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

Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...

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 15,158 in 6,575 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 17 persons per km². The total area of the town was .

Geography

Minamiaizu is located in the mountainous southern portion of the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture, bordered

Tochigi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi). Tochigi ...

to the south. *Mountains : Onsabi Mountains, Nasudake, Mount Nanatsugadake *Rivers : Okawa, Ina River

Neighboring municipalities

*Fukushima Prefecture ** Shimogō ** Hinoemata ** Tadami ** Shōwa *Tochigi Prefecture **

Nasushiobara 270px, Shiobara Onsen is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 115,794 in 48,437 households, and a population density of 67 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Nasushioba ...

Nikkō is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 80,239 in 36,531 households, and a population density of 55 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a popular destination for Japanese and ...

Climate

Minamiaizu has a

Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Köppen ''Dfa'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Minamiaizu is 8.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1642 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around -3.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Minamiaizu population statistics
/ref> the population of Minamiaizu peaked I the 1950s and has declined steadily over the past 60 years. It is now less than it was a century ago.

History

The area of present-day Minamiaizu was part of ancient

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

and formed part of the holdings of

Aizu Domain was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 The Aizu Domain was based at Tsuruga Castle in Mutsu Province, the core of the ...

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 characteriz ...

. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, it was organized as part of Minamiaizu District in Fukushima Prefecture. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the town of Tajima and the villages of Ina, Nangō, and Tateiwa were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system. These four municipalities merged on March 20, 2006 to form the town of Minamiaizu.

Economy

The economy of Minamiaizu is primarily agricultural. Rice, tomatoes and asparagus are the main crops.

Education

The town has seven public elementary schools and four public junior high school operated by the town government. The town has two public high schools operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education. *Fukushima Prefectural Tajima High School * Fukushima Prefectural Minamiaizu High School

Transportation

Railway

Aizu Railway – Aizu Line * - - - - - - -

Yagan Railway The is a third-sector Japanese railway company whose major shareholders include the Tochigi and Fukushima prefectural governments. It operates a single railway line, the . The name of the line comes from the kanji characters of the ancient ...

– Aizu Kinugawa Line *

Highway

* * * * *

Local attractions

Maezawa Magariya Village *Aizu-Tajima Gionsai festival *Okuaizu Museum *Komado Wetlands *Tashiroyama Wetlands *Yunohana Onsen *Hosoi Residence Museum *Maezawa Magariya Village (Museum of "L" Shaped Old Folk Houses)

Noted people from Minamiaizu

* Kozo Watanabe, politician

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Fukushima Prefecture Minamiaizu, Fukushima