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 Shimomashiki District,

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

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 8,361 in 3323 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 58 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Misato is located in the center of Kumamoto Prefecture, about 30 kilometers southeast of Kumamoto City. The urban center is in the northwest, where there is flat land at the southern end of the Kumamoto Basin, but nearly 80% of remaining area of the town is mountainous and forested. The southern part of the town occupies a corner of the Kyushu Mountains, with a series of mountains over 1000 meters high, such as Mt. Kosa, Mt. Karamata, and Mt. Kyojo. Rivers such as the Midorikawa River and the Shakain River flow through the town, and the Midorikawa Dam is located in the northeastern part of the town.

Neighboring municipalities

Kumamoto Prefecture * Kōsa * Mifune * Uki *

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

* Yatsushiro

Climate

Misato 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 to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Misato is 13.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2333 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.1 °C. Misato climate: Average Temperature, weather by month
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Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Misato is as shown below

History

The area of Misato was part of ancient

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

, 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 ...

it was part of the holdings of

Kumamoto Domain The , which was in existence from 1600 to 1871, had a significant influence in the region. Initially, it controlled its vast territory of 520,000 koku, which later expanded to 540,000 koku after the division of the 8th generation territory and the e ...

. After the

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 ...

, the villages of Nakayama, Nishine, Nishitomochi and Higashitomochi were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Nishitomochi was raised to town status on April 1, 1924 and was renamed Tomochi. Nakayama and Nishine merged to form Chūō on April 1, 1955, which was raised to town status on January 1, 1975. On November 1, 2004 Chūō and Tomochi merged to form the town of Misato.

Government

Misato 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 10 members. Misato, collectively with the city of Uki, contributes two members to the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Kumamoto 4th 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

Agriculture is the town's main economic activity.

Education

Misato has four public elementary schools and two public junior high schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railways

Yamato does not have any passenger railway service. The nearest station is Matsubase Station on the

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Kagoshima Main Line The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) between Mojiko Station, Mojikō in Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu. Until March 13, 2004, it ...

in neighboring Uki.

Highways

* * *

Local attractions

*Misato is known for having the , with a total of 3,333 steps stretching over 2 km. Every November there is a festival in which challengers attempt to climb the steps within a certain amount of time.

References

External links

*
Misato official website
Towns in Kumamoto Prefecture {{kumamoto-geo-stub