270px, Kawanehon Town Hall 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 Haibara District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , 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 6,731 in 2895 households 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 13.4 persons per km². The total area of the town was .

Geography

Kawanehon is located in north-central Shizuoka, along the upper reaches of the

Ōi River The is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Geography The Ōi River flows from the Akaishi Mountains, the branch of the Japanese Southern Alps which form the border between Shizuoka, Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures. These mountains, with p ...

, with approximately 90% of the town area covered in forest and mountains. It is bordered to the north by the Japanese Alps, with peaks ranging to 2400 meters. Forests range from Siebold's Beech at lower elevations to

Siberian Dwarf Pine ''Pinus pumila'', commonly known as the Siberian dwarf pine, dwarf Siberian pine, dwarf stone pine, Japanese stone pine, or creeping pine, is a tree in the family Pinaceae native to northeastern Asia and the Japanese isles. It shares the commo ...

at higher altitudes, and wildlife include

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

and kamoshika. The area enjoys a temperate

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters.

Surrounding municipalities

Shizuoka Prefecture * Aoi-ku,

Shizuoka city is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in both population and area. It has been populated since prehistoric times. the city had an estimated population of 690,881 in 106,087 households, an ...

* Tenryū-ku,

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview Ha ...

* Shimada Nagano Prefecture * Iida

Climate

The town has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively 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 Kawanehon is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kawanehon population statistics
/ref> the population of Kawanehon has declined by roughly two-thirds over the past 80 years.

History

Kawanehon is on the border between the former provinces of Suruga and Tōtōmi, and was mostly ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia' ...

'' territory under direct control of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

in 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 characte ...

. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system in 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 ...

in 1889, the area was reorganized into numerous villages within both Haibara and Shida Districts within Shizuoka Prefecture. Kawanehon was formed on September 20, 2005 by the merger of the former towns of Nakakawane and Honkawane, both from Haibara District.

Economy

The economy of Kawanehon is dominated by forestry and the production of green tea, with tourism on the

Ōigawa Railway The is a railway company in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The company is commonly known as . The company belongs to the Meitetsu Group. The first section of its lines opened in 1927. Operation The company operates preserved steam locomotives, ...

and to hot spring resorts also playing a role.

Education

*Kawanehon has four public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

- Ōigawa Main Line ** - - - - - - - * Daitetsu logomark

- Ikawa Line ** - - - - - - - - - - -

Highway

* *

Local attractions

*The sound of the steam locomotives of Ōigawa Railway is listed as one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan by the Ministry of the Environment

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Shizuoka Prefecture Kawanehon, Shizuoka