is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

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 village 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 6,704 in 2156 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 87 persons per km². The total area of the village is .

Geography

Toyooka is located in the Ina Valley in mountainous southern of Nagano Prefecture. The

Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shizuoka Prefec ...

runs through the village.

Surrounding municipalities

*Nagano Prefecture ** IIda ** Matsukawa ** Ōshika ** Takagi ** Takamori

Climate

The town has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cold winters (

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 Toyooka is 10.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1746 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Toyooka population statistics
/ref> the population of Toyooka has decreased gradually over the past 70 years.

History

The area of present-day Toyooka 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 ...

. Ruins from the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evi ...

, Jomon and

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

s indicate continuous settlement for thousands of years. The villages of Kumashiro and Kouno were established on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The two villages merged on April 1, 1955 to form the village of Toyooka.

Economy

Toyooka is noted for its harvest of ''

matsutake , ''Tricholoma matsutake'', is a species of choice edible mycorrhizal mushroom that grows in Eurasia and North America. It is prized in Japanese cuisine for its distinct odor. Etymology The common name and specific epithet, ''matsutake'', i ...

'' mushrooms.

Education

Toyooka has two public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.

Geography

Surrounding municipalities

Climate

Demographics

History

Economy

Education

Transportation

Railway

Highway

References

External links