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

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

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 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 48,777, 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 96.7 persons per km², in 19,820 households. The total area of the city was .

Geography

Ena is located in the

Tōnō is the southeastern portion of Gifu Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan. The Tōnō region received its name as a combination of the ''kanji'' for "east" (東) and "Mino" (美濃). The borders of this region are not officially set, but it ge ...

region of southeastern Gifu Prefecture. *Mountains: Mount Kasagi, Mount Hoko,

Mount Yūdachi Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

, Mount Byōbu, Mount Yake, Mount Mitsumori *Rivers: Kiso River,

Agi River The is a river in Japan which flows through Gifu Prefecture. It is part of the Kiso River system. Geography The river originates from Mount Yaki on the border of Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Nakatsugawa and Ena, Gifu, Ena and flows west. It flows through ...

, Kamiyahagi River, Kamimura River, Akechi River,

Toki River Toki may refer to: People * The Toki clan, a Japanese samurai clan * Luke Toki (born 1986), Australian television personality *, Japanese decathlete *, Japanese sumo wrestler * Palnatoki, a legendary Danish hero and chieftain * Toki (also spell ...

, Ori River *Lakes: Ena Gorge, Lake Hokonoko, Lake Agigawa, Lake Okuyahagi, Lake Origawa

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and mild winters (

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 in Ena is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Neighbouring municipalities

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

*Gifu Prefecture ** Mizunami ** Nakatsugawa ** Shirakawa ** Yaotsu *

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

** Hiraya ** Neba

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ena has declined over the past 40 years.

History

The area around Ena was part of traditional

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

, and the name of "Ena" appears in

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

records, including the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

.'' 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 ...

, it was mostly controlled by Iwamura Domain, and

Ōi-juku was the forty-sixth of the 69 Stations of the Nakasendō, sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It is located in former Mino Province in what is now part of the city of Ena, Gifu, Ena, Gifu Prefec ...

developed as a

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

on the

Nakasendō The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected the ''de facto'' ...

highway connecting

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. During the post-

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 ...

cadastral reforms, the area was organised into Ena District, Gifu. The city was founded on April 1, 1954, by the merger of two towns (Oi and Osashima) and six villages (Tōnō, Sango, Takenami, Kasagi, Nakano, and Iiji), all from Ena District. On October 25, 2004, Ena absorbed the towns of Akechi, Iwamura, Kamiyahagi and Yamaoka, and the village of Kushihara (all from Ena District) to create the expanded city of Ena.

Government

Ena 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 legislature of 18 members.

Subdivisions

*Akechi-chō (明智町) *Higashino (東野) *Iiji-chō (飯地町) *Iwamura-chō (岩村町) *Kamiyahagi-chō (上矢作町) *Kasagi-chō (笠置町) *Kushihara (串原) *Misato-chō (三郷町) *Nakanohō-chō (中野方町) *Ōi-chō (大井町) *Osashima-chō (長島町) *Takenami-chō (武並町) *Yamaoka-chō (山岡町)

Economy

Ena was noted for its pulp and paper industry for many years. Production of precision instruments dominates the manufacturing sector.

Education

Ena has 14 public elementary schools and eight public middle schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school. Chubu University maintains a subsidiary campus in Ena.

Transportation

Railway

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...

Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...

** – *

Akechi Railway - (Akechi Line): ** – – < '' – '' > – – – – – – - )

Highway

Chūō Expressway: Ena Interchange - Enakyō Service Area * * * *

Culture

There is a culture of using local hornet larva as food. The dish hebo meshi is made from the hornets. In November of each year, a festival for the hornets is held in Kushihara.

Local attractions

* Agigawa Dam * Ena Gorge * Hiroshige Museum of Art, Ena * Iwamura Castle Ruins ** Hondōri Iwamura-chō * Mongol Village *

* Nihon Taishō Mura * Sasayuri no Yu * Yahagi Dam

Notable people from Ena

* Kiyohiro Araki (member of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

) * Kazuo Nagano (noted fraudster chairman of ) * Utako Shimoda (founder of Jissen Women's Educational Institute)

References

External links

* *
Official booking website(Hotels And Activities)
{{Authority control Cities in Gifu Prefecture