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 o ...

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 Miyagi ...

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 n ...

. , 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 usi ...

of 6,090 in 2598 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 RosenberPopu ...

of 20 persons per km². Approximately 66% of the population is over the age of 65.Fukushima Prefectural Demographics
, accessed February 13, 2009 apanese The total area is .

Geography

Nishiaizu is located at the far northwestern corner of the

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princi ...

region of Fukushima Prefecture, bordered

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

to the north and the west. It is known as the "front door" to the

Iide Mountains The or is a mountain range that spans the Fukushima, Niigata and Yamagata prefectures in Japan. Its highest peak is at 2,128m, and the main peak of the range is Mount Iide at 2,105m above sea level. The range contains a number of peaks highe ...

. About 86 percent of the total area is composed of mountains and forests.Nishiaizu official website
accessed February 5, 2009 apanese *Mountains : Mount Mikunidake (1644 m) *Rivers : Aga River

Neighboring municipalities

Fukushima Prefecture * Kitakata * Yanaizu *

Aizubange Eryū-ji temple in Aizubange is a town located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,159 in 5487 households, and a population density of 170 persons per km2. The total area of the town was . Geography Aizu ...

* Kaneyama Niigata Prefecture * Aga

Climate

Nishiaizu 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 freez ...

(Köppen ''Dfb'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nishiaizu is 11.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1548 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around -0.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Nishiaizu population statistics
/ref> the population of Nishiaizu has declined by more than two-thirds over the past 60 years.

History

The area of present-day Nishiaizu 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 co ...

and formed part of the holdings of

Aizu Domain was a Han (Japan), 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 Aizuwakamatsu Castle, Tsuruga Castle in ...

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 character ...

. 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 Yama District, Fukushima Prefecture. The town of Nishiaizu was founded on July 1, 1954 through a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspec ...

of the villages of Shingo and Okugawa with the town of Nozawa and villages of Onomoto, Tosejima, Mutsuai, Shitatani, Muraoka, Kaminojiri and Hosaka in Kawanuma District. In 2006, Nishiaizu residents decided to decline a merger with the city of Kitakata.

Economy

Nishiaizu is a rural area with a local economy dependent on agriculture and forestry.

Education

Nishiaizu has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education. * Nishiaizu Elementary School * Nishiaizu High School.
Nishiaizu official website.

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 ar ...

–

Ban'etsu West Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, and Niitsu Station in Akiha Ward, Niigata, Niigata Prefecture. The name "Banetsu" is taken fr ...

* - - -

Highway

* – Nishiaizu PA * * *

Local attractions

* ''Enmanji Kannon-dō'', the temple building is the one designated Important Cultural Property in Nishiaizu.Japan National Cultural Properties database
, accessed February 5, 2009. apanese/ref> * Torioi-Kannon Nyohōji - the gate and four wooden statues are Fukushima Prefectural Important Cultural Properties. The temple houses one of the Aizu region's three important statues of Kannon.
''Torioi-Kannon Nyohōji'' official website, accessed February 13, 2009.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Nishiaizu, Fukushima, Towns in Fukushima Prefecture