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

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

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 1,149 in 571 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 6.3 persons per km². The total area of the village is . The village has the lowest population density of any municipality in Japan.

Geography

Ueno is located in the extreme mountainous southwestern portion of

, bordered by

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

to the south and

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 ...

to the west. * Mountains ** Mount Suwa ** Mount Osutaka (1639m) ** Mount Takamagahara (1979m) * Rivers ** Kanna River

Surrounding municipalities

* Kanna * Nanmoku

* Kawakami * Kitaaiki * Minamiaiki * Sakuho

Chichibu is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 61,159 in 26,380 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chichibu is in the westernmost part of Saitama. Unlik ...

* Ogano

Climate

Ueno 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 ...

(Köppen ''Dfb'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ueno is 8.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1479 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 20.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around -4.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ueno peaked in the 1950s and is now only a quarter of what it was a century ago.

History

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 of present-day Ueno was part of the ''

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 administered directly by 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 ...

Kōzuke Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered Echigo Province, Echigo, Shinano Province, Shinano, Musashi Province, Musashi and Shimotsuke Province, Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abb ...

. Ueno village was established within Minamikanra District, Gunma Prefecture on April 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern municipalities system 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 ...

. In 1896, Minamikanra District was united with Midono and Tago Districts to create Tano District. On August 12, 1985,

Japan Air Lines Flight 123 Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan. On August12, 1985, the Boeing 747 flying the route suffered a severe structural failure and explosive decompression 12 minutes after takeoff. After f ...

, heading from

Haneda Airport , also known as and sometimes abbreviated to ''Tokyo-Haneda'', is the busier of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary domestic base of J ...

Itami Airport , often referred to as , is the primary domestic airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including its major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is the airport closest to Osaka, being 11 km (7 mi) north of Osaka Station, as well as ...

, crashed into an area within the Ueno Village limits, killing 520 people in the world's deadliest single-aircraft aviation accident. Local police and fire rescue units as well as the Ueno Village Hunters Association became involved in the response efforts; four passengers survived. The village rejected the central's governments directives on

Municipal mergers and dissolutions in Japan have occurred since the Meiji era to join the facilities and legal boundaries of municipal districts, towns, and cities. Often, these mergers are driven by a necessity to consolidate villages and 'natural settlements' into larger-scale cities as ...

. Despite its depopulation, revenue from Ueno Dam and the Tokyo Electric Kannagawa Power Station give the local government the highest financial strength index in the prefecture.

Government

Ueno 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. Ueno, together with the city of Fujioka and village of Ueno contributes two members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Gunma 4th district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Southern Gunma and consists of the city of Fujioka, the Southern part of Takasaki city (without the former municipalities of Gunma, Misato, ...

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 economy of Ueno is heavily dependent on agriculture and forestry.

Education

Ueno has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the village government.
Ueno Elementary homepage
an
Ueno Junior High homepage
/ref> The village does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

Ueno does not have any passenger railway service.

Bus

Ueno Village Bus comes from Joshin Electric Railway Shimonita Station, and Nippon Chuo Bus Okutano Line comes from

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

Shinmachi Station (Gunma)

Highway

* *

International relations

Zhuolan, Miaoli Zhuolan Township is an urban township in Miaoli County, Taiwan. History Formerly called ''Talan'' (). Geography In January 2023, Zhuolan's population was estimated at 15,505. The township occupies an area of . It receives approximately of ra ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Local attractions

*Shionosawa Onsen * Ueno Dam *Ueno Sky Bridge - The Ueno skybridge is a 225 metre long pedestrian suspension bridge. At a height of 90 metres, it offers scenic views.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Villages in Gunma Prefecture Ueno, Gunma