Kihoku, Ehime
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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 Kitauwa District,
Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...
,
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 9,614 in 4891 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 40 persons per km². The total area of the town is .The name of the town is derived from the town's location to the north, 北, of Mt. Onigajō "鬼が城."


Geography

Kihoku is located in the Onigajō mountain range in southwestern Ehime 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 ...
. The town is composed of several villages merged into one town area. As such, it is spread out over a broad series of small valleys in the town proper. The largest town area, Hiromi, is located in a larger valley in the southwest section of the town. Other areas include Aiji in the north, Mishima centrally, and Hiyoshi in the east.


Climate

Kihoku 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 Kihoku is 14.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2010 mm with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.5 °C. Because of the higher elevation and surrounding mountains, Kihoku is generally cooler than Uwajima and Matsuyama, though at times it can be warmer. The area of Hiyoshi is higher in the mountains than Hiromi, and thus cooler. Snow falls occasionally in the winter, but rarely lasts in the town for more than a few days. Summers are hot and humid, with the rainy season lasting from mid-June to mid-July.


Nearby cities and towns

Ehime Prefecture * Matsuno to the south * Seiyo to the north * Uwajima to the east Kōchi Prefecture * Shimanto town to the south * Yusuhara to the west


Mountains

*Mt. Izumigamori 755 m *Mt. Gozaisho 908 m *Mt. Kakkōdake 1,010 m *Mt. Takatsuki 1,228 m *Mt. Tokigozen 946 m


Rivers

There are numerous rivers running through the area, the largest of which is the Hiromi River, which is a tributary of the Shimanto River, in
Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...
.


Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kihoku has decreased steadily since the 1950s.


History

The area of Kihoku was part of ancient
Iyo Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa to the east ...
. 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
Uwajima Domain file:Date Munenari coloured.jpg, 270px, Date Munenari file:Uwajima Date Museum 1.jpg, 270px, Uwajima Date Museum was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the is ...
ruled by the
Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date fam ...
from their seat at
Uwajima Castle 270px, Aerial view of Uwajima Castle is a ''hirayama-jiro'' Japanese castle located in the city of Uwajima, Ehime, Japan. An alternate name for this castle is Tsurushima-jō. The castle is one of twelve Japanese castles to still have its histor ...
. The villages of Yoshida and Asahi (旭村) were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889. Asahi was raised to town status on November 10, 1941 and was renamed Chikanaga (近永町). Chikanaga merged with the neighboring villages of Yoshifuji, Aiji, Izumi and Mishima to form the town of Hiromi (広見町) on March 31, 1955. On January 1, 2005 Hiromi and the village of Hiyoshi (日吉村) merged to form the town of Kihoku.


Government

Kihoku 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. Kihoku, together with Uwajima and Matsuno, contributes four members to the Ehime Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, Kihoku is part of Ehime 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 ...
. Prior to 2022, the town was part of Ehime 4th district.


Economy

Forestry and agriculture are the main industries in Kihoku; however, forestry is in decline. Agriculture is dominated by rice cultivation. Additional products include
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, chestnuts,
yuzu Yuzu (''Citrus'' × ''junos'', from Japanese language, Japanese or ; ) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of China, Chinese origin. Yuzu has been cultivated mainly in East Asia, though it has also recently been grown in New Z ...
,
chickens The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
, bancha tea,
wasabi Wasabi (Japanese language, Japanese: , , or , ) or Japanese horseradish (''Eutrema japonicum'' syn. ''Wasabia japonica'') is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and Mustard plant, mustard in other genus, genera. ...
, melons,
strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...
, Japanese yams,
cucumbers The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.turmeric Turmeric (), or ''Curcuma longa'' (), is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between and high ...
, milk,
miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...
,
trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
, fish products, crabs, wood products and
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...
. Kihoku residents are especially proud of their pheasant meat, which is a town delicacy. In addition to pheasant meat, pheasant sake is also produced. One of the main highlights of the Dechikonka festival is the massive pheasant '' nabemono'', or pheasant stew, which is made for the festival and given away.


