270px, Shosoin style in Misato, which built by part of tourism and relationship in Japan and South Korea 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 Higashiusuki District,

Miyazaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,028,215 as of 1 January 2025 and has a geographic area of 7,735 Square kilometre, km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefectur ...

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 has 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 4297 in 2020 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 9.8 persons per km². The total area of the town is ..

Geography

Misato is located in northern Miyazaki Prefecture in the steep Kyushu Mountains. Approximately 90% of the town area is forest.

Neighbouring municipalities

Miyazaki Prefecture * Hinokage * Hyūga * Kadogawa * Kijō * Morotsuka *

Nobeoka 270px, Central Nobeoka City is a city located in the north of Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 113,367 in 51272 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km². The total area of the city is . ...

* Saito * Shiiba

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 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'') with hot, humid summers and cool winters. The average annual temperature in Misato is . The average annual rainfall is with August as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Misato was on 18 August 2020; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Misato in 2020 is 4,826 people. Misato has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

The area of Misato was part of ancient

Hyūga Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to modern Miyazaki Prefecture Hyūga bordered on Ōsumi to the south, Higo to the west, and Bungo to the north. Its abbreviated form name was , although it was als ...

. 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

Nobeoka Domain file:Masataka Naito.jpg, 270px, Naito Masataka, final ''daimyō'' of Nobeoka Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Miyazaki Prefecture. It was centered around Nobeoka Ca ...

. The villages of Kitagō, Nangō and Saigō, within

Higashiusuki District, Miyazaki is a district located in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2019, the district has an estimated population of 26,460 and the density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its vol ...

was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The three villages merged on January 1, 2006 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 11 members. Misato, collectively with the villages of Morotsuka and Shiiba and town of Kadogawa contributes one member to the Miyazaki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the

Miyazaki 2nd district Miyazaki 2nd district (宮崎県第2区, ''Miyazaki-ken dai-niku '' or simply 宮崎2区, ''Miyazaki-niku '') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan located in Miyazaki Prefecture. Areas cove ...

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

Misato has an economy based overwhelmingly on agriculture and forestry.

Education

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

Transportation

Railways

Misato has no passenger rail service. The nearest train station is 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 ...

Nippō Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, in southern Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Also known as the Fukuhoku Nippo Line, The line connects Kokura Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, K ...

Highways

* * *

Sister cities

Buyeo County Buyeo County () is a county in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Buyeo-eup, the county's capital, was the site of the capital of Baekje from 538-660 AD, during which it was called Sabi Fortress. Famous people associated with Buyeo County ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, since November 2009

Local attractions

* The Museum of Baekje in Misato and West Shosoin in Misato, both built in 1996, as part of the tourism partnership in Japan and South Korea.

References

External links

*
Misato official website

Towns in Miyazaki Prefecture {{Miyazaki-geo-stub