Kanegasaki, Iwate

Kanegasaki
金ケ崎町
Town
Kanegasaki Town Hall

Flag
Seal

Location of Kanegasaki in Iwate Prefecture
Kanegasaki
 
Coordinates: 39°11′44.6″N 141°06′58.80″E / 39.195722°N 141.1163333°E / 39.195722; 141.1163333Coordinates: 39°11′44.6″N 141°06′58.80″E / 39.195722°N 141.1163333°E / 39.195722; 141.1163333
Country Japan
Region Tōhoku
Prefecture Iwate
District Isawa
Area
 • Total 179.76 km2 (69.41 sq mi)
Population (June 30, 2017)
 • Total 15,789
 • Density 87.8/km2 (227/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
City symbols  
• Tree Cryptomeria
• Flower Satsuki azalea
• Bird Copper pheasant
Phone number 0197-42-2111
Address 22-1 Nishine-Minami-chō, Kanegasaki-chō, Isawa-gun, Iwate-ken 029-4592
Website Official website
Dairy farm in western part of Kanegasaki

Kanegasaki (金ケ崎町, Kanegasaki-chō) is a town located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. As of 30 June 2017, the town had an estimated population of 15,789, and a population density of 87.8 persons per km2 in 5,991 households.[1] The total area of the town is 179.76 square kilometres (69.41 sq mi). [2] In June 2001, the 34.8 hectare old centre of town was protected as a Important Preservation District by the national government for its traditional samurai residences.[3]

Geography

Kanegasaki is located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan at the confluence of the Kitakami and Isawa rivers and is bordered to the north by Kitakami-shi, to the east and south by Ōshū-shi. In the mountains to the west, there is a large reservoir known as Sengaishi that is dammed and used for irrigating the rice paddies in the plain below.

Kanegasaki is characterized by a variety of geographical features, including mountains and wide expanses of rice paddies to the west and a small merchant district and neighboring residential areas to the east. On the border of Kanegasaki and Esashi two neighborhoods (Jōnai and Suwa-kōji) were once the location of a castle that sat at the border of the Nambu and Date domains, and several examples of gardens and houses from the Edo period that were residences of samurai prior to the Meiji Restoration of 1868 remain. Kanegasaki has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) bordering with warm summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Kanegasaki is 10.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1323 mm with September as the wettest month and January as the driest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.7 °C.[4]

Neighboring municipalities

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,[5] the population of Kanegasaki has gradually increased over the past 40 years.

Census Year Population
1970 14,872
1980 14,973
1990 15,672
2000 16,383
2010 16,325

History

The area of present-day Kanegasaki was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and has been settled since at least the Jōmon period by the Emishi people. During the later portion of the Heian period, the area was ruled by the Northern Fujiwara. During the Sengoku period, the area was contested by various samurai clans before coming under the control of the Date clan of Sendai Domain during the Edo period, under the Tokugawa shogunate.

The village of Kanegasaki was founded on April 1, 1889, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on September 1, 1925. On March 1, 1955 Kanegasaki absorbed the neighboring village of Nagaoka, also from Isawa District.

Economy

Kanegasaki has a relatively diverse economy that includes rice paddies typical of the region, but also extensive dairy farms in the western portion of the town and a large industrial park. The industrial park has several different manufacturing facilities, such as a Toyota plant that produces Lexus automobiles (Kantō Jidōsha) and a Fujitsu semiconductor facility.

Education

Kanegasaki has five public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education. In addition,the town is known for having developed a system of Life-Long Learning Centers situated throughout the town that provide educational and other opportunities for the local residents.

Transportation

Railway

Highway

International relations

Local attractions

Noted people from Kanegasaki

References

  1. ↑ Kanegasaki official home page(in Japanese)
  2. ↑ "詳細データ 岩手県金ケ崎町". 市町村の姿 グラフと統計でみる農林水産業 (in Japanese). Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  3. ↑ 城内諏訪小路 [Jōnai Suwa-kōji] (in Japanese). Kanegasaki town. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  4. ↑ Kanegasaki climate data
  5. ↑ Kanegasaki population statistics
  6. ↑ "US-Japan Sister Cities by State". Asia Matters for America. Honolulu, HI: East-West Center. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Friendly Cooperative Cities Of ChangChun". Official Government Website of Jilin Province. 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Städtepartnerschaften Leinefelde - Kanegasaki (Japan)" (in German). Leinefelde-Worbis government website. Retrieved 10 December 2015.

Media related to Kanegasaki, Iwate at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.