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

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

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 18,335 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 2800 persons per km². The total area of the town is . It is the smallest municipality in Kanagawa Prefecture in terms of area.

Geography

Kaisei is located on the eastern bank of the Sakawa River, in western Kanagawa Prefecture.

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture *

Matsuda Matsuda (written: lit. "pine ricefield") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese badminton athlete * Aoko Matsuda (松田青子, born 1979), Japanese writer and translator * Eiji Matsuda (1894–1978), Mexican ...

* Minamiashigara *

Odawara is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in ...

* Ōi * Yamakita

Climate

Kaisei 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 Kaisei is 13.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2221 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kaisei has grown steadily since the 1970s.

History

The area of modern Kaisei was part of

Odawara Domain file:Odawara 2006-02-21 c.jpg, 250px, Odawara Castle, Headquarters of the Odawara Domain was a Japanese Han (Japan), domain of the Edo period, located primarily in western Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture). It was centered on Odawa ...

Sagami Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu Province, Izu ...

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 ...

. 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 area became part of Ashigarakami District in Kanagawa Prefecture and was divided into several villages with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The town of Kaisei was founded on February 2, 1955 through the merger of Sakata village and Yoshidajima village. It was connected by train on March 14, 1985.

Government

Kaisei 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. Kaisei, together with the other municipalities in Ashigarakami District and Minamiashigara city, collectively contributes one member to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kanagawa 17th 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 economy of Kaisei is based primarily on agriculture and forestry. The main industry is a factory owned by

Fujifilm , trading as , or simply Fuji, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the areas of photography, optics, Office supplies, office and Biomedical engine ...

Education

Kaisei has two public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railroad

Odakyū Odawara Line The is the main line of Japanese private railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway. It extends from Shinjuku Station, Shinjuku in central Tokyo through the southwest suburbs to the city of Odawara, Kanagawa, Odawara, the gateway to Hakone in Ka ...

Highway

* Kanagawa Prefectural Routes 78, 712, 720

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Kanagawa Prefecture Kaisei, Kanagawa