270px, Gate of Nanzo-in temple 270px, Sakura in Jugei Forest 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 ...

in Kasuya District,

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

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 31,191 in 14041 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 250 persons per km². The total area of the town is

Geography

Sasaguri is located 12 kilometers east of Fukuoka city. Sasaguri Station is located slightly west of the geographic center of the town, and the area surrounding the station forms the central urban area. The city center and the area to the west of it are relatively flat, on the eastern edge of the Fukuoka Plain. To the east of the city center is a mountainous region that separates the Fukuoka metropolitan area from Chikuho. The Tatara River flows east-west through the town. The town jointly manages the 17-hectare Sasaguri Kyudai Forest with

Kyushu University , abbreviated to , is a public research university located in Fukuoka, Japan, on the island of Kyushu. Founded in 1911 as the fourth Imperial University in Japan, it has been recognised as a leading institution of higher education and resear ...

Neighboring municipalities

Fukuoka Prefecture * Iizuka * Hisayama * Kasuya * Miyawaka * Sue

Climate

Sasaguri 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 Sasaguri is 15.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1766 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 4.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sasaguri is as shown below.

History

The area of Sasaguri was part of ancient

Chikuzen Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of north and western Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikuzen bordered on Hizen to the east, and Buzen east, and Bungo to the southeast. Its abbreviated form name was (a ...

. 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 ...

, the area was under the control of

Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagamasa, the 1st daimyo of Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagahiro, the 11th next to last daimyo of Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagatomo, final daimyo of Fukuoka Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was assoc ...

. After 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 villages of Sasaguri and Seto were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The Sasaguri was raised to town status on January 1, 1927, and annexed Seto on April 1, 1955.

Government

Sasaguri 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 12 members. Sasaguri, together with the other municipalities in Kasuya District contributes three members to the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the

Fukuoka 4th district Fukuoka 4th district (福岡県第4区, ''Fukuoka-ken dai-yonku'' or simply 福岡4区, ''Fukuoka-yonku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan located in Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefec ...

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

There used to be a coal mine in the northwestern part of town, but it closed in the 1960s. After that, an

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

(Totetsu Kogyo Danchi) was established; however, the main focus of the local economy is on agriculture and tourism.

Education

Sasaguri has three public elementary schools and two public junior high schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railways

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

- Sasaguri Line : - -

Highways

Local attractions

* Narufuchi Dam. * Nanzo-in, temple known for its

reclining Buddha A reclining Buddha is an image that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic theme in Buddhist art. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. He is lying on his right side, his h ...

statue, considered one of the largest bronze statues in the world. Nanzo-in is the initial temple on the 88-temple Sasaguri pilgrimage route.

References

External links

* Towns in Fukuoka Prefecture Sasaguri, Fukuoka {{Fukuoka-geo-stub