was 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 Fuji District,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

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 ...

. As of 2009, 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 9,344 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 126 persons per km². The total area was 74.18 km². On March 23, 2010, Shibakawa was merged into the expanded city of Fujinomiya and thus no longer exists as an independent

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. Fuji District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

Geography

Shibakawa is located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, in the southwest foothills of

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

, and is bordered by the

Fuji River The is a river in Yamanashi Prefecture, Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures of central Japan. It is long and has a drainage basin, watershed of . With the Mogami River and the Kuma River (Japan), Kuma River, it is regarded as one of the three mos ...

. The area has a temperate maritime climate with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters.

Surrounding municipalities

*Shizuoka Prefecture ** Shizuoka ** Fujnomiya ** Fuji *Yamanashi Prefecture **

Nanbu, Yamanashi 270px, Nanbu town hall is a town located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7222 in 3149 households, and a population density of 36 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Nanbu is the so ...

History

Shibakawa was located in the far eastern portion of former

Suruga Province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu Province, Izu, Kai Province, Kai, Sagami Province, Sagami, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Province, Tōtōm ...

, and was largely ''

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 ...

'' territory under direct 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 ...

in 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 ...

. During the cadastral reform of the early

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 ...

in 1889, the area was reorganized into two villages (Yuzuno, Shibafuji) within Fuji District and one village (Uchibo Village) within Ihara District. Uchibo and Shibafuji merged in 1955 to form Fujihara Village, which was renamed Shibakawa in 1956 after it annexed neighboring Yuzuno Village.

Economy

The economy of Shibakawa is largely based on agriculture, and tourism. The town also serves as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for the industrial zones in neighboring Fuji.

Transportation

Highways

* Japan National Route 52

Rail

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...

- Minobu Line ** Shibakawa Station, Inako Station

References

External links

Fujinomiya official website
Populated places disestablished in 2010 Dissolved municipalities of Shizuoka Prefecture Fujinomiya, Shizuoka {{Shizuoka-geo-stub