is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city 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 59,381 in 22,018 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

of 500 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Chikuma is located in the

Chikuma River The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing g ...

valley, south of Nagano city, at the junction of the Joshin-etsu Expressway and the

Nagano Expressway The is a 4-laned national Expressways of Japan, expressway in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company and Central Nippon Expressway Company. Naming The expressway is officially referred to as the Ch� ...

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (

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''). The average annual temperature in Chikuma is 12.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1140 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0 °C.

Surrounding municipalities

*Nagano Prefecture **

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

** Ueda ** Omi ** Chikuhoku **

Sakaki ''Cleyera japonica'' (sakaki) is a flowering evergreen tree native to warm areas of Japan, Taiwan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, and northern India (Min and Bartholomew 2015). It can reach a height of 10 m. The leaves are 6–10 cm long, smooth, ...

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Chikuma peaked around the year 2000 and has declined slightly since.

History

The area of present-day Chikuma was part of ancient Shinano Province and has been settled since prehistoric times. There are numerous burial tumuli in the city, including the Mori Shogunzukakofun, a mountaintop keyhole-shaped tomb dating from near the end of the Kofun period, which is one of the latest of its type in eastern Japan. During the

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 c ...

, the area around the Shinano River was the settling for numerous poems in the '' Man'yōshū''. The area was part of the holdings of

Matsushiro Domain 300px, Matsushiro Castle Part of the Matsushiro domain's Edo estate, relocated to Kamakura and used as a hall at Ryuko-ji Temple was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Shinano Province, Hons ...

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 characte ...

, and also prospered from a series of post stations on the pilgrimage route to the famed

Zenkō-ji is a Buddhist temple located in the city of Nagano, Japan. The temple was built in the 7th century. The modern city of Nagano began as a town built around the temple. Historically, Zenkō-ji is perhaps most famous for its involvement in the b ...

temple. The modern city of Chikuma was founded on September 1, 2003 by the merger of the former city of Koshoku, the town of Kamiyamada (from Sarashina District), and the town of Togura (from Hanishina District).

Government

Chikuma 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 multi ...

city legislature of 24 members.

Economy

Chikuma is known for its production of knitted goods, food processing and light machinery manufacturing. Horticulture, especially that of apricots forms an important sector of the local economy.

Education

Chikuma has nine public elementary schools and four public middle schools. The city has one public high school operated by the Nagano Prefectural Board of Education, and one combined public middle/high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company - Shinonoi Line ** * Shinano Railway Symbolmark

Shinano Railway The is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 1996 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR East Shinetsu Main Line within Nagano Prefecture when it is separated from the JR East network in Octob ...

Shinano Railway Line The is a 65.1 km railway line operated by the third-sector railway operating company Shinano Railway in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It connects Karuizawa Station in Karuizawa with Shinonoi Station in Nagano. Overview Before October 19 ...

** - - -

Highway

Jōshin-etsu Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming is a kanji acronym consisting of 3 characters, each representing the former names of the prefectures that the route traverses. consist ...

* *

Local attractions

* Anzu no Sato (あんずの里), or "Apricot Village", a collection of adjacent valleys containing numerous groves of apricot trees. * (戸倉上山田温泉), a popular hot spring area. *The are a Designated Cultural Landscape of Japan.

Former city of Koshoku

(更埴) is the largest of the three municipalities that were joined to form the current Chikuma city. Spanning the Chikuma River and bordering Nagano city to the south, it entends from the apricot fields of Anzu no Sato in the east to the highland area Hijiri Kogen in the west. Koshoku's history dates back to the Kofun Period, and several major archaeological sites remain. Later, in the Meiji Period, the inns located in Inariyama became a popular stopover for pilgrims en route to Zenkō-ji.

Former town of Kamiyamada

(上山田) lies on the western bank of the Chikuma River, just north of the town of Sakaki. A popular hot spring village dating back to the 19th century, the town was one of many places of lodging on the pilgrimage route to Zenkō-ji.

Former town of Togura

(戸倉) lies on the east bank of the

, across from Kamiyamada Onsen. With a history similar to that of Kamiyamada, it contains some hot spring bath facilities as well as the area's only railway station.

Notable people from Chikuma

Junichi Kakizaki is a Japanese artist, sculptor, floral artist, nature art artist, land art artist and environmental artist. He exhibits regularly both in Japan and internationally. Since 1992, he has mainly worked on scenography. He brought a floral design ...

, floral artist *

Atsushi Kitagawara is a Japanese architect. Biography Atsushi Kitagawara was born in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. While studying for a BA in architecture at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music he won first prize in the ''Japan Architect'' Internationa ...

, architect *

Abdullah Kobayashi , is a Japanese professional wrestler best known by his ring name after Abdullah the Butcher, who was one of his trainers. Professional wrestling career He began his career in 1995 as one of the main wrestlers in Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) i ...

, professional wrestler *

Anri Kumaki is a Japanese pop female singer-songwriter currently signed on unBORDE Records, a division of Warner Music Group Japan. Biography Anri Kumaki started writing songs when she was 17 years old and won the audition of a TV program which was br ...

, pop singer-songwriter * Tatsumi Yoda, entertainment businessman * Tatsumi Yoda, entertainment businessman * Tyler Lynch, hotelier and media favorite

References

External links

* *
Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Nagano Prefecture Cultural Landscapes of Japan