Mount Jonen and Mount Yokotoshi from the Azusa River

is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

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 ...

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 city 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 97,761 in 39744 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 290 persons per km². Its total area is .

Etymology of Azumino

Azumino is a combination of two words, "Azumi" and "no". "Azumi" comes from the

Azumi people The were a warrior clan and tribe who originated during the Jōmon period in Japan, whose cultures and beliefs are considered to be one of Japan's earliest sea religions. Their existence dates back to the early 3rd – 7th centuries, when their ...

, who are said to have moved to the "no" (plain) in ancient times. The Azumi people originally lived in northern

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, and were famed for their skills in fishing and navigation. "The Azumi people" can be translated as "the people who live on the sea." The reason why the seafaring people migrated to this mountainous region is a mystery.

Geography

Azumino is located in the Azumino Plateau on the northwestern end of the Matsumoto Basin, between mountain ranges to the west and east. The range of mountains on the western border is known as the Northern Alps (

Hida Mountains The , or , is a Japanese mountain range which stretches through Nagano, Toyama and Gifu prefectures. A small portion of the mountains also reach into Niigata Prefecture. William Gowland coined the phrase "Japanese Alps" during his time in Jap ...

) and is popular among hikers all over Japan. To the south is the city of Matsumoto, Nagano prefecture's second largest city. To the north lies the city of Ōmachi, and north of Ōmachi is the village of

Hakuba is a village located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. As of April 1, 2019, the village had an estimated population of 9,007 in 4267 households, and a population density of 48 persons per km2. The total area of the village is . Hakuba is located i ...

. Hakuba was the site of many of the ski events during the 1998

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...

. Mount Jōnen at is the highest elevation in the city.

Surrounding municipalities

*Nagano Prefecture **

Chikuhoku is a village located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 4,688 in 1,873 households, and a population density of 47 persons per km2. The total area of the village is . Geography Chikuhoku is located in the ce ...

** Ikeda **

Ikusaka is a village located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the village has an estimated population of 1,743 in 721 households, and a population density of 44.6 persons per km2. The total area of the village is . Geography Ikusaka is located in the cen ...

** Matsukawa ** Matsumoto ** Ōmachi

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Azumino is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The mountainous portions of the city are considered part of the

snow country is a novel by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. The novel is considered a classic work of Japanese literature and was among the three novels the Nobel Committee cited in 1968, when Kawabata was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Writ ...

of Japan, with heavy accumulations of snow in winter.

History

The area of present-day Azumino was part of ancient

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. The area was part of the holdings of

Matsumoto Domain file:Matsumoto Castle, administrative headquarters of Matsumoto Domain.jpg, 250px, Matsumoto Castle, administrative headquarters of Matsumoto Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is locat ...

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 modern city of Azumino was established on October 1, 2005, by the merger of the town of Akashina (from Higashichikuma District), the towns of Hotaka and Toyoshina, and the villages of Horigane and Misato (all from Minamiazumi District).

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Azumino has recently plateaued after several decades of growth.

Government

Azumino 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 ...

city legislature of 22 members.

Education

Azumino has ten public elementary schools and seven public middle schools. The city has four public high schools operated by the Nagano Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company 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 ...

Ōito Line The is a railway line in Japan which connects Matsumoto Station in Nagano Prefecture with Itoigawa Station in Niigata Prefecture. There are two operators on the line: East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West ...

** - - - - - - - - *

Shinonoi Line The is a railway line in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Shinonoi Station in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano with Shiojiri Station in Shiojiri, Nagano, Shiojiri. The line is a corridor between ...

** -

Highway

* Nagano Expressway * * * *

Sister cities

Domestic

* Misato, Saitama,

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 ( ...

Edogawa, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. It takes its name from the Edo River that runs from north to south along the eastern edge of the ward. In English, it uses the name Edogawa City. The easternmo ...

Musashino, Tokyo is a city located in the western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 147,754 in 78,614 households, and a population density of 13,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Based on the 201 ...

Manazuru, Kanagawa is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 6,949 and a population density of 1000 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Located in the southeast of Mo ...

Sangō, Nara 280px, Tasuta Taisha is a town located in Ikoma District, Nara Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 22,529 in 10,673 households, and a population density of 2600 persons per km2. The total area of the town is Geograph ...

Higashi-ku, Fukuoka is one of the seven Wards of Japan, wards of Fukuoka in Japan. As of 1 March 2012, it has a population of 296,576, with 136,133 households, and an area of 66.68 km2. Its name literally means "east ward". Kashii, Japan, Kashii is in this ...

International

* - Kramsach,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, since November 25, 1993 * - Collierville,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, United States

Local attractions

*Azumino is home to the world's largest

wasabi Wasabi (Japanese language, Japanese: , , or , ) or Japanese horseradish (''Eutrema japonicum'' syn. ''Wasabia japonica'') is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and Mustard plant, mustard in other genus, genera. ...

farm,

Daio Wasabi Farm The is a wasabi farm established in 1915 and located in Azumino, Nagano Prefecture near the center of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It is a popular tourist spot due to its watermills and the river that runs through it. A restaurant offe ...

. * Jōkyō Gimin Memorial Museum * Hotaka Jinja * Mount Jōnen * Mount Chō

Notable people from Azumino

* Keikoku Fujimori (1835–1905), artist and educator * Kigenji Iguchi (1870–1938), educator *

Masaaki Iinuma was a Japanese aviator. Iinuma was born in Toyoshina (now part of Azumino, Nagano Prefecture), and was a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army flying school at Tokorozawa. At age 24 he gained fame as the pilot on the , a Mitsubishi Ki-15 ' ...

(1912–1941), pilot and aviation pioneer * Kiyoshi Kiyosawa (1890–1945), journalist *

Kei Kumai was a Japanese film director. After his studies in literature at Shinshu University, he began work as a director's assistant. He won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his first film, '' Nihon rettō'', in 1965. His 1972 film ...

(1930–2007), film director * Kyūsaku Matsuzawa (1855–1887), people's rights activist * Risaku Mutai (1890–1974), philosopher * Rokuzan Ogiwara (1879–1910), sculptor * Aizō Sōma (1870–1954), founded Nakamuraya *

Tada Kasuke (date of birth unknown—died January 1, 1687, or in the third year of the Jōkyō era) was a Japanese farmer who led a failed appeal for lowered taxes in Azumidaira, a part of the Matsumoto Domain under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate. He ...

(?–1687), executed farmer * Setsuro Takahashi (1914–2007), lacquerware artist * Etsujirō Uehara (1877–1962), political scientist and politician *

Bumpei Usui was a Japanese-born American painter known for his Social realism, social realist cityscapes and scenes of urban life as well as his interiors, flower studies, and still lifes. A critic described his style as "cultivated realism" in 1935. Other cr ...

, a professional artist, came from Tōmi in Horikin Village, Minami Azumino County, Nagano Prefecture. *

Yoshimi Usui was a Japanese writer and critic from Azumino, Nagano prefecture. Usui won the 1974 10th Tanizaki Prize for ''Azumino'' (安曇野). In 1977 he published a novelised account of Kawabata's death that led to a lawsuit against him by the Nobel P ...

(1905–1987), editor and writer

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Nagano Prefecture