150425 Katsumi Nishikawa Film Museum Chizu Tottori pref Japan01n

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 Yazu District,

Tottori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, least populous prefecture of Japan at 538,525 (2023) and has a geographic area of . ...

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 5,906 in 2681 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 26.3 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Located in the southeastern part of Tottori Prefecture, mountains and forests occupy 93% of the town area, and it is designated as a heavy snowfall area.

Neighboring municipalities

Okayama Prefecture * Mimasaka * Nagi *

Nishiawakura 270px, Awakura Onsen is a village located in Aida District, Okayama Prefecture, Japan., the village had an estimated population of 1,361 in 593 households and a population density of 29 persons per km². The total area of the village is . Geogr ...

Tsuyama is a city in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. In February 2023, the city had an estimated population of 97,507 in 45,653 households and a population density of 190 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Tsuyama is located in nort ...

Tottori Prefecture * Tottori * Wakasa * Yazu

Climate

Chizu has a humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Chizu is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . Its record high is , reached on 5 August 2018, and its record low is , reached on 31 January 2011.

Demography

Per Japanese census data,Chizu population statistics
/ref> the population of Chizu has been as follows. The population has been steadily declining since the 1950s

History

Chizu is part of ancient

Inaba Province was a Provinces of Japan, former province in the area that is today the eastern half of Tottori Prefecture in the San'in region of Japan. Inaba was bordered by Hōki Province, Hōki, Mimasaka Province, Mimasaka, Harima Province, Harima and Tajim ...

. The temple of Gokuraku-ji was founded in 646 AD. 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 part of the holdings of

Tottori Domain 270px, Ikeda Yoshinori 270px, Front gate of the Tottori Domain residence in Edo was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Tottori Prefecture on the island of Honshu. It controlled all of Inaba Prov ...

ruled by a branch of the

Ikeda clan was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021) of the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Yasumasa, the fourth generation descending from Yorimitsu, and younger brother of Minamoto no Yorimasa (1104-1180), was the first to ...

from their seat at

Tottori Castle was a Japanese castle located in Tottori, Tottori Prefecture in the San'in Region of western Japan. It has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1957 with the area under protection expanded in 1987. The ...

Yazu District, Tottori is a district located in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 48,540 and a density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbo ...

was established 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 ...

and the village of Chizu was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1,1889. It was elevated to town status on June 1, 1914. Chizu annexed the neighboring villages of Yamagata, Nagi and Haji on February 20, 1935, Tomizawa on February 26, 1936 and Yamago in June 1954.

Government

Chizu 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 ...

town council of 12 members. Chizu, collectively with the other municipalities of Yazu District, contributes two members to the Tottori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Tottori 1st 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

The main industry in the area is logging, woodworking, tourism, and brewing.

Education

Chizu has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

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, ...

Inbi Line The is a railway line operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) between Tottori, Tottori Prefecture and Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Route data *Operating Company: **West Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks) *Distan ...

* - - Wakasa Railway - Wakasa Line * - -

Highways

Tottori Expressway * *

Sister cities

Yanggu County, Gangwon Yanggu County (''Yanggu-gun'') is a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The northern part of Yanggu County was part of the front line for much of the Korean War, and now borders the Demilitarized Zone. Several Korean War battle sites are lo ...

, South Korea, since October 10, 1999

Local attractions

*Ishitani Family Residence - Important Cultural Property *Itaibara Village - Showa era buildings * Mitaki Dam *

Mount Nagi , is a mountain located on the border of Chizu, Tottori Prefecture, and Nagi, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The other reading of this mountain's ''kanji'' is Nagisen. This mountain is an important part of Hyōnosen-Ushiroyama-Nagisan Quasi-Nation ...

* Suwa Shrine

Noted people from Chizu

Katsumi Nishikawa (1 July 1918 – 6 April 2010) was a Japanese film director most famous for his youth films (seishun eiga). Graduating from Nihon University, he started out at the Shochiku studio in 1939 and directed his first film in 1952. He moved to Nikkats ...

, movie director

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Towns in Tottori Prefecture Chizu, Tottori