270px, Nagaoka Tenman-gū 270px, Komyo-ji temple 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

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga 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 city 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 82,279 in 37718 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 4700 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Nagaokakyō is located in southwestern Kyoto Prefecture. The Obata River and Koizumi River flow through the city. The topography is low from the northwest to the southwest. The area is noted for its bamboo forests.

Neighboring municipalities

;

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 ...

* Mukō * Otokuni District ( Ōyamazaki) ;

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

* Mishima District ( Shimamoto)

Climate

Nagaokakyō 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 Nagaokakyō is 14.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1677 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nagaokakyō has increased slightly in recent decades.

History

The area of Nagaokakyō was part of ancient

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the '' Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyoto it ...

. The legendary

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

Emperor Keitai (died 10 March 531) was the 26th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 継体天皇 (26)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conve ...

's Prince Otokuni, constructed a palace in this location in 518 AD. In 784 AD, Emperor Kammu transferred the

capital of Japan The capital of Japan is Tokyo."About Japan"
The Government of Japan. Retrieved 9 March 2022.

from Heijō-kyō to the Nagaoka-kyō Palace; however, the palace was not actually located in modern Nagaokakyō, but in the adjacent city of Mukō . The villages of Otokuni, Kaiin-ji and Shinkotari in Otokuni District, Kyoto were established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. These villages merged on April 1, 1949 to form the town of Nagaoka, which was elevated to city status on October 1, 1972, taking the name of Nagaoka-kyō.

Government

Nagaokakyō 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 council of 22 members. Nagaokakyō, collectively with Ōyamazaki contributes two members to the Kyoto Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Kyoto 3rd 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

Nagaokakyō has a mixed economy based on commerce and light manufacturing.

Murata Manufacturing is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic components, based in Nagaokakyo, Kyoto. It produces ceramic passive electronic components, primarily capacitors, and has a majority marketshare worldwide in ceramic filters, high-frequency parts, and s ...

and Mitsubishi Logisnext are based in Nagaokakyō. The city is also a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for the neighboring cities of Kyoto and Osaka.

Education

Nagaokakyō has ten public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by city government and two public high schools operated by the Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private junior high school and one private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped. The Kyoto Seizan College is a private junior college located in Nagaokakyō.

Transportation

Railways

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

- Tōkaidō Main Line ( JR Kyoto Line) * Hankyu Railway Logo

Hankyu - Kyoto Main Line * -

Highways

Kyoto Jūkan Expressway * *

Sister cities

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Europe ...

, United States, sister city since 1984 *

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

, friendship city since 1983

Local attractions

* Igenoyama Kofun, National Historic Site * Shōryūji Castle

Culture

The most popular event in Nagaokakyo is the Garasha Festival, usually held in November, in honor Hosokawa Gracia. The Garasha Festival is held at both the Nagaokakyo Cultural Center and Shoryuji Castle, while the parade runs throughout the city. Many of the parade participants wear various period's traditional clothing, including the chosen 'Garasha' of the year.

Notable people from Nagaokakyō

* Ayumi Kaihori, former soccer player (

Japan women's national football team The , commonly known as Yamato nadeshiko, Nadeshiko Japan (なでしこジャパン), represents Japan in women's association football and is run by the Japan Football Association (JFA). One of the two countries to win every FIFA competition an ...

) * Hiroshi Otsuki, former

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

* Masaaki Sakata, former rugby union player * Aya Shimokozuru, former soccer player (

) * Miho Takahashi,

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

* Takashi Usami, soccer player (

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a ...

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

) * Shohei Yamamoto, former soccer player * Kenjiro Yamashita, member of

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

boygroups

Exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

and Sandaime J Soul Brothers and a former member of Gekidan Exile.

References

External links

*
Nagaokakyō City official website

– National Museum of Japanese History Nagaokakyō, Kyoto Cities in Kyoto Prefecture {{Kyoto-geo-stub