270px, traditional buildings in Yasuda
270px, Kōnomine Jinja autumn festival
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
Aki District,
Kōchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...
,
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 2,455 in 1244 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 47 persons per km².
The total area of the town is .
Geography
Yasuda is located in southeastern Kōchi Prefecture on the island of
Shikoku
is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...
. The town area is generally along the valley in the middle and lower reaches of the Yasuda River, and extends back to Umaji Village. It faces Tosa Bay in the south. Forests occupy about 80% of the town.
Neighbouring municipalities
Kōchi Prefecture
*
Aki
*
Kitagawa
*
Tano
*
Umaji
Climate
Yasuda 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 snowfall.
Demographics
Per Japanese census data,
Nahari population statistics
/ref> the population of Yasuda has been decreased steadily since the 1960s.
History
As with all of Kōchi Prefecture, the area of Yasuda was part of ancient Tosa Province
was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syst ...
. The name of Aki District appears in Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...
. 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 was part of the holdings of Tosa Domain
The was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its ...
ruled by the Yamauchi clan
The Yamauchi clan (山内氏) were a family of rulers over what was then the Tosa Province which spanned the southern half of Shikoku island.
The province was given to the family in 1600 after Yamauchi Kazutoyo led troops under Tokugawa Ieyasu ...
from their seat at Kōchi Castle
is an Edo Period Japanese castle in the city of Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. It is located at Otakayama hill, at the center of Kōchi city, which in turn is located at the center of the Kōchi Plain, the most prosperous area of former ...
. The village of Yasuda was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on February 11, 1925.
Government
Yasuda 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 five members. Yasuda, together with the other municipalities of Aki District, contributes one member to the Kōchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kōchi 1st district 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
Yasuda's economy is centered on Polytunnel
A polytunnel (also known as a polyhouse, hoop greenhouse or hoophouse, grow tunnel or high tunnel) is a tunnel typically made from steel and covered in polyethylene, usually semi-circular, square or elongated in shape. The interior heats up bec ...
agriculture and commercial fishing
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...
, notable for ''Ayu
Ayu or AYU may refer to:
* Ayu (given name)
* Ayu sweetfish (''Plecoglossus altivelis''), a species of smelt
* ''Ayu'', a local name for the African manatee
* Ayu (singer) or Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer
* Ayu Islands, a small archipelago in ...
'', for which the town is famous. There are two local sake brewers located in Yasuda: Minami Shuzou (Tamanoi 玉の井) and Tosatsuru (土佐鶴).
Education
Yasuda has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.
Transportation
Railway
Tosa Kuroshio Railway
The is a third-sector railway company in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. The name comes from the former Tosa Province and the Kuroshio Current. The company was founded in 1986, and operates three lines: a former Japanese National Railways (JNR) line ...
- Asa Line
* -
Highway
*
Sister cities
* Montefrío, Spain, sister city since February 2018
Local attractions
* Kōnomine-ji, 24th temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage
*Kōnomine Jinja
References
External links
*
Yasuda official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yasuda, Kochi
Towns in Kōchi Prefecture
Populated coastal places in Japan
Yasuda, Kōchi