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

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

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 of 31,112 in 11379 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 190 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Nan'yo is located in the northern part of Okitama Basin in southern Yamagata Prefecture, with mountains to the north, east and west and the

Mogami River The is a river in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Description and history The river is 224 km long and has a watershed of 7,040 km2. It is regarded as one of the three most rapid rivers of Japan (along with the Fuji River and the Kuma R ...

forming its southern border. It is approximately 21 km from Yonezawa, 35 km from Yamagata city, 61 km from Fukushima, and 95 km from

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

. The city has an altitude of about 200 meters in the plains rising to 450 meters in the northern mountains. Mt. Shirataka (elevation 994 meters) is the highest elevation in the city.

Neighboring municipalities

*Yamagata Prefecture ** Kaminoyama ** Kawanishi ** Nagai ** Shirataka ** Takahata ** Yamagata ** Yamanobe

Climate

Nan'yō has a

Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

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 large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Nan'yō is 11.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1486 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nan'yō has declined slightly over the past 30 years.

History

The area of present-day Nan'yo was part of ancient

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

. In

Japanese folklore Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, Tradition, customs, and material culture. In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The Folklor ...

it is the setting of the ''

Tsuru no Ongaeshi is a story from Japanese folklore about a crane who returns a favor to a man. A variant of the story where a man marries the crane that returns the favor is known as . According to Japanese scholar Seki Keigo, the story is "one of the best know ...

'' legend. After the start of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, the area was organized into villages within Higashiokitama District, Yamagata Prefecture with the establishment of the modern municipalities system, including the village of Akayu. Akayu was raised to town status in December 1895. The city of Nan'yo was established on April 1, 1967 by the merger of the former towns of Miyauchi and Akayu with the village of Wagō. Akayu is famous for its hot springs, cherries and

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium al ...

and includes the former village of Nakagawa. Miyauchi is famous for its chrysanthemum festival and the Kumano-taisha Shrine, and includes the former villages of Urushiyama, Yoshino, and Kaneyama. The village of Wago was created in 1955 by the merger of the villages of Okigō and Ringō. The English travel-writer Isabella Bird visited Akayu in 1878 and wrote about the town in ''Unbeaten Tracks in Japan''. The city is named after Nanyang, China, where according to legend a chrysanthemum spring can make drinkers immortal.

Government

Nan'yō 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 17 members. The city contributes one member to the Yamagata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Yamagata District 2 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

The economy of Nan'yo is based on agriculture, light manufacturing, and tourism. A number of wineries are also located in the city.

Wine

Nan'yō is home to the following three major wineries. * Sakai Winery * Oura Winery * Sato Winery In addition to the three wineries, Nan'yō is also home to a

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

brewery called .

Education

Nan'yō has six public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the city government and one public high school operated by the Yamagata Prefectural Board of Education.

High schools

* Nan'yō High School

Junior high schools

* Akayu Junior High School * Miyauchi Junior High School * Okigō Junior High School

Elementary schools

* Akayu Elementary School * Miyauchi Elementary School * Nakagawa Elementary School * Okigō Elementary School * Ringō Elementary School * Urushiyama Elementary School

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yamagata ...

Ōu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Fukushima Station (Fukushima), Fukushima Station through Akita Station to Aomori Station. Since the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen on July 1, 1 ...

* ,

Yamagata Railway Company - Flower Nagai Line *, , , ,

Highways

* * * * *

Media

Newspapers

* ''Okitama Times''

Local attractions

* The 33 Images of Buddha, Mt Iwabu, Nakagawa * Akayu Onsen, Akayu * Chinzo-ji Temple, Urushiyama * Hygeia Park onsen complex, Miyauchi * Inarimori Kofun, Akayu * Kuguri waterfall, Kotaki * Kumano Shrine, Miyauchi * Lake Hakuryuu, Akayu * Mount Eboshi, Akayu. Listed as one of the 100 cherry blossoms sights in Japan. * Nan'yo Skypark, Akayu *

Toyotarō Yūki was a central banker in the Empire of Japan, serving as the 15th Governor of the Bank of Japan and twice as a cabinet minister. Biography Yūki was born in the onsen resort of Akayu in what is now part of Nan'yō, Yamagata Prefecture,Bank o ...

Memorial Museum, Akayu * Yuzuru no Sato Museum, Urushiyama

Local events

* Eboshiyama park cherry blossom festival, Akayu, late April to early May * Sosho park rose festival, Miyauchi, June * Kumano-taisha festival, Miyauchi, 24–25 July * Grape picking, sightseeing vineyard, Akayu, August–October * Nan'yō wine festival, Hygeia park, Miyauchi, August * Akayu onsen furosato festival, Akayu, second weekend of September * Chrysanthemum doll festival, Miyauchi, mid-October to mid-November

Sister cities

Nanyang, Henan Nanyang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Henan province, China. The city with the largest administrative area in Henan, Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast, Zhumadian to the east, Pingdingshan to the northeast, Luoyang to the n ...

, China, since October 6, 1988

Notable people from Nan'yo

* Megumi Ikeda, fencer *

Kyoko Inoue is a Japanese female professional wrestler currently signed to World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana. She has held the WWWA World Single Championship three times, and is the first woman to win a men's title in Japan. Inoue is the founder of NEO J ...

, professional wrestler *

, banker, politician

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanyo, Yamagata Cities in Yamagata Prefecture