Nishiki, Kumamoto

Nishiki 錦町
Town
Higo-nishinomura station front
Flag Chapter
Location of Nishiki in Kumamoto Prefecture
Nishiki Location in Japan
Coordinates: 32°12′04″N130°50′28″E / 32.20111°N 130.84111°E / 32.20111; 130.84111
Country	Japan
Region	Kyushu
Prefecture	Kumamoto
District	Kuma
Area
• Total	85.04 km2 (32.83 sq mi)
Population  (August 31, 2024)
• Total	10,046
• Density	120/km2 (310/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address	1587 Ichibu, Nishiki-cho, Kuma-gun, Kumamoto-ken 868-0392
Website	Official website
Symbols
Bird	Meadow bunting
Flower	Rose
Tree	Fagaceae

Nishiki Town Hall

Nishiki (錦町, Nishiki-machi) ^[a] is a town located in Kuma District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 August 2024 ^[update] , the town had an estimated population of 10,046 in 3975 households, and a population density of 49 persons per km². ^[1] The total area of the town is 85.04 km² (32.83 sq mi). The town's name is the Japanese word for "brocade", and is used as a name for more than one town in Japan.

Geography

Nishiki is located in the southern part of Kumamoto prefecture, approximately 70 kilometers south-southeast of the prefectural capital at Kumamoto, Kumamoto. The northern portion of the town lies in flat terrain that forms part of the Hitoyoshi Basin; the Kuma River borders the town to the east and west. The southern reaches of the Kyushu Mountains adjoins one corner of the town limits. The southernmost corner of the townsland meets the prefectural border with Miyazaki Prefecture.

Neighboring municipalities

Kumamoto Prefecture

• Asagiri
• Hitoyoshi
• Sagara

Miyazaki Prefecture

• Ebino

Climate

Nishiki has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nishiki is 14.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2328 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.7 °C. ^[2]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nishiki is as shown below

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1940	9,334	—
1950	13,891	+48.8%
1960	13,989	+0.7%
1970	10,859	−22.4%
1980	10,679	−1.7%
1990	11,728	+9.8%
2000	11,975	+2.1%
2010	11,075	−7.5%
2020	10,288	−7.1%

History

The area of Nishiki was part of ancient Higo Province, During the Edo Period it was part of the holdings of Hitoyoshi Domain. After the Meiji restoration, the villages of Ichibu, Nishi and Kinoue were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The three villages were merged on July 1, 1955 to form the village of Nishiki, which was elevated to town status on April 1, 1965.

World War II

During the closing years of the Second World War, a major base of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Hitoyoshi Naval Air Group was located near the town. ^[3] Relatively little is currently known about the base and its operations due to a loss of records and institutional memory both during and after the war. The remains of the base extend over 36,000 m² (390,000 sq ft) of land, and houses underground facilities in more than 10 locations, including an operations room and a large torpedo preparation area. ^[3] In 2015, a full archeological survey of the site was initiated by the municipal government via the Nishiki board of education to discover more about the base and its past, with a view to eventually opening it up to tourism. ^[3] This followed the discovery by the local government of a copy of a floor plan for the base.

Government

Nishiki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 11 members. Nishiki, collectively with the other municipalities of Kuma District, contributes two members to the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Kumamoto 4th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Flag

The current town flag was adopted in 1956, however there is no formal flag law codifying this. ^[4] The flag is green with a town emblem in the center. The emblem is a stylized katakana ニNi of Nishiki. The circle "symbolizes a reconciliation and the mountain, the river and the sun do the town located in the center of Kuma Basin which is expanding to the future". ^[4]

Economy

The town's economy is primarily based around agriculture (primarily pear, peach and rice cultivation) and leisure tourism activities such as golf holidays, though the Nishiki plant of Renesas Semiconductor (formerly NEC Kumamoto) is also a major contributor. The Nishiki plant specializes in LSI manufacturing. The total economic output of Nishiki for fiscal year 2004 was ¥ 40.7 billion yen.

Education

Nishiki has three public elementary schools and one public junior high schools operated by the town government, and two public high schools operated by the Kumamoto Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Kumagawa Railroad - Yunomae Line

• Higo-Nishimura - Ichibu - Kinoe

Highway

• National Route 219

Notes

1. In some translations, especially machine based, the name is mis-translated as Nishikicho (Nishiki-cho).

References

1. "Nishiki Town official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
2. Nishiki climate: Average Temperature, weather by month
3. Miyashiro, Eiichi (2 February 2016), "Archaeologists dig up answers in new study on remnants from World War II", The Asahi Shimbun , archived from the original on 3 February 2016, retrieved 2 February 2016
4. Nishiki Town (Kumamoto prefecture, Japan) 錦町 – Flags of the World

External links

• Media related to Nishiki, Kumamoto at Wikimedia Commons
• Nishiki official website (in Japanese)
• 熊本県の市町村旗一覧 (Municipality Flag List of Kumamoto Prefecture) Japanese Wikipedia (in Japanese)