270px, Oji Town Hall 270px, Daruma-ji is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Kitakatsuragi District,

Nara Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 23,706 in 10789 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 3400 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Ōji is located in northwestern Nara Prefecture. It is at the lowest point of the Yamato River system in Nara Prefecture, where the Yamato River crosses the prefectural border and heads toward Osaka, and therefore has the lowest elevation in the prefecture. The town center has suffered severe damage from flooding in the past. With the Katsuragi Mountains to the west, the habitable area is not large.

Surrounding municipalities

* Kashiba * Kawai * Kanmaki * Sangō * Ikoma * Ikaruga

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

* Kashiwara

Climate

Ōji has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ōji is 14.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1636 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.6 °C.Ōji climate: Average Temperature, weather by month
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Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōji is as shown below

History

The area of Ōji was part of ancient Yamato Province. The name of the town comes from the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

temple of Hōkō-ji (Kataoka-oji Temple), which was built by Prince Shōtoku. Currently, Hōkō-ji is located at the southern foot of Mount Kataoka, was originally located near Oji Elementary School, where

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s were conducted in conjunction with the widening of Japan National Route 168. The town of Ōji was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on February 11, 1926.

Government

Ōji has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 12 members. Ōji, collectively with the other municipalities in Kitakatsuragi district contributes three members to the Nara Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Nara 2nd district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Ōji is a regional commercial center and is largely a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for the greater Osaka metropolis.

Education

Ōji has two public combined elementary/junior high schools operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Nara Prefectural Board of Education. The private junior college Hakuho College, is located in Ōji.

Transportation

Railways

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

- Yamatoji Line :

- Wakayama Line : - 20px Kintetsu Railway - Ikoma Line : 16px - 20px Kintetsu Railway - Tawaramoto Line : 16px

Highways

* *

Local attractions

* Daruma-ji

References

External links

*
Town of Ōji
Towns in Nara Prefecture Ōji, Nara {{Nara-geo-stub