:''The article is about a former town. For a current city, see
Kirishima, Kagoshima
is a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
Kirishima has the second largest population of the cities in Kagoshima Prefecture. It is a crossroads for commerce between Kagoshima and Miyazaki Prefectures. It is also the home of the Kagoshi ...
.''
was 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
Aira District,
Kagoshima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...
,
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 ...
.
As of July 1, 2005 (prior to the merger), the town had a population of 5,795 and the density of 70.21 people/km². The total area was 82.54 km².
On November 7, 2005, Kirishima absorbed with the old city of
Kokubu
was a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on February 1, 1955.
As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 55,237 and the density of 450.88 persons per km². The total area was 122.51 km².
On November 7, 2 ...
, and the towns of
Fukuyama,
Hayato,
Makizono,
Mizobe and
Yokogawa (all from
Aira District), to create the city of
Kirishima .
The Kirishima region is famous for the
Kirishima Shrine (霧島神宮) and the chain of volcanic mountains above it, especially Mt. Takachiho (高千穂). According to traditional Shinto legends,
Ninigi-no-Mikoto
is a deity in Japanese mythology. Grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, Ninigi is regarded according to Japanese mythology as the great-grandfather of Japan’s first emperor, Emperor Jimmu. The three sacred treasures brought with Ninigi from ...
, descendant of the Japanese sun-goddess
Amaterasu
Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the ''Kojik ...
, descended from heaven to Mt. Takachiho, bringing the three celestial gifts that signified the divinity of the emperor. The story is detailed in the
Nihon Shoki ('Chronicles of Japan').
External links
Official website of Kirishima City
{{Authority control
Dissolved municipalities of Kagoshima Prefecture