Matsukawa, Nagano (Shimoina) from Mount Eboshi

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

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 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 13,043 in 4364 households, 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 180 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Like many other small Southern Nagano villages, it is famous for its apples.

Geography

Located in the Ina Basin of mountainous southern Nagano Prefecture, Matsukawa is bordered to the west by the

Kiso Mountains are a mountain range in Nagano and Gifu prefectures in Japan. They are also called the and they combine with the Hida Mountains ("Northern Alps") and the Akaishi Mountains ("Southern Alps") to form a group collectively known as the Japanese Al ...

. The town stretches for 21 kilometers east-west, but is only 6 kilometers wide north-south. The

Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya, Nagano, Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shi ...

passes through center of the town.

Surrounding municipalities

*Nagano Prefecture ** Iida ** Iijima ** Tenryū ** Nakagawa ** Takamori ** Toyooka ** Ōshika

Climate

The town has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cold 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 Matsukawa is 12.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1583 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.65 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Matsukawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Matsukawa has remained relatively steady over the past 80 years.

History

The area of present-day Matsukawa 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 modern town was established on September 20, 1956 by the merger of the village of Oshima in Shimoina District with the village of Katagiri in Kamiina District

Education

Matsukawa has one public elementary school, one public middle school and one public combined elementary/middle school operated by the town government. The town also has one public high school operated by the Nagano Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR Tōkai –

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

Local attractions

* Kataoka Dam

References

External links

*
Official Website
Towns in Nagano Prefecture {{Nagano-geo-stub