is a city located in southern

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...

in 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 ...

of 148,225, 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 1700 persons per km², in 59,736 households. The total area of the city was . Situated in the northern part of the Nōbi Plain, what is now Kakamigahara originally thrived as a post station on the

Nakasendō The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. There were 69 ...

highway connecting

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

, being called "

Unuma-juku was the fifty-second of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It is located in former Mino Province in what is now part of the city of Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.JASDF Gifu base. In addition, Kakamigahara grew as an industrial city and a commuter suburb of Gifu City and Nagoya. The city of Kakamigahara has many large parks, the most notable among them being "Kakamigahara Kōen", which was originally made from a vacant lot owned by Gifu University. A city planning policy of making Kakamigahara into a "park city" has been undertaken by the municipality, and in 2005, the city received the Green City Prize from the prime minister. Although the city was officially named Kakamigahara, it is also called Kakamihara, Kagamihara, or Kagamigahara by tradition.

Geography

Kakamigahara city center area Aerial photograph

Mountainous terrain runs from the northern to the eastern part of the city. The Kiso River flows through the southern part, forming the municipal and prefectural (Aichi-Gifu) border. A large portion of the city is situated on the Kakamigahara Plateau. Because the soil is very well drained, it was not traditionally suited to rice cultivation. With the exception of rest stops such as

Unuma-juku was the fifty-second of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It is located in former Mino Province in what is now part of the city of Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.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 ...

. The names of the Meitetsu train stations, Rokken, Nijukken, and the Ogase Reservoir are from that era. Beginning from the Meiji period, to take advantage of the large amount of wilderness and well-drained soil, military bases and training grounds were established. In addition, Gifu University's agricultural and engineering departments were established in the area, leading the growth of machine and textile factories. These industries, in addition to carrot production, which used the dry soil, became the main industries of the town. Part of the city is within the borders of the Hida-Kisogawa Quasi-National Park.

Mountains

*Mt.Gongen, *Mt.Igi, *Mt.Mii, *Mt.Kakami, *Kakamigahara Alps

Rivers

Kiso, Sakai, Shin-Sakai, Daianji

Lakes

Ogase Reservoir

Adjacent cities and districts

North: Seki East: Kamo District (Sakahogi-cho) West: Gifu City, Hashima District (Kasamatsu-cho, Ginan-cho) South: Ichinomiya, Konan, Inuyama, Niwa District ( Fusou-cho)

Climate

The city 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, nota ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Kakamigahara is 15.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1939 mm, with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.9 °C.

History

The area around Kakamigahara 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 abbrevia ...

. 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 r ...

cadastral reforms, the area was organised into Inaba District, Gifu in April 1897. 1 April 1963: Kakamigahara City was founded by amalgamating Naka, Sohara, Unuma, and Inaba. 1968: The Line Bridge was completed. Together with the Inuyama bridge, completed in 1925, these two bridges span the Kiso River and connect Kakamigahara City with Aichi Prefecture. 1969: The Aigi bridge was completed. This was the third bridge to span the Kiso, and connects the city to Aichi Prefecture. It was the first bridge to connect Kakamigahara to Konan City. 5 March 1986: The section of the Tokai-Hokoriku Expressway between Kakamigahara Junction and Mino Junction was opened. Furthermore, on 13 December 1998, the Tokai-Hokoriku Expressway was connected to the Meishin Expressway (Ichinomiya Junction). 28 March 2000: The twinning of the Inuyama Bridge was completed. Previously, Meitetsu trains had shared the bridge with automobiles, crossing the bridge in a manner similar to streetcars. After the twinning, the trains began to use the old Inuyama Bridge. This separation of trains and automobiles improved transportation across the river. 1 November 2004: Kawashima-cho (Hashima District), was incorporated in Kakamigahara City. 5 November 2006: The Shin-mei Ko-ami Bridge, connecting to Konan, is completed. 24 March 2013: Kakamigahara Bridge is completed. It connects the city hall area with Kawashima-chiku (formerly Kawashima-cho) of Konan City. With the completion of this bridge, there are now four routes from Kakamigahara City into Aichi Prefecture.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kakamigahara population statistics
/ref> the population of Kakamigahara has recently plateaued after a long period of growth. As of December 2013, about 3,000 residents of foreign nationality were registered in Kakamigahara City. The largest numbers are, in descending order, from Brazil, China, and the Philippines.

