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 Aira District,

Kagoshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

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 ...

. As of 2008, 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 43,844 and the

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of 555.30 persons per km². The total area was 66.49 km². On November 7, 2005, Hayato, along with the city of Kokubu, the towns of Kirishima (former), Fukuyama, Makizono, Mizobe and

Yokogawa is a Japanese multinational electrical engineering and software company, with businesses based on its measurement, control, and information technologies. It has a global workforce of over 19,000 employees, 84 subsidiary and 3 affiliated compa ...

(all from Aira District), was merged to create the city of Kirishima and no longer exists as an independent

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. Extract from th
Hayato website
Hayato is located in the center of Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Japan and has a population of 37,000. Covering an area of 66.49 square kilometers, Hayato is a land rich in nature with Kinko Bay to the south and Kirishima mountains to the north. In the nearby waters one can see the small islands of Kamitsukuri floating in the distance, famous for Takachiho Shrine, where the shinto god

Hikohohodemi no Mikoto , also known as , is a figure in Japanese mythology, the third and youngest son of and the blossom princess . He is one of the ancestors of the Emperors of Japan as the grandfather of Emperor Jimmu. He is also known as . Mythology Hoori's le ...

rested in ancient times. Ruins surrounding this as well historical sites of the

Kumaso The were a mythical people of ancient Japan mentioned in the '' Kojiki'', believed to have lived in the south of Kyūshū until at least the Nara period. The last leader of the Kumaso, Torishi-Kaya was killed by Yamato Takeru in 397. The name o ...

Aborigines, who wielded power anciently in southern

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

, offer us many diverse legends and romanticism. Along the Amori River, which flows through the town, are the Hayato Hot Spring villages (Hinatayama and Myoken Hot Springs), which are well known from days of old and boast abundant hot water of superior quality. In 1984, the Kokubu-Hayato area was designated as a Technopolis and many modern industries have moved into the area. In 1986, Hayato received the designation of Teletopia (meaning telecommunications utopia). Hayato offers an attractive living environment where abundant nature, history and high technology exist side by side.

External links

Official website of Kirishima
Dissolved municipalities of Kagoshima Prefecture {{Kagoshima-geo-stub