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 Kamiukena 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 6,667 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 about 11.4 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Kumakōgen is located in south-central Ehime Prefecture, on the north side 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

{ ...

, along upper reaches of the

Niyodo River The is a river that flows through Ehime and Kōchi Prefectures in Shikoku, Japan. Etymology There are various theories as to how the name Niyodo came to be. *A theory posits that when Prince Takaoka, the son of Emperor Heizei, came to To ...

. It consists of many hamlets are scattered along river valleys mostly covered with forests.

Mount Ishizuchi is a mountain on the border of Saijō, Ehime, Saijō and Kumakōgen, Ehime, Kumakōgen, in Ehime Prefecture, Ehime, Japan. This mountain is one of the List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan, 100 famous mountains in Japan. It is the highest ...

, the tallest mountain in

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 ...

at 1982 meters is located on the border between Seiyo to the northeast. The climate is cool and wet in the summer and winters cold with snow.

Neighbouring municipalities

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

* Saijō * Seiyo * Tobe * Tōon * Uchiko

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 ...

* Ino *

Niyodogawa 270px, Nakatsu Gorge 270px, Tea plantations in Niyodogawa is a town located in Agawa District, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 4‚861 in 2,788 households and a population density of 15 persons per km2. The ...

* Tsuno * Yusuhara

Climate

Kumakōgen 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 Kumakōgen is 13.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2014 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 1.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kumakōgen has decreased drastically since the 1950s and is now less than a third of what it was a century ago.

History

The area of Kumakōgen 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 divided between the holdings of

Matsuyama Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Matsuyama Castle, and was ruled throughout most of its history by the '' shinpan ...

Ōzu Domain 270px, Katō Yasuaki, final daimyō of Ōzu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Ōzu Castle, and was ruled thr ...

. The village of Kumachō was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on December 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on August 20, 1901 and renamed Kuma. On August 1, 2004 Kuma merged with the villages of Mikawa, Omogo and Yanadani, all from Kamiukena District to form the town of Kumakōgen.

Government

Kumakōgen 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 13 members. Kumakōgen is lumped together with the city of Matsuyama, with the combined area contributing 16 members to the Ehime Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town 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

The key industry of Kumakōgen is agriculture and forestry. The town was known for its high-quality wood such as

Cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan, ...

and hinoki cypress grown in harsh natural conditions, and highland vegetables such as tomatoes, green peppers, and rice that take advantage of the cool summer weather. However, due to the influx of foreign lumber and the slump in lumber prices, the forestry industry has been in decline.

Education

Kumakōgen has nine public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Kumakōgen has no passenger railway services. The nearest station to the town is Iyo-Tachibana Station on the

Iyotetsu The , commonly known as Iyotetsu, is the main transport provider in Matsuyama, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan. The company operates railway, tram, and bus lines, and also has many subsidiaries, which include a bank, department stores, travel agencies, a ...

Yokogawara Line The is a 13.2 km railway line owned by Iyotetsu. The line connects Matsuyama with Tōon, Ehime, Tōon in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The line runs eastwards from Matsuyama City Station, terminating at Yokogawara Station. History The line opened t ...

Highways

* * * *

Local attractions

* Iwaya-ji, temple 45 in the Shikoku Pilgrimage * Goraikō Falls, one of the "One Hundred Waterfalls of Japan" * Kamikuroiwaiwakage Site, Jomon period remains, National Historic Site * Taihō-ji, temple 44 in 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, ...

File:Sugozan Daihoji 09.JPG, Taihō-ji File:Goraiko Falls in 2004.jpg, Gōraiko Falls

Noted people from Kumakōgen

Hiroshi Fujioka , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for playing the hero Takeshi Hongo in the tokusatsu superhero series ''Kamen Rider'', and later the Sega Saturn mascot Segata Sanshiro (jokingly revealed to be Takeshi Hongo hi ...

, actor, martial artist

References

External links

* Towns in Ehime Prefecture Kumakōgen, Ehime {{Ehime-geo-stub