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 Higashisonogi District,

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

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 7,383 in 3203 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 99 people per km². The total area is .

Geography

Higashisonogi-cho is located in the center of Nagasaki Prefecture, facing the east side of Ōmura Bay. The entire town is a volcanic hilly area, and the hills extend all the way to the western coast facing Ōmura Bay. To the north are steep mountains such as Mount Kokuzo (608 meters) and Mount Takami-dake (538 meters), and to the south are steep mountains such as Mount Kunimidake (816 meters), Mount Toume (849 meters), Mount Gundake (826 meters)

Surrounding municipalities

Nagasaki Prefecture * Kawatana * Ōmura

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

* Ureshino

Climate

Higashisonogi 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 Higashisonogi is 15.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1970 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Higashisonogi is as shown below:

History

Higashisonogi is part of ancient

Hizen Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...

. The Hisagozuka Kofun, dating from the 5th century, is located in the town. 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

Ōmura Domain was a Japanese Han (Japan), domain of the Edo period. It was centered around Kushima Castle in what is now the city of Ōmura, Nagasaki and was ruled by the ''tozama daimyō'' Ōmura clan for all of its history. History The lineage of the � ...

. This was the crossing point for the 26 ''

Kirishitan The Japanese term , from Portuguese ''cristão'' (cf. Kristang), meaning "Christian", referred to Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

'' martyrs as they boarded boats at this location and continued across the bay to Nagasaki where they were crucified as an example to all who practiced the Christian faith. 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 Sonogi and Chiwata were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Sonogi was raised to town status on November 3, 1940. Sonogi Town and Chiwata Village merged on May 1, 1959 to from the town of Higashisonogi.

Government

Higashisonogi 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 11 members. Higashisonogi contributes one member to the Nagasaki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Nagasaki 3rd 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

Traditionally, Higashisonogi was a whaling town and

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

remains a major component of the local economy. Agriculture is centered on rice and most famously, Japanese green tea production. Other industries in the town includes lumber, charcoal production, and liverstock.

Education

Higashisonogi has two public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government, and one private elementary school and one private junior high school. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railways

(JR Kyushu) -

Ōmura Line is a railway line in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Haiki Station in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Sasebo to Isahaya Station in Isahaya, Nagasaki, Isahaya. From 1898 the line was part of the Nagas ...

* -

Highways

Nagasaki Expressway (Higashi Sonogi IC and Omura Bay PA) * *

References

External links

*
Higashisonogi official website
Towns in Nagasaki Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan {{Nagasaki-geo-stub