270px, Motoyama town hall 270px, Sameura Dam 270px, central Motoyama 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 Nagaoka District,

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

, 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 3‚318 in 1858 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 25 persons per km².The total area of the town is . Motoyama has been named 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

Motoyama is located in the Shikoku Mountains near the center of northern Kōchi Prefecture. The upper reaches of the

Yoshino River The Yoshino River (吉野川 ''Yoshino-gawa'') is a river on the island of Shikoku, Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . It is the second longest river in Shikoku (slightly shorter than the Shimanto), and is the only river whose watershe ...

and Shikoku's largest dam, the Sameura Dam are located in the town.

Neighbouring municipalities

Kōchi Prefecture * Nankoku *

Kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

* Ōtoyo * Tosa Ehime Prefecture * Shikokuchūō

Climate

Motoyama has a humid subtropical climate (

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'') with hot, humid summers and cool winters. There is significant precipitation throughout the year, especially during June and July. The average annual temperature in Motoyama 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 . The highest temperature ever recorded in Motoyama was on 28 July 2007; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 16 January 2011.

Population and Demographics

The population in Motoyama was 7,343 in 1965, but as of May 2017 it has gone down to 3‚605 and continues to decrease.(All statistics are provided in the official town websit

According to the 2005 census: the population of people 15 years old and under is 417, the population of those 65 years and over is 1,657 and the percentage of seniors in Motoyama is 38% compared to the prefectural average of 26%. There are 1,835 households with on average 2.32 people per household. The number of people per household continues to decrease as households with seniors continue to increase. It is assumed that this trend will continue for the foreseen future.

History

As with all of Kōchi Prefecture, the area of Motoyama was part of ancient

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō sys ...

. 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 characte ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Tosa Domain The was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its history by ...

ruled by the Yamauchi clan from their seat at Kōchi Castle. The village of Nishi-Motoyama was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889 our of 12 smaller hamlets. It was renamed Motoyama Village on June1, 1890. Motoyama was raised to town status on June 1, 1910. On April 20, 1955, Motomachi merged with the neighboring town of Yoshino. However, on April 1, 1961, five western hamlets of Motomachi were transferred to the neighboring town of Tosa.

Government

Motoyama 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 ...

town council of ten members. Motoyama, together with the other municipalities of Tosa District and Nagaoka District, contributes one member to the Kōchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the village is part of Kōchi 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The economy of Motoyama is based forestry, agriculture and the raising of

Japanese Brown The Japanese Brown ( ja, 褐毛和種, Akage Washu or , Aka Ushi) is a breed of small Japanese beef cattle. It is one of six native Japanese cattle breeds, and one of the four Japanese breeds known as wagyū, the others being the Japanese Black, ...

beef cattle.

Education

Motomachi has two public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Kochi Prefectural Board of Education

Transportation

Railway

Motoyama has no passenger railway service. The nearest station is Ōsugi Station on the

JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has ...

Dosan Line is a railway line in Shikoku, Japan, operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). It connects Tadotsu Station in Tadotsu, Kagawa, and Kubokawa Station in Shimanto, Kōchi. The line links the city of Kōchi with northern Shikoku a ...

; however, most passengers travel to Kōchi Station by bus.

Highways

Sister city relations

* -

Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents. As of the 2020 ce ...

, United States, friendship city since August 10, 1966

Local attractions

Events

*Flower Festival (Hana-matsuri) March 25 – May 6 :A festival which welcomes the coming of spring along with the blooming of various flowers. Cherry blossoms and ''Tsutsuji'' ( azalea) can be seen in the central area of Motoyama, while the highlight of the festival can be seen at the nearby Kizenzan Park (帰全山公園) where over 30,000 ''Shakunage'' ( rhododendron) are displayed. *Asemi River Marathon late July :An annual marathon first held in 1986, where roughly 500 participants run along the Asemi river. *Yoshino River Rafting Festival middle of August :This raft racing festival has origins from when lumber traders shipped

hinoki ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and orname ...

( cypress) wood from Shiraga Mountain in rafts down the river. Participants can race in either traditional style raft racing or the free style division. The traditional style race involves teams with 6 participants racing on rafts made of wooden logs over 5m in length. The free style class involves participating teams bringing their own self made rafts. These teams compete over not just the visual attractiveness of the raft but also the `style` in which they raft down the river. *Town Festival middle of August :The annual town festival features a traditional

Taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

performance,

Bon odori or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...

(Japanese folk dance), and fireworks. There is also a parade leading up to the festival where Yosakoi style dancing can be seen. *Athletic Festival early October :This 50-year-old festival features teams from various businesses and professions participating in athletic competitions. Hundreds of locals participate in various athletic games in hopes of promoting the benefits of team work and healthy competition. *Autumn Culture Festival middle of November :Held during the time of harvest in Motoyama. There are also shops set up from Motoyama's sister town, Urausu. The local community center hosts

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

performances and also exhibits local art. At the closing of the festival, a

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ma ...

scattering ceremony is held where hundreds of people fill the assembly grounds.

Tourist sites

; :In spring time the park is full of cherry blossoms and shakunage flowers (rhododendron), a sight that is famous within Kochi prefecture. In fact, the park is also called Shakunage Park. At the entrance is a statue of Kenzan Nonaka (野中兼山), a local politician during the

. ; :At 1470 m Shiraga is Motoyama's most prominent mountain. When ascending the mountain, one can see hinoki (cypress) trees from 150 to 200 years old by the road side. :There are two approach sites where mountaineers can begin their ascent, which should take no more than 90 minutes. ; :A location with thousands of years of history with beautiful flowers in the spring but is also a great place to go camping in the summer. ; :Deep inside the mountains one can see a waterfall that sews its way through the greenery and foliage.

Local products

*Organic rice *

Shiitake The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a Medicinal fungi, medicinal mushroom in some forms of tradition ...

mushrooms *Reihoku beef *

Shiso ''Perilla frutescens'' var. ''crispa'', also known by its Japanese name shiso, is a cultigen of ''Perilla frutescens'', a herb in the mint family ''Lamiaceae''. It is native to the mountainous regions of China and India, but is now found world ...

(''Perilla frutescens'' var. ''crispa'') juice *

Yuzu Yuzu (''Citrus junos'', from Japanese or ) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of East Asian origin. Yuzu has been cultivated mainly in East Asia, though recently also in New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Italy, and France. I ...

orange juice *Yuzu orange vinegar *

Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and ''kōji'' (the fungus '' Aspergillus oryzae'') and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spre ...

* Green tea and senna tea

References

External links

Official website

Motoyama Board of Education website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motoyama, Kochi Towns in Kōchi Prefecture