898 and Togouchi on August 1, 1933. The town of Akiōta was formed on October 1, 2004 from the merger of the towns of

Kake KAKE (channel 10) is a television station in Wichita, Kansas, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located on West Street in northwestern Wichita, and ...

and Togouchi, and the village of Tsutsuga, all from Yamagata District. On April 7, 2020, Shinji Kosaka, the mayor of Akiōta resigned after having accepted 200,000 yen from former

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

Katsuyuki Kawai is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Hiroshima, Hiroshima and graduate of Keio University, he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Rep ...

in a vote-buying scandal.

Government

Akiōta 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 12 members. Akiōta contributes one member to the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Hiroshima 3rd 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 economy of Akiōta is largely based on agriculture and forestry, with seasonal tourism to its ski resorts.

Education

Akiōta has four public elementary schools and two public junior high schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Akiōta does not have any passenger railway service. The nearest train station is Aki-Kameyama Station on the

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, and ...

Kabe Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) within the city of Hiroshima in Japan. It connects Hiroshima Station and Aki-Kameyama Station in Asakita-ku, Hiroshima, Asakita-ku. The actual junction station is Yokogawa S ...

Asakita-ku, Hiroshima is one of the eight wards of the city of Hiroshima. The northern portion contains what was Asa-gun and southern Takata-gun, now defunct districts (see Takata District, Hiroshima). Asa-gun consisted of Kabe-cho, Kōyō-cho, Asa-cho. Takata-g ...

Highways

Chūgoku Expressway The (part of Asian Highway Network ) is an expressway in Japan, which extends from Suita, Osaka to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. It connects Kansai and Chūgoku regions in western Honshu, Japan's main island. Other major cities along the expressway ...

* * * *

Notable places

Nukui Dam Nukui Dam (温井ダム) is a dam in Akiota, Hiroshima, Akiota (former Kake, Hiroshima, Kake), Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. In Japan, it is the second highest arch dam, and it generates a powerful discharge from a height of 156 meters (500 liters ...

Mount Osorakan is a mountain on the border of Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Masuda, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. Situated inside the Nishi-Chugoku Sanchi Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park in Shimane Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefecture, and ...

* Sandan Ravine

Notable people from Akiōta

Minoru Genda was a Japanese military aviator and politician. He is best known for helping to plan the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was also the third Chief of Staff of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Early life Minoru Genda was the second son of a farmer ...

(1904 – 1989) — commander of the

JASDF The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfare. ...

and politician (from

) * Kimie Bessho — para table tennis player * Yasuhiko Moriwaki — judo wrestler (from the former town of

)

References

External links

* Towns in Hiroshima Prefecture Akiōta, Hiroshima {{Hiroshima-geo-stub