250px, Kusunoki Masashige's birthplace 250px, Rice Terraces near Shimo-Akasaka Castle is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located in Minamikawachi District,

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 ...

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 village 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 4,970 in 2267 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 130 persons per km². The total area of the village is .

Geography

Chihayaakasaka is located in the far southeast corner of Osaka Prefecture, bordered by the Yoshino region of Nara to the east. Most of the village area is mountainous and forested, and is within the borders of the

Kongō-Ikoma-Kisen Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park in Nara, Ōsaka, and Wakayama Prefectures, Japan. It was established in 1958. Places of interest Places of interest include: * Mount Ikoma * Mount Kongō * * * Hōzan-ji * Taima-dera * * the burial place of ...

Climate

Chihayaakasaka 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 Chihayaakasaka is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1636 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.4 °C.

Neighboring municipalities

Nara Prefecture * Gojō *

Gose Gose () is a warm fermented beer that is usually brewed with at least 50% of the grain bill being malted wheat (with the rest being malted barley such as Pilsner malt), fruit syrups - such as lemon and coriander - and salt - either added or a ...

Osaka Prefecture * Kanan *

Kawachinagano is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 101,649 in 47493 households and a population density of 930 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kawachinagano is located in the southe ...

* Tondabayashi

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Chihayaakasaka peaked in the 1990s and has been declining since.

History

The area of the modern village of Chihayaakasaka was within ancient

Kawachi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in th ...

, and became famous in the late

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

and

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 ...

s as the home territory of the imperial loyalist,

Kusunoki Masashige , or , was a Japanese military commander and samurai of the Kamakura period remembered as the ideal loyal samurai. Kusunoki fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in the Genkō War to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and restore power in Japan to the ...

. Various fortifications from that period, notably

Shimo-Akasaka Castle is a late Kamakura period Japanese castle located in the village of Chihayaakasaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1934. It is also referred to as simply . History Shimo-Akasaka Castl ...

Kami-Akasaka Castle is a late Kamakura period Japanese castle located in the village of Chihayaakasaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan."Osaka Info �"The ruins of Kamiakasaka castle"/ref> Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1934. It is also ...

and Chihaya Castle on the slopes of Mount Kongo were the sites of important battles in the 14th century. The villages of Chihaya and Akasaka were established within Ishikawa District with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1896 the area became part of

Minamikawachi District, Osaka is a district located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. In 2009 the district had an estimated population of 37,695 and a density of 491 persons per km2. The total area is 76.81 km2. Towns and villages * Kanan * Taishi * Chihayaakasaka Mergers ...

. The two villages merged on September 30, 1956 to form the village of Chihayaakasaka. In 1893, Akasaka, Kumatarō Kido and Yagorō Tani murdered 10 people, and left one infant alive. They then killed themselves after the murders. On March 1, 2008 Chihayaakasaka requested a merge into the adjacent city of

, after talks of merging with the surrounding towns of Kanan and Taishi fell through.

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

, Osaka edition, April 30th 2007, p. 1, 大阪唯一の村消える？ ''Ōsaka yuiitsu no mura kieru?'' These plans were also rejected due to strong public opposition on August 14, 2009.

Government

Chihayaakasaka 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 ...

village council of seven members. Chihayaakasaka collectively with the cities of Tondabayashi and Ōsakasayama, and other municipalities of Minamikawachi District contributes two members to the

Osaka Prefectural Assembly The is the legislature of Osaka Prefecture. As in all prefectures, it is elected to four-year terms by single non-transferable vote in multi- and single-member districts and is responsible for enacting and amending prefectural by-laws, approving ...

. In terms of national politics, the village is part of Osaka 15th 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

Chihayaakasaka was traditionally dependent on agriculture (notably ''

shiitake The shiitake (; ''Chinese/black mushroom'' or ''Lentinula edodes'') is a macrofungus native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed around the globe. Taxonomy The fungus was first described scientifically as '' Agaricus edodes'' by ...

'') and forestry. The area suffers from an aging population and rural depopulation.

Education

Chihayaakasaka has two public elementary schools and one public middle schools operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

Chihayaakasaka does not have any passenger rail service. The nearest station is Kawachinagano Station or Tondabayashi Station.

Highway

Local attractions

* Chihaya Castle ruins, a National Historic Site *

ruins, a National Historic Site *

Kongō Range The is a mountain range on the borders of Nara Prefecture, Nara and Osaka Prefectures on the island of Honshū in the southwest of central Japan. The range separates the Osaka Plain and the Nara Basin, and forms a natural place for the boundary ...

, a mountain range on Chihayaakasaka's eastern border *

Mount Kongō is a mountain in the Kongō Range in the Kawachi region of Osaka Prefecture, Kansai, Japan. It is near Mount Yamato Katsuragi. The mountain has lent its name to a series of naval ships and ship classes: the Imperial Japanese Navy's 1877 ...

, the highest mountain in Osaka Prefecture *

ruins, a National Historic Site

References

External links

*
Chihaya Akasaka official website

Villages in Osaka Prefecture {{Osaka-geo-stub