The back of the Fuji from the Minobu river

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 Yamanashi Prefecture, 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 11,674 in 5447 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 39 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Minobu is in south-central Yamanashi Prefecture. The Fuji River passes through the town, which is dominated by the sacred Mount Minobu. It also shares

Lake Motosu is the westernmost of the Fuji Five Lakes and located on the border of the towns of Fujikawaguchiko and Minobu in southern Yamanashi Prefecture near Mount Fuji, Japan. Lake Motosu is the third-largest of the Fuji Five Lakes in terms of surface ...

with neighbouring Fujikawaguchiko.

Neighboring municipalities

Yamanashi Prefecture *

Kōfu is the capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 187,985 in 90,924 households, and a population density of 880 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Overview Toponymy Kōfu's name means " ...

* Nanbu *

Ichikawamisato is a town located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,799 in 6679 households., and a population density of 210 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Ichikawamisato is located in s ...

* Hayakawa * Fujikawa * Fujikawaguchiko Shizuoka Prefecture *

Aoi-ku, Shizuoka is one of three wards of the city of Shizuoka in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, located in the northern part of the city. Aoi-ku borders Suruga-ku in the south and Shimizu-ku to the southeast; the west faces Shimada, Fujieda and Kawanehon a ...

Fujinomiya is a city located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 132,507 in 56,655 households, and a population density of 340 persons per km². The total area of the city is . History The city name comes from ...

Climate

The town has a climate 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 Minobu is 14.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1540 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Minobu population statistics
/ref> the population of Minobu has declined substantially over the past 70 years.

History

Minobu developed from the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

as a temple town outside the gates of the important Buddhist temple of Kuon-ji, one of the primary head temples of the Nichiren Shū. During the reform of the early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

on April 1, 1889, Minamikoma District within Yamanashi Prefecture was created and organized into 22 villages. Minobu village was raised to town status on January 1, 1931. On February 11, 1955 the town expanded by annexing three neighboring villages. On September 13, 2004, Minobu absorbed the towns of Nakatomi, also from Minamikoma District, and Shimobe, from Nishiyatsushiro District.

Education

Minobusan University is a private university in Minobu, Yamanashi, 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 ...

* Minobu has three public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town as two public high schools operated by the Yamanashi Prefectural Board of Education and one private high school.

Transportation

Railway

Central Japan Railway Company -

Minobu Line The is a railway line in the Tōkai region of Japan operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It connects Fuji Station in Fuji, Shizuoka to Kōfu Station in Kōfu, Yamanashi, and the Tōkaidō Main Line with the Chūō Main ...

* - - - - - - -

Highway

* *

Local attractions

* Kuon-ji – Buddhist temple which is the supreme head temple of Nichiren sect *Nakayama Kinzan, ruins of a Sengoku period gold mine and National Historic Site

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Towns in Yamanashi Prefecture