Suwa

History

The shores of Lake Suwa have been inhabited since at least the Japanese Paleolithic period. The Suwa clan ruled the area from the Nara period onward, and the area developed as a castle town for Suwa Domain during the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate and as a post station on the Kōshū Kaidō highway. In the post-Meiji restoration cadastral reforms of April 1, 1889, the village of Kamisuwa was established. Kamisuwa was elevated to town status on April 20, 1891. After merger with the villages of Shiga and Toyoda (from Suwa District), Kamisuwa was elevated to city status on August 10, 1941, changing its name to Suwa.

Geography

Suwa is located in central Nagano Prefecture, bordered on the north and west by Lake Suwa, approximately 100 kilometers south of the prefectural capital of Nagano city, and two hours by car from either central Tokyo or Nagoya.

Surrounding municipalities

Nagano Prefecture

Chino

Ina

Minowa

Nagawa

Okaya

Shimosuwa

Tatsuno

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild but cold winters (Köppen climate classification Dfa). The average annual temperature in Suwa is 11.4 °C (52.5 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,301.5 mm (51.24 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.1 °C (75.4 °F), and lowest in January, at around −1.1 °C (30.0 °F).

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Suwa peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

Government

Suwa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 15 members.

Economy

The Suwa region is the leading industrial area of Nagano and was once known as "The Oriental Switzerland" in Japan for its highly developed precision machinery industry. Seiko Epson Corporation, a manufacturer of information-related equipment and Seiko timepieces, is headquartered in Suwa. The area is also a popular tourist destination, noted for its hot spring resorts.

Education

Suwa has seven public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools and one combined middle/high school operated by the Nagano Prefectural Board of Education. The Japanese Red Cross Society Suwa School of Nursing is also located in the city.

Colégio Sal e Luz, a Brazilian school, was previously located in Suwa. It moved to Okaya.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company - Chūō Main Line

Kami-Suwa

Highway

Chūō Expressway

National Route 20

Sister cities

Suwa is twinned with:

- Amboise, France, sister city since March 4, 1987

- Kundl, Tirol, Austria

- St. Louis, Missouri, US, sister city since September 23, 1974

- Wörgl, Tirol, Austria

Local attractions

Onbashira (literally, "the honored log") festival held every six years (in the years of the Tiger and the Monkey). As part of the event, very large trees up in the hills are felled and brought down into the valley, pulling them with ropes and sliding them down hills. To demonstrate their bravery, young men from the area ride on the logs as they hurtle down the slopes.

Sunritz Hattori Museum of Arts

Takashima Castle (高島城 Takashima-jō). The castle is also known as ’The Floating Castle of Suwa’ (諏訪の浮城 Suwa-no-uki-shirō) or Shimazaki Castle (島崎城 Shimazaki-jō).

In popular media

Suwa forms the backdrop for much of Sayo Masuda's Autobiography of a Geisha.

The characters Sanae Kochiya, Kanako Yasaka, and Suwako Moriya in the Touhou Project originate from this area.

Notable people

Sakuhei Fujiwhara, meteorologist

George Iida, movie director, author

Mari Kaneko, female karateka and mixed martial arts fighter

Akira Kinoshita, photographer

Kenichi Mikawa, singer

Tetsuzan Nagata, general in the Imperial Japanese Army

Paul Tsuchihashi, priest and academic