is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 6,928 in 2796 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 190 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Located in the mountainous area that divides the center of

Bōsō Peninsula The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula covers ...

, Mutsuzawa has little flat terrain. The town consists primarily of rolling, sometimes steep, hills. The town is located in the southeastern part of Chiba prefecture, about 30 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba, and within 60 to 70 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The terrain is included in the

Kanto Plain Japanese Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ''Pokémon ...

, with a gentle slope from the west toward the east with an elevation of 2 to 168 meters. The Habu, Mizusawa, and Chorakuji rivers flow through the central part of the town, and join the Ichinomiya river in the northeast.

Neighboring municipalities

Chiba Prefecture *

Chōnan 270px, Chōnan town hall is a town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,743 in 3240 households and a population density of 120 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Located in ...

* Chōsei *

Ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...

Isumi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 37,206 in 17,004 households and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Isumi is located on the east coast o ...

Mobara is a city located in Chiba Prefecture. , the city had an estimated population of 88,330 in 40,869 households and a population density of 880 persons per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Mobara is located in an inland area of north-ce ...

* Ōtaki

Climate

Mutsuzawa has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Mutsuzawa is 15.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1745 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Mutsuzawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Mutsuzawa has remained relatively steady over the past 50 years.

History

Mutsuzawa is part of ancient

Kazusa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. The province was located in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula, whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa province ...

and has been settled since ancient times, and has several

burial mounds A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. ...

from the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

. Myōraku-ji, a temple founded in the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, houses a wooden statue of the seated

Dainichi Nyorai Vairocana (from Sanskrit: Vi+rocana, "from the sun" or "belonging to the sun", "Solar", or "Shining"), also known as Mahāvairocana (Great Vairocana), is a major Buddhahood, Buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpret ...

which has been designated one of the

Important Cultural Properties of Japan An The term is often shortened into just is an item officially classified as Tangible Cultural Property (Japan), Tangible Cultural Property by the Government of Japan, Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Education, Cul ...

. In the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, Mutsuzawa was part of

Ōtaki Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of the Edo period, located in Kazusa Province (modern-day Chiba Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Ōtaki Castle (Chiba), Ōtaki Castle in what is now the town of Ōtaki, Chiba. H ...

. The villages of Tsuchimutsu, and Mizusawa were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The two villages merged on February 11, 1955 with a portion of the town of Chōnan to form the village of Mutsuzawa. It was elevated to town status on April 1, 1983.

Government

Mutsuzawa 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

town council of 15 members. Together with the other municipalities in Chōsei District, Mutsuzawa contributes one member to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Chiba 11th district Chiba 11th district (千葉県第11区, ''Chiba-ken dai-jūikku'' or simply 千葉11区, ''Chiba-jūikku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan located in the eastern portion of Chiba Pre ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Mutsuzawa's agricultural areas produce rice and milk. The town is also located within the Minami Kantō gas field, and extraction of

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

contributes to the local economy.

Education

Mutsuzawa has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a public high school.

Transportation

Railway

Mutsuzawa does not have any passenger rail service.

Highway

The town is not on any national highway. *Chiba Prefectural Road 148 *Chiba Prefectural Road 150 *Chiba Prefectural Road 151

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Chiba Prefecture