Education

Kihoku has six public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government. The town has two public high schools operated by the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education.


Transportation


Railways

Shikoku Railway Company - Yodo Line * - -


Highways

* * * *


Local attractions

*Jōmon Ruins — The remains of a 3,000-year-old
Jōmon Period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...
community are located near the eastern section of the Hiromi River. The ruins are composed of a small formation of stones, which are protected by an enclosure and have been designated as a historical site. *Former Grounds of Tomyoji Temple — The site of the former grounds of Tomyoji Temple. The temple was first established in 1330 by a monk of the
Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...
school of
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
as a training ground for monks and priests. It burned down during
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
's conquest of the area in 1588. Tomyoji Temple was later rebuilt at the foot of the mountain, where it stands today. Stonework and landscaping from the original temple still remain. There is a museum on the former grounds, which discusses the history of the temple and presents artifacts discovered during excavation of the area. *Morinosankakuboushi — A roadside station in Hiromi with a large statue of an
oni An ( ) is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They are believed to live in caves or deep in the mountains or in hell. Oni are known for their superhuman strength and have been associated with powers like th ...
, named "Onioumaru (鬼王丸)". The shops sell seasonal produce as well as local specialities and products such as
miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...
paste,
pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...
, and
boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
curry. Hosts
farmer's market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...
s and other local events. There is also a restaurant that serves pheasant and other dishes. *Narukawa Valley — A valley in the southwestern part of the town popular for its beautiful nature. The area offers a multitude of activities, including camping, fishing and hiking. In summer there is a sōmen noodle shop. There is also a hotel that serves pheasant dishes, and an
onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...
. *Yasumoridō Sōmennagashi —"Yasumori River Sōmen Restaurant" operates from the middle of July to the end of August each summer. The primary attraction here is the nagashi sōmen restaurant, where clumps of sōmen are sent flowing down a metal trough for customers to pluck out with their chopsticks. The noodles are then dipped in a sauce seasoned with
yuzu Yuzu (''Citrus'' × ''junos'', from Japanese language, Japanese or ; ) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of China, Chinese origin. Yuzu has been cultivated mainly in East Asia, though it has also recently been grown in New Z ...
, green onions, sesame, and other ingredients. Also at the restaurant are the Yasumorishōnyu Cave, a small cave which is very cool even during the hottest time of the year, and a small pond stocked with numerous trout for fishing. *Yumesanchi — A roadside station in Hiyoshi with a large statue of a demon, named "Yukihime (柚鬼媛)", who is Onioumaru's mother. Sells locally grown rice, vegetables, local souvenirs, and food products. Hosts farmer's markets and other local events. There is also a restaurant and bakery. *Buzaemon Museum — A museum covering the history of Buzaemon, who led a successful peasant uprising in 1793.


Events

*Buzaemon Furusato Festival — The largest festival held in Hiyoshi. Takes place in mid-August to commemorate a local revolt in 1793 and its leader, Buzaemon. A costumed procession travels through the town to reenact the revolt, and the festival involves bon odori dancing, taiko drumming, and fireworks. *Dechikonka — The town's main annual festival. In the town's old dialect it means "Won't you come out?" The festival usually takes place on the second weekend of October, starting off with taiko performances Saturday evening. On Sunday there are various dance and musical performances on a bandstand by local groups, as well as a performance by a nationally-known singer or entertainer. As in most Japanese festivals there are also numerous vendors and stalls selling a variety of food and other products. Pheasant hotpot (kijinabe) is made in bulk and handed out for free. *Kawanobori Ekiden — "River-climbing Relay," an annual event at the beginning of August where teams of runners race up the Hiromi River. Although running in the shallows is permitted, runners must land in the water with every step, making the race very slippery and difficult. There is also a "tetsujin," "iron-man," race for individual participants.


Notable people from Kihoku

* Tadashi Hyōdō, one of the first female pilots in Japan, and the first Japanese woman to attain a pilot's license.


References


External links

*
Kihoku official website
{{Authority control Towns in Ehime Prefecture Kihoku, Ehime