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 56,972 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 74.81 persons per km², in 22,508 households. The total area of the city was .

Geography

Minokamo is located in south-central Gifu Prefecture in the Nōbi Plain, between the Hida Mountains and the Kiso River.

Neighbouring municipalities

*Gifu Prefecture ** Hichisō ** Kani ** Kawabe ** Mitake ** Sakahogi ** Seki ** Tomika ** Yaotsu

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 Minokamo 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 .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Minokamo has grown substantially over the past 50 years. Notably, the proportion of foreign nationals residing in the city is very high for Japan, at 9.2% as of October 2020. The foreign residents are predominantly from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

or the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, with small but growing Chinese and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese populations.

History

The area around Minokamo was part of 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 ...

. In 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

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 ...

and Naegi Domain, and ''

tenryō 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 war ...

'' holdings directly 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 ...

. Ōta-juku flourished as a post station on the

Nakasendō The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected the ''de facto'' ...

highway connecting

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. 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, Kamo District in Gifu prefecture was created. The modern city was formed on April 1, 1954 by the merger of the towns of Ota and Furui with the villages of Yamanoue, Hachiya, Kamono, Ibuka, Shimoyoneda and Miwa.

Government

Minokamo 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 16 members.

Economy

The area around Minokamo was formerly known for

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, the caterpillar of the Bombyx mori, domestic silkmoth is the most widely used and intensively studied silkwo ...

. Agriculture, including

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

remains an important component of the local economy, producing crops such as

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, Asian pears, and

persimmon The persimmon () is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus '' Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Chinese and Japanese kaki persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki''. In 2022, China produced 77% of the world's p ...

s. However, since the 1960s, the area has become increasingly industrialized as part of the Chubu Plateau Industrial Zone. Industries include textiles, semiconductor, electronics, machine tools and automotive components, as well as food products.

Education

Tertiary Education

* Shogen Junior College, a traditional Japanese arts and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

scripture university run by the Shogenji Temple. * *, a Gifu prefecture-run vocational school that offers associates degrees in industrial technology, and construction, and vocational certificates in residential construction, automobile engineering, and public facilities.

Primary and Secondary Schools

Minokamo has nine public elementary schools, and two public junior high schools operated by the city government, a junior high school operated by an association between Minokamo City and the neighbouring Tomika Town, and a private combined junior/senior high school, . The city has two public high schools operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education, which also operates a special education school. Minokamo has a Brazilian school, the ("Isaac Newton College Japan"; )Escolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.

Transportation

Railway

* -

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...

Takayama Main Line The is a Japanese railway line between Gifu Station in Gifu and Toyama Station in Toyama, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line directly links the Chūkyō Metropolitan Ar ...

** - * -

Taita Line The is a railway line in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It connects Tajimi Station in the city of Tajimi via Kani to Mino-Ōta Station in Minokamo. The name of the line includes a ''kanji'' ...

** - *

Nagaragawa Railway Etsumi-Nan Line ** - -

Bus

* Yaotsu Line run by to Yaotsu Town * The Odakyu Bus "Papillon" overnight bus connection to

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

(

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) * the Ai Ai Community Bus

Highway

Tōkai-Kanjō Expressway * * * *

Sister cities

Minokamo is twinned with: *

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

, Australia

Local attractions

*Gifu-Seiryu Satoyama Park, a prefectural park with outdoor activities *Koyama Kannon Temple *Kobi no Tengusan, the main shrine of the *The Ota-juku area, a post town on the Nakasendo *River Port Park Minokamo, a park with river sports activities *

Shōgen-ji is a temple of the Myoshin-ji branch of Japanese Rinzai School of Zen Buddhism in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan. History According to the oral tradition, Shōgen-ji was initially built as a Tendai temple during Saicho's visit to Eastern Japan ...

, a Buddhist monastery * Yamazaki Mazak Machine Tools Museum

Seasonal Festivals

* Summer Onsai Festival (on the first weekend of August) * Autumn Onsai Festival (in October) * Minokamo Citizens' Festival (in November)