250px, ruins of Koizumi Castle 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 o ...

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 Fuku ...

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 n ...

. , 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 usi ...

of 41,918 in 19,773 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 RosenberPopu ...

of 2300 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Approximately 20 percent of the total population are foreign citizens, mostly Japanese Brazilians, who work at many factories in the town. Since 1990, Japanese descendants from foreign countries have been permitted to stay in Japan freely. It is estimated that 15 percent of the population speak Portuguese as their native language, and as of 2007, Ōizumi has the highest concentration of Brazilians of any city in Japan. More recently, Nepalese and other Asians have begun settling in the town.

Geography

Ōizumi is located in the extreme southern corner Gunma prefecture, bordered by Saitama Prefecture to the south. The Tone River flows through the southern part of the town.

Surrounding municipalities

* Ōta * Chiyoda * Ōra Saitama Prefecture *

Kumagaya is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 195,277 in 87,827 households and a population density of 1200 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kumagaya is one of the large ...

Climate

Ōizumi 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 hot summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Ōizumi is 14.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1263 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōizumi has grown significantly over the past 100 years.

History

The villages of Ōkawa and Koizumi were created within Ōra District, Gunma Prefecture 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 ...

. Koizumi was elevated to town status on July 25, 1902. On March 31, 1957 Koizumi merged with the village of Ōkawa and was renamed Ōizumi. Plans to merge with neighboring Chiyoda in 2004 and with Ōta in 2008 were rejected by the local town assembly.

Government

Ōizumi 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 ...

town council of 14 members. Ōizumi, together with the other municipalities in Ōra District contributes three members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Gunma 3rd district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in south-eastern Gunma and consists of Ota, Tatebayashi and Ōra County. Areas Covered Current District As of 24 January 2023, the areas c ...

of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Ōizumi has an industrial base, with manufacturing facilities including plants from

Ajinomoto is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, interlayer insulating materials for semiconductor packages for use in personal computers, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverages, sweeteners, amino acids, ...

, Sanyo, Toppan, Maruha Nichiro and Fuji Heavy Industries (which was previously the plant of the Nakajima Aircraft Company), located in the town.

Education

Ōizumi has four public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the town government, and two public high schools operated by the Gunma prefecture Board of Education. International schools: * Instituto Educacional Centro Nippo-Brasileiro – Brazilian schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015. * Instituto Educacional Gente Miúda – Brazilian school The city formerly housed the Escola da Professora Rebeca, another Brazilian international school.Escolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. February 7, 2008. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.

Transportation

Railway

Tōbu Railway – Tōbu Koizumi Line * – –

Highway

Sister city relations

* – Guaratinguetá,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

, Brazil

Local attractions

* Koizumi Castle ruins (小泉城跡) * Ryusenji temple (竜泉寺) * Koizumi shrine (小泉神社) * Ainohara remains (間之原遺跡) of

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

(3500 BC-3000 BC)

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oizumi, Gunma Brazilian communities Towns in Gunma Prefecture Ōizumi, Gunma