250px, Mount Iwabitsu 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

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

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 13,349 in 2467 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 53 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Located in the northwestern portion of Gunma Prefecture, Higashiagatsuma is surrounded by high peaks, including Mount Iwabitsu (802.6 meters). The town hall is 619 meters above sea level. * Mountains: Mount Iwabitsu, Yakushidake, Sugamine * Rivers:

Agatsuma River Agatsuma may refer to: *, Japanese shamisen player *Agatsuma District, Gunma, a district in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma, Gunma, a town in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma River, a river in Japan *Agatsuma Entertainment, a Japanese toy/video ...

, Ishikami River * Lakes: Lake Haruna

Surrounding municipalities

Takasaki is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as the hometown of th ...

Shibukawa is a city in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 76,098 in 32,439 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Shibukawa is the location of Ikaho Onsen, a popular hot spring resort. ...

* Nakanojō * Naganohara

Climate

Higashiagatsuma has a

Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Higashiagatsuma is 10.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1213 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Higashiagatsuma population statistics
/ref> the population of Higashiagatsuma has declined considerably over the past 70 years.

History

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 area around Higashiagatsuma was part of the ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

-''administered territory within

Kōzuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered by Echigo, Shinano, Musashi and Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Kōzuke was ran ...

. With the creation of the modern municipalities system 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 ...

on April 1, 1889, the town of Hara and the villages of Ota, Iwashima, and Sakaue and Azuma were created within Agatsuma District of Gunma Prefecture. The first three villages merged into Hara in 1965, which was renamed Agatsuma Town in February 1956. Higashiagatsuma was created on March 27, 2006, by the merger of the town of Agatsuma, and the village of

Azuma Azuma may refer to: Places * Azuma, historical name for eastern Japan, now called Kantō region, Kantō and Tōhoku region * Azuma, Gunma (Agatsuma), former village in Agatsuma District, Gunma Prefecture, Japan * Azuma, Gunma (Sawa), former villag ...

, both from Agatsuma District.

Government

Higashiagatsuma 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 14 members. Higashiagatsuma collectively with the other municipalities in Agatsuma District, contributes two members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Gunma 5th district Gunma 5th district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It is located in Gunma Prefecture and consists of the cities of Tomioka, Annaka, parts of Takasaki and Shibukawa as well as the Kita ...

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 Higashiagatsuma is heavily dependent on agriculture and seasonal tourism. Noted local crops include

konjac Konjac (or konjak, ) is a common name of the East and Southeast Asian plant ''Amorphophallus konjac'' ( syn. ''A. rivieri''), which has an edible corm (bulbo-tuber). It is also known as konjaku, konnyaku potato, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, sn ...

and ''

myoga Myoga, myoga ginger or Japanese ginger () is the species ''Zingiber mioga'' in the family Zingiberaceae. It is a deciduous herbaceous perennial native to Japan, China, and the southern part of Korea.Cole TCH, Nürnberger "Zingiber mioga and its ...

'' production. Tourism from

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

s and

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

hot springs also contribute to the local economy. Mount Ajara was a venue for the

2003 Asian Winter Games The 5th Asian Winter Games ( ja, 第5回アジア冬季競技大会, Dai 5-kai Ajia tōkikyōgitaikai) took place from February 1 to 8, 2003 in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Mascot The 2003 Winter Asiad mascot is ''Winta'', a black woodpecker. Venu ...

Education

Higashiagatsuma has five public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government, and one public special needs high school operated by the Gunma Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

–

Agatsuma Line Agatsuma may refer to: *, Japanese shamisen player *Agatsuma District, Gunma, a district in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma, Gunma, a town in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma River, a river in Japan *Agatsuma Entertainment, a Japanese toy/video ...

* - -

Highway

* *

Local attractions

Iwabitsu Castle is a "yamashiro"-style (castle located on Mount Iwabitsu in Higashiagatsuma, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. The ruins have been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 2019. Overview Iwabitsu Castle is located in north ...

- A castle ruin of

Sanada clan The is a Japanese clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 56 of 80">("Sanada," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 52 DF_56_of_80">("Sa_...

. *_Agatsuma_Gorge.html" ;"title="DF 56 of 80/nowiki>">DF 56 of 80">("Sa ...