Mino Udatsu Townscape is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

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 city 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 20,749 in 8149 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 180 persons per km². The total area of the city was . The city is renowned for traditional Japanese Mino ''

washi is traditional Japanese paper processed by hand using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (''Edgeworthia chrysantha''), or the paper mulberry (''kōzo'') bush. ''Washi'' is generally tougher than ordinary ...

'' paper and its streets, which are in the style of the early Edo period (1603–1868). An urban area known as "Udatsu Townscape" (うだつのあがるまちなみ) was designated as an important traditional building group conservation area by the government on May 13, 1999.

Geography

Mino is located in the south-central Gifu Prefecture. The Nagara River and the Itadori River flow through the city. Mino is surrounded by the city of Seki to the west, south and east, and by the city of Gujō to the north.

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and mild winters (

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 ...

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

Neighbouring municipalities

* Gifu Prefecture ** Gujō ** Seki

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Mino has decreased gradually over the past 40 years.

History

The area around Mino was part of the traditional

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

. 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 ...

, Kanamori Nagachika, the founder of Takayama Domain was granted permission by

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

to build Oguriyama Castle on the Nagara River. Due to floods, the castle town was relocated in 1605 to higher ground. The area later became part of the holdings of

Owari Domain The Owari-Han, also known as the Owari Domain, was a significant feudal domain in Tokugawa shogunate, Japan during the Edo period. Situated in the western region of what is now Aichi Prefecture, it covered portions of Owari Province, Owari, Mino ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. In the post-

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

cadastral reforms, Mugi District in Gifu Prefecture was created, and with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on July 1, 1889 the town of Kozuchi was created. In July 1909 Kozuchi was the site of a meteorite impact. The meteorite, which massed about , broke into pieces and fell across an area long and wide. The largest piece, about , fell in the village of Gokurakuji.Mino meteorite
at gifu-u.ac.jp (Japanese) On April 1, 1911, Kozuchi was renamed Mino. Mino was raised to city status on April 1, 1954 with the merger of the town of Mino with the villages of Suhara, Shimomaki, Kamimaki, Oyada, Aimi, and Nakauchi.

Government

Mino 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 ...

city legislature of 13 members.

Education

Mino has five public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has one public high school operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

- Nagaragawa Railway Etsumi-Nan Line ** - - - -

Highway

* 35px Tōkai-Hokuriku Expressway * 25px Tōkai-Kanjō Expressway *

Sister cities

Meinong District Meinong District (WG: Meinung, Hakka: 瀰濃 Mî-nùng, ) is a Hakka district in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Meinong is one of the four districts in Kaohsiung that is the central focus of Hakka cultural development, the others being Jiasian District, Sha ...

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, friendship city since November 29, 2012

Local attractions

* Ogurayama Castle Ruins * Yawata Shrine

Notable people from Mino

* Chiune Sugihara, diplomat

References

External links

*
Mino City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Gifu Prefecture