270px, Tensho Bridge 270px, Miyazaki Prefectural Road 6 in Hinokage 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 Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki Prefecture,

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 has 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 3260 in 1400 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 12 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Located next to the historically significant town of Takachiho, Hinokage is known primarily for its three large bridges, traditional Kagura dances, and the work of Kazuo Hiroshima, a traditional weaver of bamboo baskets.

Geography

Hinokage is located in northern Miyazaki Prefecture in the Kyushu Mountains. It measuring approximately 9 kilometers from east-to-west and 30 kilometers from north-to-south, with approximately 90% of the area being forest. The Gokase River flows through the center of the town from east-to-west. Many valleys flow into the Gokase River, forming deep V-shaped valleys with sheer cliffs 50 to 100 meters high, on top of which, cultivated land has been opened in a step-like manner, and many large and small hamlets have formed.

Neighbouring municipalities

Miyazaki Prefecture * Misato * Morotsuka * Nobeoka * Takachiho Oita Prefecture * Bungo-Ōno * Saiki

Climate

Hinokage 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 Hinokage is 12.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2169 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hinokage is less than a third of what it was 50 years ago. Like many districts in rural Japan, the area has been struggling with an aging population and an exodus of young people to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and other major cities. The town's population peaked in the 1950s at 16,199 people, (Cort & Nakamura, 1994) but has steadily declined since the closure of the Mitate mine in March, 1970. (記念編纂部会, 1997) Between 2000 and 2005 four area elementary and middle schools were closed, and more closures are planned in the future.

History

The area of Hinokage was part of ancient Hyūga Province. The area has been settled since the Japanese Paleolithic period, and the place name of "Hinokage" is found in the Nihon Shoki and other ancient texts as having been given to this area by the elder brother of Emperor Jimmu. 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 part of the holdings of Nobeoka Domain. The villages of Nanori (七折村), and Iwaikawa (岩井川村), within

Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki is a district located in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. As of October 2020, the district has an estimated population of 18,749 and the density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volum ...

were established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The two villages merged on January 1, 1951 to form the town of Hinokage.

Government

Hinokage 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 eight members. Hinokage, collectively with the towns of Gokase and Takachiho contributes one member to the Miyazaki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Miyazaki 2nd 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 of Hinokage is agriculture and forestry. Tin was once mined at the Mitate Mine in the northern part of town, but it was closed in 1963. Local specialities include bamboo crafts, processed fruit products and dried

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 ...

mushrooms.

Education

Hinokage has three public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railways

Hinokage has no passenger rail service. The nearest train station is on the JR Kyushu Nippō Main Line. The town was formerly served by the 50.0

Takachiho Railway was a Japanese railway company. The company in Miyazaki Prefecture suspended operation of the railway after a typhoon disaster in 2005 and was liquidation, liquidated in 2009. Line The company operated the Takachiho Line connecting Nobeoka Stati ...

, which ran from Nobeoka to Takachiho Station, with six intermediate stations within Hinokage. Services were discontinued on September 6, 2005, after flooding triggered by Typhoon Nabi washed away two bridges on the line, halting all operations. Efforts to obtain funding for rebuilding were unsuccessful, and the company was liquidated in 2009..高千穂鉄道、清算終了
(''Yukan Daily'', March 29, 2008). Retrieved on July 19, 2009.

Highways

Kyushu Chūō Expressway *

References

*Cort, Louise Allison and Kenji Nakamura (1994). ''A Basketmaker in Rural Japan''. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. . *記念誌編纂部会 (1997). ''大空に翔ける: 日之影町立日之影中学校創立50周年記念誌'' 日之影町:創立50周年記念事業実行委員会.

External links

*
Hinokage official website

Towns in Miyazaki Prefecture {{Miyazaki-geo-stub