250px, Hoko-ji, the clan temple of the Nanbu clan 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 o ...

located in

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...

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 n ...

. , 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 usi ...

of 17,754, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of 120 persons per km² in 7433 households.Nanbu Town official statistics
/ref> The total area of the town is .

Geography

Nanbu is located in southeastern of Aomori Prefecture, in the eastern part of Sannohe District. The

Mabechi River 270px, Ogami Rock overlooking the Basenkyō ravine in Iwate The is a river located in northern Iwate Prefecture and eastern Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū in Japan. Overview The Mabechi River is long and has a wat ...

flows from east to west in the center of the town. The terrain is flat along the Mabuchi River, but there are few flatlands and most of the town is hilly. In the southern part of the town, Mt. Nakui has an elevation of 615 meters.

Neighbouring municipalities

* Sannohe District **

Sannohe is a town located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 9,814 in 4260 households, and a population density of 65 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Sannohe occupies an inland area in sout ...

** Shingō **

Gonohe is a town located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 16,880, and a population density of 95 persons per km2 in 7,006 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Gonohe is located in the north-e ...

Hachinohe is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city ...

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectu ...

* Ninohe * Karumai

Climate

The town has a cold

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

characterized by cool short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Nanbu is 10.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1198 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nambu has declined over the past 60 years.

History

When the

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai ...

relocated from Kai Province to their holdings in

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the co ...

in the early

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by ...

, they established their residence and clan temple in what is now the town of Nanbu. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, the area was controlled by

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

and later by

Hachinohe Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan It is located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honshū. The domain was centered at Hachinohe Castle, located in the center of what is now the city of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture. History O ...

. Hirasaki and Muko villages were created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. These two villages merged on April 20, 1955 to create the village of Nanbu. Nanbu was elevated to town status on February 11, 1959. On January 1, 2006, Nanbu merged with Fukuchi and Nagawa into the new town of Nanbu.

Government

Nanbu 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, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

town council of 16 members. Nanbu is part of Sannohe District which contributes three members to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Aomori 2nd district Aomori 2nd district (青森県第2区, ''Aomori-ken dai-niku'' or simply 青森2区, ''Aomori-niku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is located ...

of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

Education

Nanbu has eight public elementary schools and four public middle school operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education.

Economy

The economy of Nanbu is heavily dependent on agriculture, especially

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. The main crops are

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

and

European pear ''Pyrus communis'', the common pear, is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe, and western Asia. It is one of the most important fruits of temperate regions, being the species from which most orchard pear cultivars grown in Euro ...

Transportation

Railway

Aoimori Railway Company The is a public-private transport company that operates the Aoimori Railway Line in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Its headquarters are located in the city of Aomori. The government of Aomori Prefecture and the city of Aomori are the primary shareh ...

–

Aoimori Railway Line The is a regional rail line in Aomori Prefecture, Japan that is operated by the Aoimori Railway Company. It connects the terminal station of the Iwate Galaxy Railway Line, Metoki Station, in the town of Sannohe to Aomori Station, the termi ...

** – – –

Highway

* *

Local attractions

*Ruins of Shōjujidate Castle, a National Historic Site * Nakuidake Prefectural Natural Park

Noted people from Nanbu

*Satoru Sakamoto, musician *Hirotaka Neichi, professional baseball player *Yoshimi Akaishi, voice actor * Tsutomu Sakamoto , cyclist, bronze medal winner in

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Aomori Prefecture