290px, downtown Shimoichi 290px, Niukawakami Shrine 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 Yoshino District,

Nara Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...

, Japan. , 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 4,294 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 69 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Shimoichi is located in south-central

. It sits between forested mountains along the

Yoshino River The Yoshino River (吉野川 ''Yoshino-gawa'') is a river on the island of Shikoku, Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . It is the second longest river in Shikoku (slightly shorter than the Shimanto), and is the only river whose watershe ...

Surrounding municipalities

* Gojō * Kurotaki * Ōyodo * Yoshino

Climate

Shimoichi 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 Shimoichi is 12.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2119 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Shimoichi is as shown below:

History

The area of Shimoichi was part of ancient

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...

. It flourished as the gateway to Yoshino from the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, and a market for the Yoshino region. The Tsurube

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

shop, which is featured in the popular

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

play ''

Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura ''Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura'' (義経千本桜), or ''Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees'', is a Japanese play, one of the three most popular and famous in the kabuki repertoire. Originally written in 1747 for the bunraku, jōruri puppet the ...

'', still operates today and claims to have existed as far back as the 17th century. The village of Shimoichi was established on April 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern municipalities system. On February 24, 1890 it was raised to town status. Shimoichi annexed the neighboring villages of Nyu and Akino in 1956.

Government

Shimoichi 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 eight members. Shimoichi, collectively with the other municipalities of Yoshino District, contributes two members to the Nara Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the village is part of the

Nara 3rd district Nara 3rd district (奈良県第3区, ''Nara-ken dai-sanku'' or simply 奈良3区, ''Nara-sanku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan located in Nara Prefecture. LDP candidate Taido Tanos ...

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 local economy is based on forestry and agriculture. However, the fields are mostly terraced rice fields on sloping land, and the production scale is small due to serious animal damage, so the main purpose is for self-consumption. The area is traditionally noted for its production of konnyaku.

Education

Shimoichi has one public elementary school and one public junior high schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school. The junior high school has over 200 students, and about 30 faculty and staff members. Its mascot is a dragonfly. School clubs include volleyball, chorus, brass band, art, ''shuji'' (calligraphy), baseball, track and field, English, and table tennis. The chorus club has a 50-year first-place winning streak. The baseball club also has a good prefectural reputation and was chosen to participate in a prefectural baseball tournament during the 2007-2008 school year. The Shimoichi Board of Education is a participant in the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Programme. The JET Programme is a Japanese government initiative which aims to promote internationalization in Japan’s local communities by helping to improve foreign language education and developing international exchange at the community level. Shimoichi has two native English speakers who work as Assistant Language Teachers (ALT). One is placed predominantly at Shimoichi Elementary, while the other is placed at Shimoichi Junior High. The junior high school has had an ALT since 1997, while the elementary school first acquired an ALT in 2006.

Transportation

Railways

Shimoichi has no passenger railway service. The nearest train station is Shimoichiguchi Station on the Kintetsu Yoshino Line in Ōyodo.

Highways

Local attractions

* Gangyō-ji * Niukawakami Shrine

Festivals

''Hatsuichi'', which means "first market", is an annual festival in early February. Before supermarkets and other modern conveniences existed, the townspeople gathered every ten days for a market. ''Hatsuichi'' marked the first market of the new lunar year. Over time ''Hatsuichi'' and the local Ebisu Shrine joined in creating the modern festival. Ebisu is a god of business and one of the seven "lucky gods" derived from China. The Ebisu Shrine is decorated with lanterns, traditional ornaments and colors for the festival, which now marks the annual opening of the shrine. On the afternoon of ''Hatsuichi'' a portable shrine is paraded through the town. In July, the neighboring town of Oyodo hosts the Yoshino-gawa festival, which includes a fireworks display. In early October, the town holds a sports festival in honor of Japan's national

Health and Sports Day , formerly , is a public holiday in Japan held annually on the second Monday in October. It commemorates the opening of the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, and exists to promote sports and an active lifestyle. History and current practice ...

. An opening ceremony including fireworks and the lighting of an Olympic-style torch takes place as neighborhoods compete in various games. Prizes are awarded on the neighborhood and town level, and may include items such as bags of rice, bicycles, toaster ovens, heaters, tissues, beer, game systems, and various household items. The town's schools also participate in the event with various dances and performances. The Aki Matsuri (Fall or Autumn Festival) is held in mid- to late October. Activities include a parade of lanterns and drums down the main street to one of the town's temples near the top of a mountain. The town's ''bunkasai'' (cultural festival) also takes place around this time, with numerous performances by townspeople and local school children, as well as displays of calligraphy, pottery, paintings, and flower arrangements by local artists in the town's cultural hall.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Nara Prefecture