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 is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the no ...

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 4,298 in 1552 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 280 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Nishikatsura is situated in the Katsura River valley in southern Yamanashi Prefecture, near the northern foot of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

, and is the departure point for climbs of Mount Mitsutoge, which affords unhindered views of Mount Fuji. The area is also famous for its pure, clean water.

Neighboring municipalities

*Yamanashi Prefecture **

Fujiyoshida is a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,782 in 19,806 households and a population density of 400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Fujiyoshida lies at the norther ...

Fujikawaguchiko is a town located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 26,542 in 10618 households, and a population density of 170 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Fujikawaguchiko is located in so ...

** Tsuru

Climate

The town has a climate characterized by 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 Nishikatsura is 10.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1641 mm with September as the wettest month.

History

The area around modern Nishikatsura has been settled since prehistoric times, and developed from the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, as a hamlet on the pilgrimage route to Mount Fuji. 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 ...

, all of Kai Province was ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

'' territory under direct control of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. Per 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 ...

establishment of the modern municipalities on July 1, 1889, the village of Katsura was created within

Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi is a rural district located in southeastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. As of July 2012, the district had an estimated population of 48,832 and a population density of 116 persons per km2. The total area was 420.78 km2. The district form ...

Prefecture. It was renamed Nishikatsura on June 3, 1893 after expansion through annexation of portions of neighboring villages, and was raised to town status on September 15, 1952.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Nishikatsura population statistics
/ref> the population of Nishikatsura peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

Economy

Nishikatsura is home to numerous small textile plants, which manufacture neckties and umbrellas.

Education

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

Transportation

Railway

Fujikyuko Line The is a Japanese private railway line in Yamanashi Prefecture, between Ōtsuki Station in Ōtsuki and Kawaguchiko Station in Fujikawaguchiko. It is the only railway line operated by Fuji Kyuko. The railway line officially consists of the and ...

Highway

Sister city relations

* – Lingchuan County,

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

, China

Notable people from Nishikatsura

* Yangji Lee, writer

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Yamanashi Prefecture Nishikatsura, Yamanashi