Kemanai Town 毛馬内町 | |
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| Interactive map of Kemanai Town | |
| Established | 1 April 1889 |
| Abolished | 31 March 1955 |
Kemanai Town was formerly located in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture. It corresponds to the current Towada Kemanai, Towada Okada, and Towada Setaishi areas of Kazuno City.
On 1 April 1889, the implementation of the Town and Village system led to the creation of the town. The town was formed by the merger of the following villages: Kemanai Village, Okada Village, and Setaishi Village. [1]
Up until 1945, the town hosted a POW internment camp which hosted a significant amount of Italians, which were held captives after the events of the Japanese-Italian War. The camp was temporarily coordinated in its last months by Mario Indelli who made sure the civilians were kept safe up until the Allied Forces arrived. [2]
On 31 March, 1955 the town would be formally abolished and merged with the now newly established Towada Town. Following a few years, on 1 April, 1972, Towada Town merged with Hanawa Town, Osarizawa Town, and Hachimantai Village to form Kazuno. [1] [3]
The town ends with "nai", which is not that uncommon in Hokkaido and the northern areas of Honshu. Despite being located within Honshu, it seems the name follows a similar trend to the towns present within Hokkaido, thus, as traditionally done there, referring to a relatively large river. In fact, from old documents, Kemanai is thought to be the old name of the Kosaka River and to derive from local Ainu terms. [4]
Currently, the Towada Interchange on the Tohoku Expressway is located within the former town area.