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

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

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 17,146 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 1200 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Ōi is located in hilly southwestern Kanagawa Prefecture, bordering on the

Tanzawa Mountains The are a mountain range in the Kantō region in Japan. The mountain range covers the northwestern part of Kanagawa Prefecture and touches the prefecture borders of Shizuoka Prefecture to the west and the Yamanashi Prefecture to the north. Mou ...

. The Sakawa River runs through the western end of the town. The Oiso Hills stretch from the northeastern and eastern part of the town, and the area from the center to the south of the town is flat. The Sakawa Weir (aqueduct), which is a diversion of the Sakawa River, flows through the central portion of the town to join the Kikugawa River that flows towards Odawara to the south. The flat lands are mostly

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-A ...

s, and 10% of the town area and more than 30% of the cultivated land area are paddy fields. In addition, fruit trees such as

mandarin orange The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-colou ...

s are also cultivated in the hills.

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture *

Odawara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in the far western por ...

Hadano is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 163,787 and a population density of 1600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Hadano is located in the foothills of the ...

* Nakai, Matsuda, Kaisei

Climate

Ōi 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 to no snowfall.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Ōi population statistics
/ref> the population of Ōi has grown steadily since the 1960s.

History

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 character ...

, the area around present-day Ōi was part of

Odawara Domain 250px, Odawara Castle, Headquarters of the Odawara Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located primarily in western Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture). It was centered on Odawara Castle in what is now the city of Oda ...

Sagami Province was a province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu, Musashi, and Suruga. It had access to the Pac ...

. 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 ...

, it became part of Ashigarakami District in Kanagawa Prefecture. On April 1, 1889, the district of Ashigarakami was administratively divided into villages, including Kaminaka, Soga, Yamada and Kaneda with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. On November 3, 1943, the villages of Yamada and Kaminaka merged to form the village of Aiwa. Aiwa later lost a portion of its territory to neighboring Nishihadano on June 20, 1956. The remaining portion merged with Kaneda and portions of Soga to form Ōi on April 1, 1956.

Government

Ōi 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. Ōi, together with the other municipalities in Ashigarakami District and Minamiashigara city, collectively contributes one member to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kanagawa 17th 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 paral ...

Economy

The economy of the Ōi is primarily agricultural.

Education

Ōi has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR Tokai – Gotemba Line * -

Highway

* (Ōi-Matsuda Interchange) *

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oi, Kanagawa Towns in Kanagawa Prefecture Ōi, Kanagawa