A SURVEY OF NANTO CITY
As of November 1, 2004 eight towns and villages, (Johana, Taira, Kamitaira, Toga, Inami, Inokuchi, Fukuno, and Fukumitsu) merged into a new city called Nanto City. Nanto City’s population is roughly 58,000.
Location and Geography
Nanto City is in Toyama Prefecture positioned in the southeast corner. Nanto City is bordered by Kanazawa City in Ishikawa Prefecture on the west, Hida City and Shirakawa Village in Gifu Prefecture on the south. The mountains have great natural scenery and a park called Hakusan National Park. The plains, that run between Sho River and Oyabe River, are blessed with clean water and rich rice fields. In addition Nanto City is well known for its Scattered Villages “sankyo-son”which is a special unique attribute in Japan. Nanto City has 668.86 km2. It is 26km from east to west and 39km from north to south. In the south part of Toyama Prefecture the city has the largest geographical area.
Development and Special Manufactured Goods
From the Medieval Period to present day, Zuisen Temple has been constructed, Zentoku Temple has been relocated. Old Inami, old Johana, as towns built originally in front of the temples, and old Fukuno, and old Fukumitu, as marketplace, have prospered. Under the order of the Kaga Clan, many new rice fields were continually being planted. Thached Roof Houses for heavy snow "Gassho-zukuri" can often be seen in Gokayama region. These inherent culture originate from the natural climate. Recently, maintenance of the network of roads and geographical administration has been urged; and the connection among the various geographical areas has strengthened due to the merger into Nanto City.
Population and Household Numbers
According
to the 2000 Census research, among the eight towns and villages the population
is 60,182. The household numbers are 16,892; and for each household there
are approximately 3.56 people per household. Compared with the 1995 Census
research, the number of hoseholds has changed a little. However, the population
has been decreasing. An analysis of the age ratio shows that the youth makes
up 13.5% and the old aged makes up 25.6% of the total populations. Studies
show that the old aged population is increasing.
|
Year |
1990 |
1995 |
2000 |
2005 |
Toyama Prefecture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Population |
65,113 |
62,965 |
60,182 |
58,137 |
1,111,602 |
|
Total Households |
16,598 |
17,005 |
16,892 |
16,980 |
371,732 |
|
People/ household |
3.92 |
3.70 |
3.56 |
3.42 |
2.99 |
Industry
The percentage work force in the Primary and Manufacturing Industry have been decreasing and the persentage of Service Industry became higher than Manufacturing Industry from 2000.
Within the city, the nature of industry varies among the mountains and the plains. The plains concentrate on aluminium products, civil engineering, architecture, and mechanical engineering whereas the mountains concentrate more on general construction and tourism facilities. Service also makes up for a high percentage of industries in the moutains.
From the Azuchi Momoyama period many silk products were produced. About three hundred wood carvers produce goods. The wood carvers are known to be the best in all of Japan. Also many lovers of baseball can appreciate the wooden bats that are produced here. The area works hard to promote specialty goods made only in Nanto City.
Thanks to Nanto City’s rich agriculture of clean water and fertile soil, Nanto City is able to produce excellent rice, among other products, persimmons, taro potatoes, tulips and tasty buckwheat.
Tourism and Events
Gokayama is filled with cultural aspects such as folk songs like Mugiya-bushi, and Kokiriko. In addition, it has Thatched Roof Villages, which were added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List in 1995. Johana is known as “Little Kyoto in Ecchu region” with beautiful rows of houses along the sidestreets. Among these houses there lived a famous wood carver named Shiko Munakata. A commemoration building called “Aizenen” was built to recognize his life and his works. In the streets of Inami, one can still hear the sound of wood hammers beating. The art of woodcarving continues to draw tourist from all around to see the spectacle.
In regards to events, Toga Village is the host of world-renowned drama festival, “Toga Summer Arts Program”. There is the harvest festival called Fukumitsu Netsuokuri Tanabata, as well as “Sukiyaki meets the World”, a festival that lights up the night with the tone of folk songs on steel drums.
