270px, Tanjō-ji 270px, Rice terraces in Kumenan 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 Kume District,

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

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 4,483 in 2192 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 57 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Kumenan is known as the birthplace of Honen, the founder of the Jodo sect of Buddhism.

Geography

Kumenan is located on the Kibi Plateau, in the east-central part of Okayama Prefecture. There are few flatlands, and most of the town is mountain, forests and plateaus.

Neighboring municipalities

Okayama Prefecture * Akaiwa *

Misaki Misaki (, "misaki") are a collective term for spirit-like existences in Japan like gods, demons and spirits, among other supernatural entities. Their name comes from a kannushi's vanguard. Summary Misaki are subordinate to the high-ranking di ...

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

Climate

Kumenan 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 moderate snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kumenan is 13.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1501 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January, at around 25.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.9 °C.

Demography

Per Japanese census data,Kumenan population statistics
/ref> the population of Kumenan has been as follows. The population has been decreasing since the 1950s.

History

The area of Kumenan was part of ancient

Mimasaka Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is northern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan. Mimasaka bordered Bitchū Province, Bitchū, Bizen Province, Bizen, Harima Province, Harima, Hōki Province, Hō ...

. The village of Yuge was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on June 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on April 1, 1917. Yuge annexed ten neighboring village of Takigawa on April 1, 1940. On April 1, 1954, Yuge merged with the villages of Kōme, Tatsuyama, and Tanjōji to form the town of Kumenan.

Government

Yuge 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. Kumenan, collectively with the town of Misaki, contributes one member to the Okayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Okayama 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 ...

Economy

The main industry in the area is agriculture. The main crops are rice, fruit trees such as pears and grapes, leaf tobacco, and poultry farming.

Education

Kumenan has three public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school. Okayama Prefecture operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

(JR West) -

Tsuyama Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting and in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Stations All-stations and limited-stop services called operate over the line. In the "Rapid" column in the table below, "O ...

* - -

Highways

Local attractions

* Tanjō-ji, Buddhist temple

Noted people from Kumenan

* Sen Katayama, early Japanese Marxist political activist and journalist, co-founder of the

Japanese Communist Party The is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired ...

References

External links

*
Town of Kumenan
* Towns in Okayama Prefecture Kumenan, Okayama {{Okayama-geo-stub