Ōgawara, Miyagi

Ōgawara

大河原町
Ōgawara 大河原町
Town
	Ōgawara Town Office
	Sakura
- Bird	Swan
Phone number	0224-53-2111
Address	19 Shin-minami, Ōgawara-machi, Shibata-gun, Miyagi-ken 989-1295
Website	Official website

Ōgawara (大河原町, Ōgawara-machi) is a

town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 March 2020, the town had an estimated population of 23,618, and a population density of 950persons per km² in 9,925 households.^[1]

The total area of the town is 24.99 square kilometres (9.65 sq mi).

Geography

Ōgawara is located in south-central Miyagi Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. The Shiroishi River runs through the town.

Neighboring municipalities

Miyagi Prefecture

Climate

Ōgawara has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) characterized by mild summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Ōgawara is 12.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1272 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.4 °C.^[2]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,^[3] the population of Ōgawara has steadily increased over the past 60 years.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1920	8,536	—
1930	9,957	+16.6%
1940	10,642	+6.9%
1950	15,656	+47.1%
1960	15,279	−2.4%
1970	16,033	+4.9%
1980	19,332	+20.6%
1990	20,901	+8.1%
2000	22,767	+8.9%
2010	23,530	+3.4%
2020	23,571	+0.2%

History

The area of present-day Ōgawara was part of ancient

Meiji restoration

modern municipalities system. The town annexed the neighboring village of Kanegase on September 30, 1955. However, an effort to merge Ōgawara with the neighboring towns of Shibata and Murata in 2002 was rejected by the town assembly in 2004.

Government

Ōgawara has a

Diet of Japan

.

Economy

The economy of Ōgawara is largely based on agriculture.

Education

Ōgawara has three public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and two public high schools operated by the Miyagi Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.