270px, Kamiyama Town Hall 270px, Amagoi Falls 270px, Spring in Kamiyama 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 ...

in Myōzai District,

Tokushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 Square kilometre, km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture b ...

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 4,930 in 2404 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 28 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Kamiyama is located in the upper reaches of the Akui River, which runs parallel to the south side of the

Yoshino River The Yoshino River (吉野川 ''Yoshino-gawa'') is a river on the island of Shikoku, Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . It is the second longest river in Shikoku (slightly shorter than the Shimanto), and is the only river whose watershe ...

in central Tokushima Prefecture on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

. Located in the eastern part of the

Shikoku Mountains The Shikoku Mountains () are a mountain range that runs from east to west in the central part of the Shikoku in Japan. The length of the mountain range is about . The highest peak in the mountain range is Mount Ishizuchi. References

{ ...

, about 83% of the total area is mountainous, with agricultural land and settlements scattered in the Akui River basin that crosses the center of the town from east to west. Parts of the town are within the borders of the

Chūbu Sankei Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park in central Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Established in 2006, the park spans the borders of the municipalities of Kaiyō, Kamikatsu, Kamiyama, and Naka. Within the park is the temple of , temple 12 on the Shikok ...

or the

Higashi Sankei Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Established in 2005, the park spans the borders of the municipalities of Kamiyama, Katsuura, Naka, Sanagōchi, and Tokushima. The park encompasses and the as well as the temples ...

Neighbouring municipalities

Tokushima Prefecture * Ishii *

Kamikatsu file:棚田 - Tanada - Tokushima Kamikatsu, may 2011 (5767092654).jpg, 270px, Rice Terraces in Kamikatsu file:Kanjogataki.jpg, 270px, Kanjo Waterfall at Jigen-ji temple is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Katsuura District, Tokushima, ...

* Mima * Naka * Sanagōchi *

Tokushima is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 Square kilometre, km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture b ...

* Yoshinogawa

Climate

Kamiyama 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 snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kamiyama is 14.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2137 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kamiyama has been rapidly declining over the past 70 years.

History

As with all of Tokushima Prefecture, the area of Kamiyama was part of ancient Awa Province. The area has been settled since ancient times and is mentioned in 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 ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Tokushima Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Awa Province and Awaji Province in what is now Tokushima Prefecture and Awaji Island of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Tokushima ...

ruled by the

Hachisuka clan The are descendants of Emperor Seiwa (850-880) of Japan and are a branch of the Ashikaga clan through the Shiba clan (Seiwa Genji) of the Minamoto clan. History Ashikaga Ieuji (13th century), son of Ashikaga Yasuuji, was the first to adopt the ...

from their seat at

Tokushima Castle was an Edo period Japanese castle located in the city of Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1957. Its Omotegoten Gardens are designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty. Hi ...

. The villages of Ano (阿野村), Jinryō (神領村), Orono (鬼籠野村), Shimobun-Kamiyama (下分上山村), and Kamibun-Kamiyama (上分上山村) were established within

Myōzai District, Tokushima is a district located in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the district has an estimated population of 29,786 and a population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889. These five villages merged to form the town of Kamiyama on November 20, 1965.

Government

Kamiyama 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. Kamiyama, together with the other municipalities of Myōzai District, contributes two members to the

Tokushima Prefectural Assembly is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, ...

. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Tokushima 1st district Tokushima 1st district (徳島県第1区) is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan, located in Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. The district was created in the electoral reform of 1994. Previously, all ...

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 Kamiyama is agricultural, and the town is the largest producer of

sudachi Sudachi (''Citrus sudachi''; Japanese: スダチ or 酢橘) is a small, round, green citrus fruit of Japanese origin that is a specialty of Tokushima Prefecture in Japan. Harvested before it fully ripens to yellow, it is tart and not eaten as ...

in Japan, accounting for 24% of the production in Tokushima Prefecture. Kamiyama is notable for its successes in minimizing its population decline through

digital transformation Digital transformation (DT) is the process of adoption and implementation of digital technology by an organization in order to create new or modify existing products, services and operations by the means of translating business processes into a d ...

efforts and promotion as a rural

startup ecosystem A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend ...

Education

Kamiyama has two public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Tokushima Prefectural Department of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Kamiyama does not have any passenger rail service. The closest station is the

JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four Prefectures of Japan, prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Jap ...

Tokushima Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Tokushima in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). Lines Tokushima Station is the terminus of both the Kōtoku Line (station number "T0 ...

, which is approximately 50 minutes away by car.

Highways

* * *

Local attractions

* Amagoi Waterfalls, one of "

Japan’s Top 100 Waterfalls is a list of waterfalls in Japan compiled by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment (Japan), Ministry of the Environment in 1990. Background According to the Japanese government, there are 517 named waterfalls in Japan. Many of these waterfa ...

", *

* Kamiichinomiya Ōawa Jinja, one of the shrines claiming to be the ''

ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...

'' of Awa Province. * Okubo Chichi-Icho Ginkgo tree * Shōsan-ji, 12th temple on the

Shikoku Pilgrimage The or is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (''Kōbō Daishi'') on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long history, ...

Notes

External links

* (in Japanese) * (in English) Towns in Tokushima Prefecture Kamiyama, Tokushima {{Tokushima-geo-stub