was 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 Funai District, Kyoto Prefecture,

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 ...

. As of 2003, 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 8,916 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of 179.90 persons per km². The total area was 49.56 km². On January 1, 2006, Yagi, along with the towns of

Hiyoshi Strand of ginkgo trees at Keio University is a part of the city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located within Kōhoku Ward in the northeast of Yokohama City. Overview It is served by Hiyoshi Station on the Tōkyū Tōyoko L ...

, Sonobe (all from Funai District), and the town of Miyama (from Kitakuwada District), was merged to create the city of Nantan. Nestled between mountains and situated in the

Ōi River The is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Geography The Ōi River flows from the Akaishi Mountains, the branch of the Japanese Southern Alps which form the border between Shizuoka, Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures. These mountains, with p ...

basin, Yagi is more a collection of small villages than a single town. The town center, situated along the river, is only a small part of Yagi's total area. Though Yagi is decidedly rural, its proximity to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

by train makes it an extended suburb of sorts. It is estimated that about 60% of Yagi's adult working population commutes to Kyoto or

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

daily. Yagi is easily accessible via the JR Sagano Train Line from Kyoto. Yagi has a long history dating back at least as far as the

Nara Period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 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 cap ...

, when Yagi's extant Sanin Road was a main route through the prefecture, linking Kyoto to

Kameoka is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 87,518 in 29,676 households and a population density of 390 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kameoka abuts Kyoto to the east and is loca ...

and Sonobe. In 1960 Yagi and the surrounding area was hit by a massive

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

. The banks of the Ōi River collapsed, and the town suffered extensive flooding. A number of people died during the storm and the flood that followed. Yagi has one junior high school and five elementary schools: Yagi, Tomimoto, Shinjo, Yoshitomi and Kamiyoshi. Yagi has been a long-time participant in the

JET Programme The , or , is a Japanese government initiative that brings college (university) graduates—mostly native speakers of English—to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and Sports Education Advisors (SEAs) in Japanese kindergartens, element ...

, and employs a foreigner and native speaker to teach English in the town's schools.

Notable attributes

Yagi is famous throughout the

Kansai Region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...

for its annual fireworks festival, held on or around August 14. Thousands of people gather near Yagi's Ōi River Bridge to watch the fireworks show, the largest of its kind in Kyoto Prefecture. The festival was first held in 1947, and officially begins every year at 6 p.m. with

Tōrō nagashi The Floating Lamp is a type of lamp that floats on the surface of the water. It is also known as a river lamp or lake lamp etc., depending on the water body in which the water lamp is floated. The water lamp originated in India and later spread t ...

, a Buddhist ceremony in which paper lanterns are floated down the river. The fireworks show is now held both as celebration of summer and a commemoration for those who died in the 1960 typhoon. Yagi is also known for several progressive environmental projects. In 1995, Yagi Junior High became the first school in Japan to be solar powered, and Yoshitomi and Shinjo elementary schools also use supplemental solar and wind energy. Additionally, Yagi's Bio-Ecology Center turns cow manure from nearby dairy farms into electricity by utilizing the methane gas produced during decomposition. Seigen-ji temple, in Yagi's northern foothills, is famous because it houses 22 wood carvings created by the wandering

ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

priest Mokujiki-san. Mokujiki-san traveled throughout Japan on a pilgrimage whose purpose was to spread Buddhist teachings and carve 1,000 images of the Buddha and his disciples. Shaka, the image of Buddha at Seigen-ji, is the 1,000th carving, which Mokujiki-san completed in 1806. Yagi's northern foothills are also home to Kyoto Taishakuten, a Buddhist temple established in 780. Other temples and shrines are to be found throughout the region.

References

*"Yagi Town-exciting yet comfortable." (2004) Informational Booklet produced by Yagi Town Office.

External links

*
Official website of Nantan
{{Authority control Populated places disestablished in 2006 Dissolved municipalities of Kyoto Prefecture 2006 disestablishments in Japan Nantan, Kyoto