is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in

Yoshino District is a district located in Nara Prefecture, Japan. In 2020, the district had an estimated population of 37,086 and a density of 18.05 persons per km2. The total area is 2,055 km2. On September 25, 2005, the villages of Ōtō and Nishiyoshin ...

Nara Prefecture is a 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 northwest, Wakayama P ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. As of September 1, 2007, the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 6,337 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of . The total area was .

Geography

The town of Yoshino is located in the northern portion of

. Most of the area is mountainous, but the section 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 ...

is somewhat flatter and contains most of the town's roads, train tracks and houses. *

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

Yoshino Mountain is a mountain located in the town of Yoshino in Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, Japan that is a major religious and literary site. It is renowned for its cherry blossoms and attracts many visitors every spring, when the trees are in blossom. I ...

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s: Lake Tsuburo The most well-known area within the town is

, famous for its many thousands of

sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

trees; much poetry has been written on the subject by several famous authors, including Chiyo and

Uejima Onitsura Uejima Onitsura (上島鬼貫, April 1661 – 2 August 1738) was a Japanese haiku poet of the Edo period, famous in the Osaka region for his haiku poetry. Belonging to the Danrin school of Japanese poetry, Uejima is credited (along with other Ed ...

. These flowering cherry trees were planted in four groves at different altitudes, in part so that the trees would be visible coming into bloom at different times in the spring. An account of Yoshino written in about 1714 explained that, on their climb to the top, travelers would be able to enjoy the lower 1,000 cherry trees at the base, the middle 1,000 on the way, the upper 1,000 toward the top, and the 1,000 in the precincts of the inner shrine at the top. Sacred For adherents of Shugendo, Yoshino Mountain is the traditional beginning of the

Mount Ōmine , is a sacred mountain in Nara, Japan, famous for its three tests of courage. Officially known as , it is more popularly known as Mount Ōmine due to its prominence in the Ōmine mountain range. It is located in Yoshino-Kumano National Park in t ...

pilgrimage trail (part of the Omine-Okugake Trail), although nowadays many hikers begin and end their trek in the Dorogawa district of Tenkawa Village.

Industry

Lumber

The town of Yoshino produces a wide variety of wood-based goods made from lumber harvested from the local forest land. Most of the forest within the Yoshino area is artificial, consisting of red cedar and cypress trees that have been planted and harvested in cycles for 500 years. The

served in past times as a means of transportation for the lumber harvested in the region.

Paper

The Kuzu district of Yoshino has a long history of traditional Japanese ''

washi is traditional Japanese paper. The term is used to describe paper that uses local fiber, processed by hand and made in the traditional manner. ''Washi'' is made using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (''Ed ...

'' paper production. According to a local story, Prince Oama (later to become Emperor Tenmu), taught the residents of Kuzu the process of making washi in the 7th century.

Surrounding municipalities

Asuka Asuka may refer to: People * Asuka (name), a list of people * Asuka (wrestler), professional wrestler * Asuka (wrestler, born 1998), professional wrestler also known as Veny outside of Japan Places In Japan * , an area in Yamato Province (now ...

** Sakurai ** Higashiyoshino ** Kawakami ** Kurotaki **

Shimoichi is a List of towns in Japan, town in Yoshino District, Nara, Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, Japan. , the town has an estimated population of 5,378 and a population density of 86.8 persons per km². The total area is 61.99 km². The t ...

** Ōyodo ** Uda

Notable places

Yoshino-Kumano National Park is a national park comprising several non-contiguous areas of Mie, Nara, and Wakayama Prefectures, Japan. Established in 1936, the park includes Mount Yoshino, celebrated for its cherry blossoms, as well as elements of the UNESCO World Heritag ...

Yoshino Shrine Yoshino Shrine (吉野神宮, ''Yoshino jingū'') is a Shinto shrine located in Yoshino, Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Prefecture, Japan. It was founded in 1892. The main kami enshrined here is Emperor Go-Daigo. The shrine's main fe ...

* Miyataki (district) *

Kinpusen-ji is the head temple of a branch of the Shugendō religion called Kinpusen-Shugendō in Yoshino district, Nara Prefecture, Japan. According to tradition, it was founded by En no Gyōja, who propagated a form of mountain asceticism drawing from S ...

* Yoshimizu Shrine * Sakuramotobō * Yoshinomikumari Shrine * Nyoirin-ji *Sakuragi Shrine *Ryumon-no-taki (

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

) *Takataki (

) * Kinpu Shrine * Saigyo-an Hermitage

References

External links

Yoshino official website
* Kansai Digital Archive

* National Archives of Japa

* Japan-guide.com ttp://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4150.html Yoshino at Japan Guide* *
Nyoirin-ji official website
(in Japanese) {{Authority control Hanami spots of Japan Shinbutsu shūgō