Government

Politics

Kakamigahara 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. *Current mayor: Kenji Asano (inaugurated 20 May 2013, first term) *Previous mayors: **Kaichi Mutou - 1963–1968, resigned during second term due to illness **Keikichi Matsubara - 1968–1973, resigned during second term due to corruption scandal **Kihachirou Hirano - 1973–1997, served six terms **Shin Mori - 1997-2013, served four terms

Economy

Kakamigahara City is second in Gifu Prefecture in terms of industrial production. The city has an aircraft factory operated by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace Company, located next to the JASDF Gifu Air Base, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries also produces aircraft parts. The city also has many automobile-related factories, including parts makers and metalworking industries. In Sue-cho in the north of Kakamigahara City, an industrial park called Techno Plaza was established by the Gifu Prefectural government as a focal point for the research and development of

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist human ...

and

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

. With

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

's WABOT-HOUSE laboratory and Gifu University's Science and Technology Promotion Center as a nucleus, Techno Plaza is structured as an industrial and R&D center. Many ventures have moved into the park, including some companies that have made IPOs, such as Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.

Major employers

*Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace Company *Calbee (Kakamigahara factory): This factory produces Kakamigahara

kimchi ''Kimchi'' (; ko, 김치, gimchi, ), is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...

-flavored potato chips, which are exclusive to this region. * Nippon Ichi Software * Gifu Auto Body Industries *Nakanihon Diecast Co. *Tenryu Industries Co. * Eisai Co. *Taikou Seikou Co. *Zero Sports (Zero Max)

Educational institutions

Universities and colleges

Tokai Gakuin University is a private university in Nakakirino cho, Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, 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 o ...

Chubu Gakuin University is a private university at Seki, Gifu, 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 ...

High schools

The city has three public high schools operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education. *Gifu Prefectural Kakamihara Senior High School (岐阜県立各務原高等学校 - 岐阜県立各務原高等学校) (academic) *Gifu Prefectural Kakamigahara Nishi Senior High School (岐阜県立各務原西高等学校 - 岐阜県立各務原西高等学校) (academic) *Gifu Prefectural Gifu-Kakamino High School (岐阜県立岐阜各務野高等学校 - 岐阜県立岐阜各務野高等学校) (technical)

Primary and secondary schools

Kakimigahara has 16 public elementary schools and eight public junior high schools operated by the city government. The city also operates one special-education school.

International schools

* Centro Educacional Nova Etapa - CENE (セントロ・エドカショナル・ノヴァ・エターパ - セントロ・エドカショナル・ノヴァ・エターパ) - Brazilian schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on 13 October 2015.

Transportation

Railways

Central Japan Railway Company - Takayama Main Line ** - - - * Meitetsu logomark 2

Meitetsu , referred to as , is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Some of the more famous trains operated by Meitetsu include the '' Panorama Car'' and the '' Panorama Car Super'', both of which ...

- Meitetsu Kakamigahara Line ** - - - - - - - - - - * Meitetsu logomark 2

- Meitetsu Inuyama Line **

Highways

* Tōkai-Hokuriku Expressway Gifu-Kakamigahara IC *

Bridges

*Aigi Ohashi Bridge crosses the Kiso River into Inuyama in Aichi Prefecture.

Other

*JASDF Gifu Air Base was established as an army airfield in 1917, and is currently used by the JSDF for aircraft and flight testing. From 1945 to 1958, it was occupied by the U.S. military and known as "Camp Gifu".

Local attractions

180501 Kakamigahara Aerospace Science Museum

Ferris wheel and Gifu World Fresh Water Aquarium

* Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum - Kakamigahara Aerospace Science Museum features a number of indoor and outdoor exhibits, including aircraft and displays covering the history of aircraft development and Gifu prefecture's role in it. *ÆON Kakamigahara Shopping Center opened in July 2007,

ÆON , commonly written AEON Co., Ltd., is a Japanese multinational holding company of ÆON Group. It has its headquarters in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture.JUSCO department store. The center includes a 10-screen multiplex cinema and a parking lot for about 4,000 cars. *Gifu World Fresh Water Aquarium - Highway Oasis

Twin towns – sister cities

Kakamigahara is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; formerly romanized as Chunchŏn; literally ''spring river'') is the capital of Gangwon Province in South Korea. The city lies in the north of the county, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River. There are som ...

, South Korea (2003) ;Friendly city * Tsuruga, Japan (1989)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Gifu Prefecture