260px, View from Michinoeki Washinosato is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located in

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the village had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 2,701 in 1083 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 65 persons per km². , the village had an estimated

of 2,903, and a

of 78.3 persons per km². Its total area is . The area has historically been associated with

washi is traditional Japanese paper processed by hand using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (''Edgeworthia chrysantha''), or the paper mulberry (''kōzo'') bush. ''Washi'' is generally tougher than ordinary ...

(traditional Japanese paper).

Geography

Higashichichibu is located in west-central Saitama Prefecture, in a valley isolated from the rest of the Chichibu plains by a range of low mountains.

Surrounding municipalities

Chichibu is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 61,159 in 26,380 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chichibu is in the westernmost part of Saitama. Unlik ...

* Minano * Ogawa * Tokigawa * Yorii

Climate

Higashichichibu 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 cold ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Higashichichibu is 13.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1746 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 21.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around minus 1.2 °C.

Demographics

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

History

The villages of Okawara and Tsukikawa were created within Chichibu District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The two villages merged to form Higashichichibu on August 1, 1956.

Government

Higashichichibu 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

village council of eight members. Higashichichibu, together with the towns of Ogano, Minano, Nagatoro and Yokoze, contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the village is part of Saitama 11th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

The economy of Higashichichibu is primarily agricultural with some light manufacturing. It is increasingly a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

due to its proximity to the town of Ogawa.

Education

Higashichichibu has one public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The village does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

Higashichichibu has no passenger rail service. The nearest station is Yorii Station, in the neighboring town of Yorii or Ogawamachi Station in the town of Ogawa.

Highway

Higashichichibu is not served by any of the Japanese national highways.

Sister cities

Ambert Ambert (; Auvergnat: ''Embèrt'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Puy-de-Dôme Departments of France, department in Auvergne (region), Auvergne in central France. Administration Ambert is the seat of the canton of Ambert and the arrondiss ...

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

, France, since October 23, 1989 * Sterling, Colorado, USA, since March 17, 1997

Local attractions

* Chichibu Washi no sato

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Villages in Saitama Prefecture Chichibu District, Saitama Higashichichibu, Saitama