270px, Sekkakei Gorge 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 Hino District,

Tottori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, least populous prefecture of Japan at 538,525 (2023) and has a geographic area of . ...

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 4,144 in 1903 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 12 persons per km². The total area of the town is , representing 10% of the total area of Tottori Prefecture.Over 90% of the town is covered by mountains and forest, and 5% of the land is arable. Areas of Nichinan are part of Hiba-Dogo-Taishaku Quasi-National Park.

Geography

Nichinan is a landlocked town located at the south-western tip of Hino District in the southwestern corner of Tottori Prefecture. The town is mountainous and located on the backbone of the Chūgoku Mountains.

Neighboring municipalities

;Hiroshima Prefecture * Shōbara ;Tottori Prefecture * Hino * Nanbu ;Okayama Prefecture * Niimi ;Shimane Prefecture * Okuizumo *

Yasugi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 35,965 in 14257 households and a population density of 85 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Yasugi is located ...

Mountains

*– *– *– *– *– *– *– *–

Lakes

Dams

Rivers

The

Hino River The is a major river in the western part of Tottori Prefecture. The river flows east-northeast for , and is the longest river in the prefecture. The Hino River emerges from the Chūgoku Mountains. The source of the river is at an elevation of i ...

originates in Nichinan. Four of its major

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

in Nichinan include: * * * *

Climate

Nichinan has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nichinan 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 . Its record high is , reached on 19 August 2020, and its record low is , reached on 16 February 2011.

Demography

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nichinan has been as follows. The town has been suffering from rural depopulation, and the population has been rapidly decreasing since the 1960s.

History

The area of Nichinan was part of ancient

Hōki Province was a former province in the area that is today the western half of Tottori Prefecture in the San'in region of Japan. Hōki was bordered by Inaba, Mimasaka, Izumo, Bitchū, and Bingo Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of ...

. 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 the

Ikeda clan was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021) of the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Yasumasa, the fourth generation descending from Yorimitsu, and younger brother of Minamoto no Yorimasa (1104-1180), was the first to ...

of Tottori Domain. Following the

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 ...

. the area was divided into villages within

Hino District, Tottori is a district located in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. As of 2012, the district has an estimated population of 12,036 and a density of 20.1 persons per km2. The total area is . History Hino District has been settled since ancient times. The area ...

on October 1, 1889, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The town of Hokunan (伯南町) was created by the merger of the villages of Hinoue and Yamagami on May 2, 1955. It merged with the villages of Takamiya, Tari, Iwami and Fukue to form the town of Nichinan on April 1, 1959.

Government

Nichinan 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 ten members. Nichinan, collectively with the other municipalities of Hino District, contributes one member to the Tottori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Tottori 2nd 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 Nichinan is based agriculture, forestry, and seasonal tourism to its

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

Education

Nichinan has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

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, ...

- Hakubi Line * -

Highways

* *

Sister cities

* Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States * Scotts Valley, California, United States

Local attractions

* Sekka Gorge *Nichinan Historic Village *Nichinan Apple Village *Hanamiyama Ski Resort * Sasaraku-jinja * Gedatsu-ji

Cultural institutions

The Nichinan Cultural Center (785 Kasumi, Nichinan, Tottori), located next to the Nichinan Town Hall, houses the town's three main cultural facilities in one building. The Cultural Center is accessible by bus, or a 30-minute walk, from the

Hakubi Line

Shōyama Station is a passenger railway station located in the town of Nichinan, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Shōyama Station is served by the Hakubi Line, and is located 95.4 kilometers from t ...

. *Satsuki Hall—a 502-seat performance hall *Nichinan Library *Nichinan Art Museum日南町美術館
/ref>

References

External links

*
Nichinan official website
{{Authority control Towns in Tottori Prefecture