270px, Sameura Dam 270px, Panorama of Tosa 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 Tosa District,

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

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 3,670 in 1908 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 17 people per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Tosa is located in the Shikoku Mountains in central northern Kochi Prefecture, bordering Ehime. The

Yoshino River The Yoshino River (吉野川 ''Yoshino-gawa'') is a river on the island of Shikoku, Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . It is the second longest river in Shikoku (slightly shorter than the Shimanto), and is the only river whose watershe ...

flows through the town with the Sameura Dam located near its headwaters. Approximately 85% of the town is forest with an elevation of 300 to 500 meters above sea level. Inamurayama, the highest mountain is 1,506 meters.

Neighbouring municipalities

Kōchi Prefecture * Kōchi * Nankoku * Motoyama * Ōkawa * Ino Ehime Prefecture * Shikokuchūō

Climate

Tosa has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Tosa is 13.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2536 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January, at around 22.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Tosa population statistics
/ref> the population of Tosa has been declining, and is now less than half of what it was in 1960.

History

As with all of Kōchi Prefecture, the area of Tosa 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 syste ...

. 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 ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Tosa Domain The was a 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 history by t ...

ruled by the

Yamauchi clan The Yamauchi clan (山内氏) were a family of rulers over what was then the Tosa Province which spanned the southern half of Shikoku island. The province was given to the family in 1600 after Yamauchi Kazutoyo led troops under Tokugawa Ieyasu a ...

from their seat at

Kōchi Castle is an Edo Period Japanese castle in the city of Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. It is located at Otakayama hill, at the center of Kōchi city, which in turn is located at the center of the Kōchi Plain, the most prosperous area of former ...

. The village of Jizōji (地蔵寺村) was established within

Tosa District, Kōchi is a district located in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. As of the January 1, 2005 merger but with 2003 population estimates, the district has an estimated population of 5,348 and a density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is th ...

and the village of Tai (田井村) was established within

Nagaoka District, Kōchi is a district located in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 10,393 and a density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889. The two villages merged on March 31, 1935 to form the village of Tosa, which was elevated to town status on April 1, 1970.

Government

Tosa 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 multic ...

town council of ten members. Tosa, together with the other municipalities of Tosa District and Nagaoka District, contributes one member to the Kōchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the village is part of Kōchi 1st district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

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 paralle ...

Economy

Key industries in Tosa are the primary industries: agriculture, livestock, and forestry. Farming takes advantage of the geographical differences in elevation and the difference in temperature between day and night. There are terraced rice fields and rice is the main product, followed by livestock, dairy and vegetables. In particular, the rice terraces on the fertile south bank of the Jizoji River produce high-quality rice. Farmers who have acquired ISO 14001 certification refrain from using chemical fertilizers, and use fertilizers made at the Tosa Town Compost Center to grow rice and garden vegetables with reduced pesticides, and brand "Reihoku Hachisai".

Education

Tosa 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

Tosa has no passenger railway service. The nearest station is Ōsugi Station on the

JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

Dosan Line is a railway line in Shikoku, Japan, operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). It connects Tadotsu Station in Tadotsu, Kagawa, and Kubokawa Station in Shimanto, Kōchi. The line links the city of Kōchi with northern Shikoku and t ...

; however, most passengers travel to Kōchi Station by bus.

Highways

Local attractions

* Sameura Dam

References

External links

*
Tosa official website
Towns in Kōchi Prefecture {{Kochi-geo-stub