is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

located in Kamo District,

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

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 village 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 2,278 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 26 persons per km², in 842 households. The total area of the village was . Higashishirakawa has been selected as one of

The Most Beautiful Villages in Japan is a Japanese nonprofit organization of listing some of the most beautiful villages and towns in Japan. The association is active on enhancement and protection of Japanese rural heritage, cultural fairs & branding and promotion of regional, nat ...

Geography

Higashishirakawa is located in the Mino-Mikawa Plateau of central Gifu Prefecture, surrounded by 1000-meter class mountains. Over 90% of the village area is forested. The town village has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and 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 Higashishirakawa is 12.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2038 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.4 °C.

Neighbouring municipalities

*Gifu Prefecture **

Nakatsugawa Magome-juku on the Nakasendō is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 78,930, and a population density of 120 persons per km2 in 30,788 households The total area of the city was . Geography Nakatsugawa is in ...

** Shirakawa

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Higashishirakawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Higashishirakawa has declined steadily over the past 50 years.

History

The area around Higashishirakawa was part of traditional

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

. 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 ...

, it was part of the territory controlled by

Naegi Domain was a feudal domain of Edo period Japan It was located in Mino Province, in central Honshū. The domain was centered at Naegi Castle, located in what is now the city of Nakatsugawa in Gifu Prefecture. It is the smallest domain within the T ...

. During the post-

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 ...

cadastral reforms, the area was organised into Kamo District, Gifu Prefecture. The village of Higashishirawa was formed on July 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Haibutsu kishaku (literally "abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni") is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan. Under the shogunate, obtaining the permission to open or cl ...

'' movement was especially strong in this area, and to this day, Higashishirakawa is the only municipality in Japan without a single Buddhist temple. Plans to merge the village with the neighbouring city of Gifu were rejected by a referendum in June 2004.

Economy

The mainstay of the local economy is agriculture and forestry.

Education

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

Geography

Neighbouring municipalities

Demographics

History

Economy

Education

Transportation

Railway

Highway

References

External links