is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located in

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata 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 village 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 2,924 in 1,091 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 22 persons per km². The total area of the village is .

Geography

Minamimaki is located in the

Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group , also known as just Yatsugatake is a volcanic group of inactive volcanoes located on the border of Nagano Prefecture and Yamanashi Prefecture on Honshū in Japan. Description The Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group is part of the Yatsugatake Mo ...

of the mountainous eastern Nagano Prefecture at an average altitude of between 1,000 and 1,500 meters. It is bordered by

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

to the south.

Surrounding municipalities

** Chino ** Koumi ** Kawakami ** Minamiaiki *

** Hokuto

Climate

The village 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 ...

characterized by warm and humid summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfb''). The average annual temperature in Minamimaki is . The average annual rainfall is , and July is the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

History

The area of present-day Minamimaki was part of ancient

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. The modern village of Minamimaki was created with the establishment of the municipalities system on April 1, 1889.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Minamimaki population statistics
/ref> the population of Minamimaki has remained relatively steady over the past 50 years.

Politics and Government

Elections

* 2007 Minamimaki mayoral election

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

Koumi Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It links Kobuchizawa Station in Hokuto, Yamanashi with Komoro Station in Komoro, Nagano, and extends 78.9 km (49.0 mi) through the mountains with a total ...

** - < ' > - -

Highway

Local attractions

* Nobeyama radio observatory *

Yadegawa ruins The is an archaeological site containing the ruins of a late Japanese Paleolithic period (approximately 12,000 BCE) settlement located in what is now the village of Minamimaki, Nagano in the Chūbu region of Japan. It was designated a National H ...

, a

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evi ...

period trace and National Historic Site

References

External links

*
Official Website
Villages in Nagano Prefecture {{Nagano-geo-stub