is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

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 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 a ...

of 32,210 in 12937 households,Komagane City official statistics
/ref> 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 190 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Komagane is located in a north-south valley of the

Tenryu River Tenryū may refer to: *Tenryū, Shizuoka, a city *Tenryū, Nagano, a village *Tenryū River *Tenryū-ji, a temple * , several ships People with the name *Tenryū Saburō Tenryū Saburō, (November 1, 1903 – August 20, 1989) born Saburō Wakuta ...

between the Central and Southern Alps in south-central Nagano Prefecture at an average elevation of 676 meters. It is situated at the 220 km marker on the southern (Nagoya) branch of the

Chūō Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by NEXCO Central. Naming Officially the expressway is designated as the Chūō Expressway Nishinomiya Route (from Takaido Interchange to Komaki Junction), the Chūō Expressway Nag ...

Surrounding municipalities

*Nagano Prefecture ** Ina ** Iijima ** Nakagawa ** Miyada ** Agematsu **

Ōkuwa is a village located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 3,693 in 1558 households, and a population density of 16 persons per km². The total area of the village is . Geography Ōkuwa is located in the ...

** Ōshika

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by 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 Komagane is 11.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1486 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around -0.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Komagane population statistics
/ref> the population of Komagane has remained relatively stable in recent decades.

History

The area of present-day Komagane was part of ancient

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. The city was founded on July 1, 1954 by the merger of the towns of Akaho and Miyata with the villages of Nakasawa and Ina (all from Kamiina District).

Government

Komagane 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 multic ...

city legislature of 15 members.

Economy

The economy of Komagane is largely agricultural, with rice and pears, along with ''

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

'' brewing as major components. The manufacturing sector includes electronics and precision instrumentation. Seasonal tourism is also an important contributor to the local economy.

Education

Komagane has five public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has two public high schools operated by the Nagano Prefectural Board of Education. The

Nagano College of Nursing is a public university in Komagane, Nagano, Japan. The school was established in 1995. External links Official website
Educational institutions established in 1995 Public universities in Japan Universities and colleges in Nagano Prefectur ...

is located in Komagane.

Transportation

Railway

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

Iida Line The is a Japanese railway line connecting Toyohashi Station in Toyohashi, Aichi with Tatsuno Station in Tatsuno, Nagano, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). The line links eastern Aichi Prefecture and southern Nagano Prefe ...

** - - -

Highway

International relations

* -

Pokhara Pokhara ( ne, पोखरा, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. It is the List of cities in Nepal, second most populous city of Nepal after Kathmandu, with 518,452 inhabitants living ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, sister city since April 18, 2001

Local attractions

Despite relatively poor transportation infrastructure (there is no

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

link and the existing railway is a single track local line), the city derives a large proportion of its overall income from tourism. The Silk Museum is situated to the east of the city, while on the western side of town the

Komagatake Ropeway is an aerial lift line in the Kiso Mountains range, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Description The line, opened in 1967, climbs up to Senjōjiki Cirque 2600m above sea level, and it is easiest route to Mount Kisokoma and Mount Hōken. Summit statio ...

(gondola) ascends Mount Komagatake in the Central Alps. The city has several popular tourist hotels (including one on the mountain which is only accessible via the ropeway), a youth hostel, ''

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

'' and a ski resort. * Kōzen-ji, Buddhist temple with Japanese garden, one of the National Places of Scenic Beauty.

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Nagano Prefecture