was 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

Shimajiri District is a district located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Etymology Modern translation of Shimajiri means "Butt of the island" which may refer to its southerly position on the island of Okinawa. Compare this to Kunigami District, Okinawa. Howev ...

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

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 ...

. As of 2003, 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 17,226 and the

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 1,164.71 persons per km². The total area is 14.79 km². On January 1, 2006, Kochinda, along with the village of Gushikami (also from

), was merged to create the town of

Yaese is a town located in Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Yaese was formed on January 1, 2006 by a merger between the town of Kochinda and the village of Gushikami. As of April 30, 2024, Yaese has a population of 32,976, with a pop ...

. The Kochinda area is currently a place of change. Apartments are quickly replacing old businesses and old homes alike. This expansion is to lure people to the area from

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

and Haebaru with cheaper rent and quieter living. It is a small town with excellent schools, a city office, a grocery store, a few gas stations and a hardware store. The local area consists of farm fields, usually filled with sugar cane. It is quiet and clean.

References

Dissolved municipalities of Okinawa Prefecture {{Okinawa-geo-stub