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

Tochigi Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi ...

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 24,851 in 10,400 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 67 persons per km² (174 per sq. mi.). The total area of the town is .

Geography

Nasu is located in the mountainous far northeast of

. The Naka River runs through the southwestern portion of the town and the Kurokawa River through the northeast.

Surrounding municipalities

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

* Nishigō * Shirakawa * Tanagura

Nasushiobara 270px, Shiobara Onsen is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 115,794 in 48,437 households, and a population density of 67 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Nasushioba ...

Ōtawara is a Cities of Japan, city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 72,189 in 30,136 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city's name may also b ...

Climate

Nasu 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 ''Dfb'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nasu 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 .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nasu has declined slowly over the past 70 years, with a small uptick around the year 2000.

History

Nasu and Iouno villages and Ashino Town were created within Nasu District on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The three municipalities merged to form Nasu Town on November 3, 1954.

Nasu Imperial Villa Nasu Imperial Villa, located in the town of Nasu, Nasu District in Tochigi Prefecture, is a retreat used by the Japanese Imperial Family The is the reigning dynasty of Japan, consisting of those members of the extended family of the reigning e ...

was built in 1926. In March 2017 an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

killed 8 people.

Government

Nasu 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 13 members. Nasu, together with the city of Nasushiobara collectively contributes four members to the Tochigi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Tochigi 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

The economy of Nasu is heavily dependent on tourism from its numerous

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

and ski resorts.

Education

Nasu has six public

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s and two public

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

s operated by the town government. The town has one public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

operated by the Tochigi Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private school including junior and high school.

Transportation

Railway

JR East 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 ...

–

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line () is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Uts ...

(

Utsunomiya Line The Utsunomiya Line () is the name given to a section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Tokyo Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network. Services Serv ...

) * - -

Highway

* – Nasu Interchange, Nasu Kogen Service Area and Smart Interchange * *

Local attractions

*Ashio Onsen * Cannabis Museum * Mount Jeans Nasu Ski Resort, a ski resort to the far north of Nasu * Naohi-no-miya (直毘宮),

Makoto no Michi () is a Shinto-based Japanese new religion. The headquarters of Makoto no Michi is located in Kasuya, Tokyo. Waterfall meditation, which is also a shugendo practice, is one of its main practices. History In 1948, the religion was founded as C ...

's "inner temple" (Okumiya 奥宮) *

Mount Nasu is a group of complex volcanoes located in the northeast part of Nikkō National Park, Japan. The tallest peak is Sanbonyari Peak at a height of . Mount Nasu is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains is a book written in 1964 by Mountaine ...

* Nasu Animal Kingdom * * Nasu History Museum (Designed by

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and emeritus professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolif ...

) *

*Nasu Onsen, the collective name given to the various hot springs in the Nasu area surrounding Mt. Chausu. The eight hot springs in this area with accommodation and bathing facilities are sometimes referred to as Nasu Hachiyu () (Shika no yu (), sandogoya onsen (), ōmaru onsen (), kita onsen (), benten onsen (), takao onsen (), yahata onsen (), shin nasu onsen ()) *, an amusement facility based around the rindō lake, with activities such as a zip-line, boat ride, go-karts, and more. * headquarters, the main facility for a

Tenrikyo is a Japanese new religion which is neither strictly monotheistic nor pantheistic, originating from the teachings of a 19th-century woman named Nakayama Miki, known to her followers as "Oyasama". Followers of Tenrikyo believe that God of Orig ...

-derived

Japanese new religion Japanese new religions are new religious movements established in Japan. In Japanese, they are called or . Japanese scholars classify all religious organizations founded since the middle of the 19th century as "new religions"; thus, the term refe ...

Sessho-seki The , or "Killing Stone", is a stone in the volcanic mountains of Nasu, Tochigi, Nasu, an area of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, that is famous for sulphurous Onsen, hot springs. In Japanese mythology, the stone is said to kill anyone who comes into ...

* STONE PLAZA (Designed by

)

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Tochigi Prefecture Nasu, Tochigi