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

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

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 1,645 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 14.35 persons per km². The total area of the town is . A footprint of Japan's first

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s was discovered in former Nakasato village, now part of Kanna.

Geography

Kanna is located in the mountainous southwestern portion of

, bordered by

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

to the south.

Surrounding municipalities

* Fujioka * Nanmoku * Shimonita *

Ueno is a district in Taitō, Tokyo. The area extending from Ueno to Asakusa is part of the historical Shitamachi (literally "low city") district of Tokyo, which is often associated with working-class traditions and culture as well as their dist ...

Chichibu is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 61,159 in 26,380 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chichibu is in the westernmost part of Saitama. Unlik ...

* Ogano

Climate

Kanna has a

Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kanna is 10.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1195 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.7 °C.Kanna climate data
/ref>

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the town's population has dropped precipitously from its 1950 peak, with the remaining population having the second oldest median age in Japan after

Nanmoku, Gunma 250px, Semi Valley ravine is a village located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 1,746 in 971 households, and a population density of 15 persons per km². The total area of the village is . Nanmoku, like ma ...

(61.5% over the age or 65). The town is thus classified as a ''

genkai shūraku is any village or hamlet within a merged town or village in Japan that has experienced depopulation and in danger of disappearing altogether, largely because half of the people living there reach the age of 65 and over. Such villages are typical ...

''.

History

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 of present-day Kanna was part of the ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil war ...

'' territory administered directly by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

Kōzuke Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered Echigo Province, Echigo, Shinano Province, Shinano, Musashi Province, Musashi and Shimotsuke Province, Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abb ...

. Kamikawa village and Nakasato village were established within

Minamikanra District, Gunma file: Gumma Tano-gun 1889.png, Historic Map of Tano District:1. Fujioka, 2. Kanna, 3. Shin, 4. Ono, 5. Yawata, 6. Midori, 7. Hirai, 8. Mikuri, 9. Onishi, 10. Sanbagawa, 11.Yoshii, 12.Tago, 13. Irino, 14. Hino, 21. Mihara, 22. Kamikawa, 23. Nakasa ...

Prefecture on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system 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 ...

. In 1896 Minamikanra District was united with Midono and Tago Districts to create Tano District. Kamikawa village was elevated to town status in 1926 and renamed Manba town. On April 1, 2003, Manba and Nakasato merged, forming the town of Kanna.

Government

Kanna 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 8 members. Kanna, together with the city of Fujioka and village of Ueno contributes two members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Gunma 4th district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Southern Gunma and consists of the city of Fujioka, the Southern part of Takasaki city (without the former municipalities of Gunma, Misato, ...

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 Kanna is heavily dependent on agriculture.

Education

Kanna has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Gunma Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Kanna does not have any passenger railway service.

Highway

* *

Local attractions

* Kanna Dinosaur Center * Roadside Station Manba no Sato * Ryūshōji (A temple famed for its

cherry blossoms The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

) * Sazanamiiwa (The location of the dinosaur footprint)

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Gunma Towns in Gunma Prefecture