is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

located in Kamo District,

Gifu is a 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. During the Sengoku ...

, Japan. , the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

of 3,801 in and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

of 94 persons per km², in 1437 households. The total area of the town was .

Geography

Hichisō is located in the Nōbi Plain of southern Gifu Prefecture, approximately 50 kilometers north of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most p ...

metropolis. The

Hida River The has its source in Mount Norikura (乗鞍岳 ''Norikura-ga-take'') in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It flows from the northern to the southern section of the prefecture before emptying into the Kiso River in Minokamo. River communiti ...

flow through the town. The town has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and mild winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Hichisō is 14.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2153 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.4 °C.

Neighbouring municipalities

*Gifu Prefecture ** Seki **

Minokamo is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 56,972 and a population density of 74.81 persons per km2, in 22,508 households. The total area of the city was . Geography Minokamo is located in south-central Gifu Pref ...

** Gero ** Kawabe ** Yaotsu ** Shirakawa

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Hichisō population statistics
/ref> the population of Hichisō has declined at an accelerating rate over the past 50 years.

History

The area around Hichisō 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, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbrevia ...

. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, it was part of the territory controlled by

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rate ...

. 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

cadastral reforms, the villages of Kabuchi and Kamiaso were created within

Mugi District, Gifu was a district located in Gifu, Japan. The district was dissolved after it was merged into the nearby city of Seki on February 7, 2005. As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 17,069 and a population density of 46.09 persons per k ...

with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on July 1, 1889. Kamiaso was transferred to Kamo District in 1952, followed by Kabuki in 1955. The two villages merged on February 11, 1955 to form the village of Hichisō. Hichisō was elevated to town status on April 1, 1971. Plans to merge with the neighbouring city of Minokamo were rejected by a referendum in December 2004.

Economy

The mainstay of the local economy is agriculture.

Education

Hichisō has two public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school..

Transportation

Railroad