250px, Morishita area of Showa
is a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
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 Fukushim ...
,
Japan. , the village 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 ...
of 7,228 in 2751 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 110 persons per km². The total area of the village is .
Geography
Located in central Gunma, Shōwa is on the northwestern slopes of
Mt. Akagi
is a mountain in Gunma Prefecture, Japan.
The broad, low dominantly andesitic stratovolcano rises above the northern end of the Kanto Plain. It contains an elliptical, 3 x 4 km summit caldera with post-caldera lava domes arranged along a ...
, it is surrounded on the north, east, and west by the city of
Numata and borders
Shibukawa to the south. The Katashina River and the
Tone River
The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It is in length (the second longest in Japan after the Shinano) and has a drainage area of (the largest in Japan). It is nicknamed Bandō Tarō (); ''Bandō'' is an obsolete alias of the Kant ...
flow through the village.
Surrounding municipalities
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 Fukushim ...
*
Numata
*
Shibukawa
Climate
Shōwa 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 ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Shōwa is 10.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1589 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.6 °C.
Demographics
Per Japanese census data,
Shōwa population statistics
/ref> the population of Shōwa has been in decline over the past 60 years.
History
The area of present-day Shōwa was part of the ''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 Encyclopedi ...
'' holdings in 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 ra ...
administered directly by the Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated 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 ...
. 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 r ...
, Kuroho and Itonose villages were established within Kitaseta District, Gunma. In 1896, Kitaseta District and a portion of Agatsuma District
is a rural district located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. As of January 2015, the district had an estimated population of 56,994 and an area of 1,278.55 km2, with a population density of 44.6 people per square kilometer.
Towns and villages
...
were transferred to Tone District
is a rural district located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. As of January 2015, the district had an estimated population of 34,946 and an area of 1,322.23 km2, with a population density of 26.4 people per square kilometer.
Towns and villages
* ...
, The two villages merged on November 1, 1958 to form Shōwa.
Government
Shōwa 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 multi ...
village council of 12 members. Shōwa, together with the other municipalities in Tone District, contributes one member to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Gunma 1st district of the lower house 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 paral ...
.
Economy
Traditionally, the economy of Shōwa was heavily dependent on agriculture; primarily market gardening
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to so ...
.
Education
Shōwa has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.
Transportation
Railway
Shōwa does not have any passenger railway service. The nearest station is in the neighboring city of Numata.
Highway
* – Akagi-Kōgen SA, Shōwa IC
References
External links
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Showa, Gunma
Villages in Gunma Prefecture
Shōwa, Gunma