Magome-juku on the Nakasendō 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 78,930, 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 120 persons per km² in 30,788 households. The total area of the city was .

Geography

Nakatsugawa is in the

Tōnō is the southeastern portion of Gifu Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan. The Tōnō region received its name as a combination of the ''kanji'' for "east" (東) and "Mino" (美濃). The borders of this region are not officially set, but it ge ...

region of far eastern Gifu Prefecture, bordering on Nagano Prefecture.

Mount Ena is a mountain peak of the Kiso Mountains in the Chūbu region of Japan. Geography Mount Ena is in elevation. It is located on the border between Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Nakatsugawa in Gifu Prefecture and Achi, Nagano, Achi in Nagano Prefecture. Th ...

, the southernmost of the

Kiso Mountains are a mountain range in Nagano Prefecture, Nagano and Gifu Prefecture, Gifu prefectures in Japan. They are also called the and they combine with the Hida Mountains ("Northern Alps") and the Akaishi Mountains ("Southern Alps") to form a group col ...

on the border between Nakatsugawa, Aichi and Nagano Prefecture is the highest point in the city, with an elevation of . The Kiso River and the Agi River flow through the city.

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 Nakatsugawa 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 is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

** Ena **

Gero Gero I ( 900 – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great (),Thompson, 486. Also se was a nobleman from East Francia who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he ...

** Higashishirakawa ** Shirakawa *

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

** Achi ** Hiraya ** Kiso ** Ōkuwa ** Ōtaki

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Nakatsugawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Nakatsugawa peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

History

The area around Nakatsugawa 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 ...

. 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 ...

, much of the area was under the control 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 ...

, Naegi Domain and Iwamura Domain, or was ''

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 ...

'' under direction control of 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 ...

. Nakatsugawa-juku prospered as one of the 69 Stations of the Nakasendō along 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, Ena District in Gifu prefecture was created, and Nakatsugawa was proclaimed a town per the April 1, 1897 establishment of the modern municipalities system. Nakatsugawa merged with the town of Naegi in 1951 and was elevated to city status on April 1, 1952. Nakatsugawa annexed the village of Nakamoto in 1954, Ochiai in 1956, and Agi in 1957. On February 13, 2005, the towns of Tsukechi,

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

and Sakashita and the villages of Hirukawa, Kashimo and Kawaue (all from the former Ena District), and the village of Yamaguchi (from Kiso District,

) were merged into Nakatsugawa.

Government

Nakatsugawa 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 24 members.

Education

Colleges and universities

* Chukyo Gakuin University *

Nagoya University , abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...

– Nakatsugawa campus

Primary and secondary education

Nakatsugawa has 19 public elementary schools and 12 public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has four public high schools operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education, and one public high school operated by the city government.

Transportation

Railway

* – JR Central –

Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...

** – – – * Akechi Railway Logo

Akechi Railway (Akechi Line) ** –

Highway

Chūō Expressway * * * *

Sister cities

International

Registro Registro is a city near the Atlantic coast of São Paulo, Brazil. The population is 56,393 (2020 est.) in an area of 722 km2. The elevation is 25 m. Registro in Portuguese means register, and this name was given to the city because it was th ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

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 ...

, since 1980

Domestic

* Komoro, Nagano, since 1973 *

Ōiso file:OISO.jpg, 260px, Ōiso Long Beach resort is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 31,262 and a population density of 1820 persons per km². The total area of the town ...

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

, since 1973

Local attractions

*''Kurikinton'' – Nakatsugawa is known for its abundant chestnut harvest and the chestnut delicacy known as ''kurikinton'' ( 栗きんとん). ''Kurikinton'' is produced by boiling and mashing the chestnuts, then mixing them with sugar and reforming into a chestnut shape. It is widely available during the autumn months. Many families make their own, while purchased ''kurikinton'' is popular as well for home consumption and as gifts. * Misaka Pass, a National Historic Site * Takamine Co., a Japanese guitar manufacturer known for its steel-string acoustic guitars is headquartered in Nakatsugawa.

Notable people from Nakatsugawa

Junji Ito is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include ''Tomie'', a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness; ''Uzumaki'', a three-volume series about a town cursed by spirals; and ''Gy ...

, horror mangaka * Seison Maeda, ''Nihonga'' painter

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Gifu Prefecture