In the fall there are various dance festivals in the area. Two of the more famous ones are the Mugiya and Kokiriko. Lovers of great craftsmanship love the Nanto Chrysanthemum Festival. Also, Nanto City foods “taro potato Dengaku” is popular. There is a festival dedicated in their honor, Satoimo Festival. Many people also come to try the amazingly tasty black soybeans.
During the winter months up until May one can enjoy Snow Valley Toga Ski Slopes. Within the city, there are up to five different ski slopes so family, young, and old, can enjoy skiing and snowboarding down these slopes.
By using the Tokai Highway one can use the service areas to see “Sakuragaike Kurgardens”, and visit hot springs along Sho and Oyabe Rivers. All the seasons provide something special for tourist to see.
Annual event Calendar
| Spring Festival | |
|---|---|
| Inokuchi Camellia Festival | (the end of March) |
| Seasonal Gokayama Spring Night Festival | (the middle of April) |
| Gokayama Spring Festival | (from the middle of April to the beginning of May) |
| Yotaka Festival | (the 1st and 2nd of May) |
| Yoiyasa Festival | (the 2nd and3rd of May) |
| Toga Spring Festival | (from the 3rd to 5th of May) |
| Johana Hikiyama Festival | (from the 4th to 5th of May) |
| Fureai Crucian fishing | (the middle of May) |
| Summer Festival | |
| Fukumitsu Netsuokuri Festival | (the end of July) |
| Taishiden Festival | (fro the 21st to 29th of July) |
| Inami Taishiden Tourism Festival | (the end of July) |
| Zentoku Temple airing Festival | (from the 22nd to 28th of July) |
| Toga Summer Arts Program | (the end of August) |
| Climbing Junior Olympic | (the middle of August) |
| Sukiyaki Meet the World | (the end of August) |
| Autumun | |
| Johana Mugiya Festival | (the middle of September) |
| Gokayama Japanese Paper Festival | (the middle of September) |
| Gokayama Mugiya Festival | (from the 23rd to 24th of September) |
| Kokiriko Festival | (from the 25th to 26th of September) |
| Don-to Toga Mountain Festival | (the middle of October) |
| Nanto Chrysanthemum Festival | (the beginning of Feburuary) |
| Annual discharging water in the World Heritage Suganuma Gassho-style village | (the beginning of November) |
| Yuki-Koi (Snow Love) Festival | (the 23rd of November) |
| Taro Potato Festival | (the 23rd of November) |
| Winter Festival | |
| Annual Big Market "Toshi-no-Oichi" | (the 27th of December) |
| Ecchu Ichinomiya Takase Shrine New year's Day | (the 1st of January) |
| The Snowball fight in Johana | (the first Sunday of February) |
| Fukumitsu Snow Light Festival | (the beginning of February) |
| Snow Land Festival "Ice Fes" | (the beginning of February) |
| Seasonal Gokayama Snow Light | (the beginning of February) |
| Kanjiki-snow shoes Country Championship | (the beginning of February) |
| Kokiriko Tasty Festival | (the middle of February) |
| Toga Soba Festival | (the middle of February) |
| Tsugomori Big Market | (the 28th of February) |
Transportation
Nanto City is 40km from the prefectural capital, Toyama City. From the capital it takes about an hour to get to Nanto City by taking the JR Hokuriku Line and then changing to the Johana Line. Highways 156, 304, 471 also run north and south of the city. Road maintenance is currently in progress.
In regards to the Interstate Highways, all roads on Hokuriku Highway are open. Currently, Nouetsu Highway and Tokai Hokuriku Highways are under construction. Once they have been completed they will vastly shorten the length of time it takes to go to the Nagoya regions“Chukyo”area. Also within an hour from Toyama Airport, there are various industries and attractions that are currently expanding.
