270px, Oka Goten is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Aki District, Kōchi Prefecture,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 2,530 in 1309 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 391 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Over 1000 of the residents are over the age of 65. Tano is the smallest town by area on the island of Shikoku, and it is second in population density in Kōchi Prefecture, following Kōchi City.

Geography

Tano is located in southeastern Kōchi Prefecture on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, with a coastline the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

to the south.

Neighbouring municipalities

Kōchi Prefecture * Kitagawa * Nahari * Yasuda

Climate

Tano has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Tano has decreased steadily since the 1960s, and is now less than it was a century ago.

History

As with all of Kōchi Prefecture, the area of Tano was part of ancient

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syst ...

. The name of Aki District appears in

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

. During the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, Takada Hokkyo, a noble of the imperial court established a ''

shōen A was a field or Manorialism, manor in Japan. The Japanese language, Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese language, Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to th ...

'' landed estate at Tano. During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Tosa Domain The was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its ...

ruled by the Yamauchi clan from their seat at Kōchi Castle. The area was part of a maritime transportation hub, especially for the shipment of lumber, which was a major revenue source for Tosa Domain. During the Bakumatsu period, 23

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

were executed on September 5, 1864, on the bank of the Nahari River for petitioning for the release of Takechi Hanpeita.The village of Tano was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on May 1, 1920.

Government

Tano 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

town council of eight members. Tano, together with the other municipalities of Aki District, contributes one member to the Kōchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kōchi 1st district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Tano's economy is centered on

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

, agriculture, and small-scale food processing.

Education

Tano has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Kōchi Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Tosa Kuroshio Railway The is a third-sector railway company in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. The name comes from the former Tosa Province and the Kuroshio Current. The company was founded in 1986, and operates three lines: a former Japanese National Railways (JNR) line ...

- Asa Line *

Highways

Local attractions

*Former Residence of Osachi Hamaguchi
Former residence of the 17th Prime Minister of Japan. *Grave of the Twenty-Three Samurai
The gravesite of the Twenty-Three samurai two supported Takechi Hanpeita and the

Tosa Kinnō-tō Tosa Kinnō-tō (土佐勤王党, Tosa Imperialism party) was a political shishi (organization) of Bakumatsu era Japan which was loyal to the ideals of the sonnō Jōi movement. It was formed by Takechi Hanpeita, influenced by the effects of the ...

(Tosa Imperial Loyalist Party) *Hachiman Shrine and Overpass Road
A

Hachiman shrine A is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the ''kami'' Hachiman. It is the second most numerous type of Shinto shrine after those dedicated to Inari Ōkami (see Inari shrine). There are about 44,000 Hachiman shrines. Originally the name 八幡 was rea ...

that was established during the 7th year of the

Kan'ei was a after '' Genna'' and before ''Shōhō.'' This period spanned the years from February 1624 through December 1644. The reigning emperors and single empress were , and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 411./re ...

era (1631), and utilizes an overpass bridge that was part of the Yanase railroad as the shrines entranceway. *Oka Palace Residence
The former residence of the Oka family, the wealthiest of a group of merchants in Tano that specialized in trade and transport throughout the Chugei region. *Tano Cho Total Sun Dried Salt Making Experience Facility
A salt making facility that uses only solar and wind power to create salt, including salt that is infused with various ingredients to make specialty flavors. *Tateoka No. 2 Plank Road
Remains of a plank road that was used to transport lumber via the Yanase railroad, which is part of a series of railroad remains throughout the Chugei region.

References

External links

*
Tano official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tano, Kochi Towns in Kōchi Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Tano, Kōchi