Country Japan Area 140.8 km² Region Shikoku District Kaifu District, Tokushima | Prefecture Tokushima Prefecture Population 7,771 (1 Jan 2013) Local time Monday 6:10 AM Bird Common house martin | |
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Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) Website www.town.minami.tokushima.jp Weather 7°C, Wind W at 6 km/h, 93% Humidity | ||
Minami (美波町, Minami-chō) is a town located in Kaifu District, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan.
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Map of Minami, Kaifu District, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
It was founded on March 31, 2006 from the merger of the towns of Hiwasa and Yuki, both from Kaifu District.
Located 50 km south of prefecture's capital, Tokushima city, Minami is over 33 km from east to west, and covers an area of approximately 140.8 km². It is bordered on the southwest by the Kaifu mountains and on the east by the Pacific Ocean, making Minami a scenic town surrounded by mountains and sea. As of January 1, 2013 the town has an estimated population of 7,771, with 3,502 households and a density of 55.19 persons per km². The total area is 140.85 km².
In 2009/2010 Minami Town was one of the locations for NHK's TV drama 'Welkame' (ウェルかめ), which featured some of the towns beaches, its Autumn festival, and Minami's sea turtle museum. As a result, the town experienced an increase in domestic tourism.
Access
Minami is a little over one hour from Tokushima city by car, but can also be reached in one hour by express train from Tokushima Station on the JR Mugi Line. It is a one and a half hour drive from Tokushima Airport.
Festivals
Hiwasa Hachiman Jinja Autumn Festival
A two-day harvest festival held one weekend early October every year. On the first day of the festival, the eight neighborhoods in Hiwasa parade their portable shrine on wheels through the streets of the town while praying for the safety of the townspeople and success in fishing. On the second day about 50 men from each neighborhood carry the portable shrine onto the beach and finally into the ocean, quite literally, proceeding through the waves to the far end of the beach. Each neighborhood vies with the others to put on the most spectacular display and also to prove their strength and bravery by taking their shrine furthest through the ocean waves. The heavy wooden portable shrines, known as chosa, each weigh about a tonne and four children ride atop the shrine drumming taiko drums.
On the first evening of the festival there is a night bazaar with various refreshments and traditional dancing and taiko drumming, culminating in a spectacular fireworks display.
Records of this festival go back to 1795, but the festival in its current form was started in 1957.