250px, Shima Onsen 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

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 Fukushima ...

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 15,571 in 6737 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 35 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Located in the northwestern portion of Gunma Prefecture, Nakanojō is surrounded by high peaks of over 1000 m in height, with the Agatsuma River passing through the center of town from west to east. The town has a mean elevation of 400 meters above sea level. The town's area is 83% mountains and forests (197 km²). * Rivers:

Agatsuma River Agatsuma may refer to: *, Japanese shamisen player *Agatsuma District, Gunma, a district in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma, Gunma, a town in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma River, a river in Japan *Agatsuma Entertainment, a Japanese toy/video ...

, Shima River * Lakes: Shimagawa Dam

Surrounding municipalities

* Kusatsu * Naganohara * Higashiagatsuma *

Shibukawa is a city in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 76,098 in 32,439 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Shibukawa is the location of Ikaho Onsen, a popular hot spring resort. ...

* Minakami

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

* Sakae * Yamanouchi * Takayama

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

* Yuzawa

Climate

Nakanojō 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 hot summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nakanojō is 8.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1489 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 0.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nakanojō has declined steadily over the past 70 years.

Neighborhoods within Nakanojō

*Akasaka (赤坂) *Aoyama (青山) *Arigawa (蟻川) *Daidou (大道) *Gotanda (五反田) *Ichishiro (市城) *Ise-machi (伊勢町) *Iwamoto (岩本) *Nakuta (名久田) *Orida (折田) *Ōtsuka (大塚) *Upper Sawatari (上沢渡) *Lower Sawatari (下沢渡) *Shima (四万) *Taira (平) *Tochikubo (栃窪) *West Nakanojo (西中之条) *Yamada (山田) (former Kuni village) *Akaiwa (赤岩） *Hikage (日影) *Iriyama (入山) *Kosame (小雨） *Ōshi (太子)

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 characteriz ...

, the area around Nakanojō was part of the ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

''-administered territory within

Kōzuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered by Echigo, Shinano, Musashi and Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Kōzuke was ran ...

. 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 ...

on April 1, 1889, the town of Nakanojō was created within Agatsuma District of Gunma Prefecture. The villages of Isama, Sawada and Nakuta merged into Nakanojō on April 15, 1955. On March 28, 2010, the village of Kuni, also from Agatsuma District, merged into Nakanojō.

Government

Nakanojō 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 15 members. Nakanojō, collectively with the other municipalities in Agatsuma District, contributes two members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Gunma 5th 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

The economy of Nakanojō is heavily dependent on seasonal tourism primarily in connection with its

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

hot spring resorts.

Education

Nakanojō has two public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high schools operated by the Gunma Prefectural Board of Education. The city also has one private middle school and one private high school. Gunma Prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

–

Agatsuma Line Agatsuma may refer to: *, Japanese shamisen player *Agatsuma District, Gunma, a district in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma, Gunma, a town in Gunma Prefecture, Japan *Agatsuma River, a river in Japan *Agatsuma Entertainment, a Japanese toy/video ...

* -

Highway

* * * *

Local attractions

The main draw of tourists to Nakanojō are the ''

'' (natural hot spring) resorts. There are two major hot spring resort areas within the town. The larger and more famous one is

Shima Onsen Shima Onsen is a name of Japanese town and hot springs - onsen, the part of Nakanojō city in the Gunma Prefecture. Description Shima Onsen is one of the oldest and most popular onsens in Japan. There are over 40 separate hot spring sou ...

, located in the mountains to the north of town. The name means "forty thousand", and represents the 40,000 ailments the water is supposed to cure. The other resort is called Sawatari Hot Springs.

Festivals and events

Nakanojō has three main

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

during the year. In winter, there is the Tori-oi Matsuri. This involves pounding on large drum all around town to scare birds (for good crops) or demons (for good luck) away for the new year. In summer, there is the Nakanojō Matsuri in August and the Ise-machi Matsuri in September. The Ise-machi Matsuri features the Yagibushi Folk Dance.

Melody road

When an automobile drives at 40 km/h over a special melody road section of

Japan National Route 353 National Route 353 is a National highways of Japan, national highway of Japan connecting Kiryū, Gunma and Kashiwazaki, Niigata in Japan, with a total length of 187.4 km (116.44 mi). There is a section that is unfinished between Niigata ...

passing through Nakanojō, the vibrations will sound the tune "Always With Me" (Japanese title: いつも何度でも, Itsumo nando demo) from the feature animation

Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distribut ...

.The effect can be observed here:

Notable people from Nakanojō

* Keizo Obuchi, former Prime Minister of Japan * Yūko Obuchi, politician

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakanojo, Gunma Towns in Gunma Prefecture Spa towns in Japan Nakanojō, Gunma