250px, New Naganohara town office 250px, Festival at Kawahara onsen 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

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

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 5,495 in 5630 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 41 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The controversial

Yanba Dam is a dam in Naganohara, Agatsuma District, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Construction began in 1967, with effective completion in October 2019 and the official opening on 1 April 2020. Planning for the dam began in 1952, and it was planned to b ...

project is located within Naganohara.

Geography

Located in the northwestern portion of

, almost all of Naganohara has an elevation higher than 500 meters. The town has Mount Kusatsu-Shirane (2171m) to the north and

Mount Asama is an active complex volcano in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The volcano is the most active on Honshū. The Japan Meteorological Agency classifies Mount Asama as rank A. It stands above sea level on the border of Gunma and Nagano ...

(2568m) to the south. * Rivers:

Agatsuma River Agatsuma may refer to: *, Japanese shamisen player *Agatsuma District, Gunma, a district in Gunma Prefecture, Japan * Agatsuma, Gunma, a town in Gunma Prefecture, Japan * Agatsuma River, a river in Japan *Agatsuma Entertainment Agatsuma Entertain ...

, Shirasuna River, Kuma River

Surrounding municipalities

Takasaki is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as the hometown of th ...

* Higashiagatsuma * Tsumagoi * Nakanojō * Kusatsu

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 ...

* Karuizawa

Climate

Naganohara 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 ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Naganohara is 7.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1453 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 20.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around -4.7 °C.

Demographics

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

History

The area of present-day Naganohara has human remains from the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC; although any date of human presence before 35,000 BC ...

through

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

s, although archaeological findings 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 ...

are scarce compared with surrounding areas. 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 ...

, the area was part of the ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

''-administered territory within

Kōzuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered by Echigo, Shinano, Musashi and Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Kōzuke was ran ...

. Naganohara Town was created within Agatsuma District of Gunma Prefecture on April 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern municipalities system 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 ...

Government

Naganohara 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 multic ...

town council of 10 members. Naganohara collectively with the other municipalities in Agatsuma District, contributes two members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Gunma 5th district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

The economy of Naganohara is heavily dependent on agriculture.

Education

Naganohara has four public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high schools operated by the Gunma Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

–

Agatsuma Line Agatsuma may refer to: *, Japanese shamisen player *Agatsuma District, Gunma, a district in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma, Gunma, a town in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma River, a river in Japan *Agatsuma Entertainment, a Japanese toy/video ...

* - - -

Highway

* * * * *

Local attractions

*Kawarayu Onsen * Asama Volcano Museum * Agatsuma Gorge, a National Place of Scenic Beauty

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Gunma Prefecture Naganohara, Gunma