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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

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

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 8,339 in 3351 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 56 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

History

The area of present-day Shinano was part of ancient

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. The modern village of Shinano was created by the merger of the villages of Kashiwabara and Fujisato on July 1, 1955. Shinano merged with the neighboring villages of Furuma and Shinanojiri to form the town of Shinano on September 30, 1956.

Geography

Shinano is located in far northern Nagano Prefecture, bordered by

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

to the north.

Lake Nojiri is in the town of Shinano, Kamiminochi District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Second to Lake Suwa among lakes in Nagano Prefecture, Nojiri is a resort, the location of the first pumped-storage hydroelectricity in Japan, and the site of a Japanes ...

and Mount Kurohime are in Shinano.

Surrounding municipalities

*Nagano Prefecture ** Iiyama ** Iizuna ** Nagano *

** Myōkō

Climate

The town 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 ...

characterized by characterized by short, hot and humid summers, and cold winters with heavy snowfall (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Shinano 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 Shinano has declined over the past 70 years.

Education

Shinano has one combined public elementary/middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

Shinano Railway - Kita-Shinano Line ** -

Highway

Jōshin-etsu Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming is a kanji acronym consisting of 3 characters, each representing the former names of the prefectures that the route traverses. consis ...

Local attractions

* Naena Falls, one of the 100 Waterfalls of Japan * Lake Nojiri Naumann Elephant Museum * Kurohime Fairy Tale Museum

Notable people from Shinano

* Kobayashi Issa, poet

Administrators

Mayors * 1st generation- Shigeichiro Matsuki (October 1956-4th quarter of November 1970) * 2nd generation- Kazuo Kobayashi (Nov. 1970-Nov. 4, 1986) * 3rd generation- Akio Takeuchi (November 1986-November 1, 1990) * 4th generation- Tadakazu Ogusa (Nov. 1990-Nov. 3, 2002) * 5th generation- Hiroshi Hattori (November 2002-November 1, 2006) * 6th generation- Shigehiro Matsuki (Nov. 2006-Nov. 2, 2014) * 7th generation- Masatomo Yokokawa (November 2014 – present)

Town council

* Number of lawmakers: 12 (term of office: until March 31, 2021) * Chair: Moriyama Konomi * Since January 2013, it has adopted the “Full Year Assembly”

References

External links

*
Official Website
Towns in Nagano Prefecture Long stubs with short prose {{Nagano-geo-stub