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

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 ...

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 8,339 in 3351 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 56 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

History

The area of present-day Shinano was part of ancient

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. The modern village of Shinano was created by the merger of the villages of Kashiwabara and Fujisato on July 1, 1955. Shinano merged with the neighboring villages of Furuma and Shinanojiri to form the town of Shinano on September 30, 1956.

Geography

Shinano is located in far northern Nagano Prefecture, bordered by

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

to the north.

Lake Nojiri is in the town of Shinano, Nagano, Shinano, Kamiminochi District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Second to Lake Suwa among lakes in Nagano Prefecture, Nojiri is a resort, the location of the first pumped-storage hydroelectricity in Japan, and the site ...

and

Mount Kurohime Mount Kurohime (Japanese: 黒姫山 ''Kurohime-yama'') is a stratovolcano located in Shinano town (信濃町), Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The mountain is one of the 200 most famous mountains in Japan (日本に百名山), and one of the 100 m ...

are in Shinano.

Surrounding municipalities

*Nagano Prefecture **

Iiyama is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 20,118 in 7372 households, and a population density of 99 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It markets itself as "Japan's Hometown" and is ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

Iizuna is a town located in the Kamiminochi District of norther Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 11,115 in 4187 households, and a population density of 150 persons per km2. the total area of the town is . Geography I ...

** Myōkō

Climate

The town 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 ...

characterized by characterized by short, hot and humid summers, and cold winters with heavy snowfall (

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 Shinano is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Shinano has declined over the past 70 years.

Education

Shinano has one combined public elementary/middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

Shinano Railway The is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 1996 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR East Shinetsu Main Line within Nagano Prefecture when it is separated from the JR East network in Octobe ...

Kita-Shinano Line The is a railway line operated by the third-sector railway operating company Shinano Railway in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, since 14 March 2015 following the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension north of Nagano and transfer of operations ...

** -

Highway

Jōshin-etsu Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming is a kanji acronym consisting of 3 characters, each representing the former names of the prefectures that the route traverses. consist ...

Local attractions

* Naena Falls, one of the 100 Waterfalls of Japan *

Lake Nojiri Naumann Elephant Museum opened on the shore of Lake Nojiri in Shinano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, in 1984. Initially the , it was renamed the Lake Nojiri Naumann Elephant Museum in 1996. The collection focuses on finds from the excavations at Lake Nojiri that began in ...

Notable people from Shinano

Kobayashi Issa was a Japanese poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū. He is known for his haiku poems and journals. He is better known as simply , a pen name meaning Cup-of-teaBostok 2004. (lit. "one up oftea"). He is regarded as one of the four ...

, poet

Administrators

Mayors * 1st generation- Shigeichiro Matsuki (October 1956-4th quarter of November 1970) * 2nd generation- Kazuo Kobayashi (Nov. 1970-Nov. 4, 1986) * 3rd generation- Akio Takeuchi (November 1986-November 1, 1990) * 4th generation- Tadakazu Ogusa (Nov. 1990-Nov. 3, 2002) * 5th generation- Hiroshi Hattori (November 2002-November 1, 2006) * 6th generation- Shigehiro Matsuki (Nov. 2006-Nov. 2, 2014) * 7th generation- Masatomo Yokokawa (November 2014 – present)

Town council

* Number of lawmakers: 12 (term of office: until March 31, 2021) * Chair: Moriyama Konomi * Since January 2013, it has adopted the “Full Year Assembly”

References

External links

*
Official Website
Towns in Nagano Prefecture {{Nagano-geo-stub