270px, Panoramic view of Aira 270px, Ryūmonji Falls is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

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 ...

. It is located west of Kirishima and north of

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

. , the city 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 77,948 in 38338 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 340 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Aira extends approximately 25 kilometers from north-to-south and approximately 24 kilometers from east-to-west in central Kagoshima Prefecture. Part of the southeast side faces

Kagoshima Bay also known as Kinkō Bay, is a deep inlet of the East China Sea on the coast of Japan.''Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition'', p. 562. Kagoshima Bay is on the south coast of the island of Kyūshū. The port city of Kagoshi ...

. In the area facing Kagoshima Bay, four rivers flow from the west: the Oshikawa River, the Beppu River, the Amikake River, and the Hikiyama River.The alluvial plains of these rivers come together to form the Aira Plain, which contains the main urban area. Natural beaches remain on the coast leading to Kagoshima City on the west side and the coast near the border with Kirishima City on the east side, but the rest is an artificial coast formed by

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

. The northern part of Aira City is lined with mountains belonging to the Kitasatsu Volcanic Group, and the border with Satsumasendai City on the northwest side almost forms the watershed with the Sendai River basin. A tributary of the Beppu River flows between these mountains, and several villages have developed along it. On the other hand, between Kirishima City and Kirishima City on the northeast side, there is a continuous plateau called Jusanzukahara, and tributaries of the Amikake River and Hikiyama River flow into it from the Kirishima City side. The border with Kagoshima City on the southwest side is the Muregaoka Mountain Range, which has an altitude of around 500 meters, and drops sharply into the plains of Aira City and the coastline. On the north side of the Muregaoka Mountain Range, the Omoi River flows from the Kagoshima City side, and the relatively low-elevation land connects to the center of the former Yoshida Town, which merged with Kagoshima City. A volcano that once existed in the northern part of Kagoshima Bay caused an eruption called the Great Aira Eruption about 25,000 years ago, forming the Aira Caldera. Aira City is located on the northwest side of this caldera, on the

somma Somma may refer to: Places *Somma Lombardo, an Italian municipality in the Province of Varese *Somma Vesuviana, an Italian municipality in the Province of Naples *Sommacampagna, an Italian municipality in the Province of Verona *Massa di Somma, a ...

, and there is a stratum called Shirasu, which originated from

pyroclastic flows A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

that flowed out during a large eruption. Other topographical features within the city that originate from volcanic activity include Yonemaru and Sumiyoshi Pond, both of which are said to be

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

s. Approximately 65% of Aira's area is forested. The central plains are well-developed paddy fields, and the area on the plateau bordering Kirishima City on the northeast is an upland farming area.

Neighboring municipalities

Kagoshima Prefecture * Kagoshima * Kirishima *

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a ...

* Satsumasendai

Climate

Aira 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 climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature is about , and the annual rainfall is about . Most of the rainfall is concentrated from June to September.

Typhoons A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

often strike from summer to autumn. In addition,

Sakurajima Sakurajima (, ) is an active composite volcano, stratovolcano, formerly an island and now a peninsula, in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan. The lava flows of the 1914 eruption connected it with the Ōsumi Peninsula. It is the most active vo ...

is located about 20 km south of the city, and

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

may fall when a northerly wind blows during volcanic activity. As with other cities, towns and villages in the mainland of Kagoshima Prefecture, the forecast of wind direction over Sakurajima, which is reported in the weather forecast, is of great concern.

Demography

According to Japanese census data,Aira population statistics
/ref> this is the population of Aira in recent years.

History

The area of Aira was part of ancient

Ōsumi Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to the eastern half of modern Kagoshima Prefecture, and including the Ōsumi Islands . Ōsumi bordered on Hyūga to the northeast, and Satsuma Province to the nor ...

, and there is evidence of continuous habitation since the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evi ...

period. The area was a stronghold of the

Hayato people The , which is Japanese for "falcon-people", were a people of ancient Japan who lived in the Satsuma province, Satsuma and Ōsumi Province, Ōsumi regions of southern Kyushu during the Nara period. They frequently resisted Imperial House of Japan ...

, many of whom had migrated to this location after being forced out of their territories in central Kyushu, and was one of the sites of the

Hayato Rebellion The (720–721) was a rebellion of the Hayato of southern Kyushu against the imperial dynasty of Japan during the Nara period. After a year and a half of fighting, the Hayato were defeated, and the Imperial court established its rule over south ...

of 720. In the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, the area came under the control of the Okura clan, who claimed descent from

Emperor Ling of Han Emperor Ling of Han (156/157 – 13 May 189), personal name Liu Hong, was the 12th emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was also the last Eastern Han emperor to exercise effective power during his reign. Born the son of a lesser marquis who ...

, whose descendants fled to Japan. The region was contested in the

Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...

, gradually coming under control of the

Shimazu clan The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contr ...

in the 15th century. During the

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

the area was under the control of

Kagoshima Domain The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, ...

. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the villages of Chōsa, Kajiki, Kamō, Mizobe, Shigetomi and Yamada were established in Aira District on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. Kajiki gained town status on June 1, 1912 followed by Kamō on November 1, 1928. Kajiki was bombed twice in World War II, killing 43 people, including 14 students from the former Kajiki Junior High School (currently Kagoshima Prefectural Kajiki High School). The town of

Aira ''Aira'' is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to western and southern Europe, central and southwest Asia, plus Africa. The common name, shared with the similar related genera '' Deschampsia'' and ''Koeleria'', is hair-gras ...

was established on January 1, 1955 by the merger of the town of Chōsa and village of Shigetomi. Aira, Kajiki, and Kamō merged to form the city of Aira on March 23, 2010.

Government

Aira 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 24 members. Aira contributes two members to the Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the

Kagoshima 3rd district , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the kanji used to sp ...

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

Aira has a mixed economy centering on agriculture, fishing, forestry and light manufacturing and food processing.

Education

Aira has 19 public elementary schools and five public junior high schools operated by the city government and four public high schools operated by the Kagoshima Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private elementary school.

Transportation

Railways

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Nippō Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, in southern Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Also known as the Fukuhoku Nippo Line, The line connects Kokura Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, K ...

: - - - - -

Highways

Kyushu Expressway * JP Expressway E78

Higashikyushu Expressway The is one of the expressways of Japan from Kitakyūshū (and the bridge to Honshū) to east of Kagoshima linking with the Kyushu Expressway. It runs north to south, through the prefectures of Fukuoka, Oita, Miyazaki and the Kagoshima prefec ...

Local attractions

* Ryūmon-daki, one of Japan's 100 Waterfalls

Notable people from Aira

Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenure with New Japan-Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and WWE. His career began with the Dramatic Dre ...

- Japanese professional wrestler *

Shoji Jo is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for the Japan national team. Club career He was born on the island of Hokkaido and began his footballing career with JEF United Ichihara in 1994. He quickly est ...

- professional football player * Munenori Kawasaki - professional baseball player

References

External links

Aira City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Kagoshima Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan