Nanbu (南部町, Nanbu-chō) is a town located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 June 2019[update], the town had an estimated population of 7222 in 3149 households,[1] and a population density of 36 persons per km2. The total area of the town is 200.63 square kilometres (77.46 sq mi).
Geography
Nanbu is the southernmost municipality in Yamanashi Prefecture. The Fuji River runs through the town. Some 90% of the town's area is covered with forest, and less than 4% is used for agriculture. At an average elevation of 150 meters, Nanbu has the lowest elevation of any municipality in Yamanashi.
The town has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (Köppen climate classificationCfa). The average annual temperature in Nanbu is 15.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1858 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.5 °C.[2]
Climate data for Nanbu (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1977−present)
Per Japanese census data,[5] the population of Nanbu has declined steadily over the past 80 years.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1940
19,293
—
1950
17,911
−7.2%
1960
16,124
−10.0%
1970
13,576
−15.8%
1980
12,465
−8.2%
1990
11,826
−5.1%
2000
10,863
−8.1%
2010
9,011
−17.0%
2020
7,156
−20.6%
History
The area around present-day Nanbu is the ancestral home of the Nanbu clan, a prominent daimyō clan in northern Japan during the Edo period. During the Edo period, all of Kai Province was tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate. During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period on April 1, 1889, the village of Nanbu was created within Minamikoma District, Yamanashi Prefecture. The village was raised to town status in 1955.
Nanbu merged with the neighboring town of Tomizawa on March 1, 2003, forming the new town of Nanbu.
Economy
Traditionally, forest and the cultivation of green tea were mainstays of the local economy.
Education
Nanbu has four public elementary schools (Mutsuai ES, Sakae ES, Tomikawa ES and Manzawa ES) and one public junior high school (Nanbu JHS) operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school, so students must commute to neighboring town of Minobu or to the city of Fujinomiya in Shizuoka Prefecture.
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