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 18,335 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 2800 persons per km². The total area of the town is . It is the smallest municipality in Kanagawa Prefecture in terms of area.

Geography

Kaisei is located on the eastern bank of the Sakawa River, in western Kanagawa Prefecture.

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 ...

* Minamiashigara * Yamakita, Matsuda, Ōi

Climate

Kaisei 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. The average annual temperature in Kaisei is 13.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2221 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kaisei population statistics
/ref> the population of Kaisei has grown steadily since the 1970s.

History

The area of modern Kaisei 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

, the area became part of Ashigarakami District in Kanagawa Prefecture and was divided into several villages with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The town of Kaisei was founded on February 2, 1955 through the merger of Sakata village and Yoshidajima village. It was connected by train on March 14, 1985.

Government

Kaisei 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 12 members. Kaisei, 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 Kaisei is based primarily on agriculture and forestry. The main industry is a factory owned by

Fujifilm , trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals. The offerings from the ...

Education

Kaisei has two 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

Railroad

Odakyū Odawara Line The is the main line of Japanese private railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway. It extends 82.5 km from Shinjuku in central Tokyo through the southwest suburbs to the city of Odawara, the gateway to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. ...

Highway

* Kanagawa Prefectural Routes 78, 712, 720

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Kanagawa Prefecture Kaisei, Kanagawa