Toyosato, Shiga

Toyosato 豊郷町
—  Town  —
Location of Toyosato in Shiga
Toyosato
Coordinates: 35°12′1.17″N 136°13′47.52″E
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Shiga
District	Inukami
Government
• Mayor	Sadamu Itō
Area
• Total	7.78 km2 (3.00 sq mi)
Population (2003)
• Total	7,292
• Density	Bad rounding here940/km2 (Bad rounding here2,400/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City symbols
- Tree	Quercus phillyraeoides
- Flower	Rhododendron
Phone number	0749-35-8111
Address	375, Ishibatake, Toyosato-chō, Inukami-gun, Shiga-ken 529-1169
Website	Town of Toyosato

Toyosato (豊郷町, Toyosato-chō) is a town located in the Inukami District of Shiga, Japan.

As of 2003, Toyosato's estimated population was 7,292 and had a density of 937.28 persons per km². The total area is 7.78 km², which makes it the smallest town in Shiga prefecture. It is said to be the home of Goshu Ondo.

From Feudal to modern times, Toyosato has been the home of many merchants because of economic encouragement from daimyo and because traffic can flow smoothly(Nakasendō), although it was not an area that had good irrigation for agriculture. Successful merchants such as the founder of Itochu contributed to the modernization of the city. Tetsujirō Furukawa donated ferroconcrete school buildings designed by William Merrell Vories for the Toyosato Elementary School in 1937. The Toyosato Elementary School moved to a new building in 2004, but the residents of Toyosato moved to preserve the historic school. In 2009, the anime K-On! featured a school modeled on Toyosato Elementary, which drew the attention of otaku.

References

• The compilation committee of Kadokawa Nihon Chimei Daijiten (1979). Kadokawa Nihon Chimei Daijiten 25 Shiga-ken. Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten.

External links

Media related to Toyosato, Shiga at Wikimedia Commons

• Toyosato official website (Japanese)
• Toyosato Tourism Association (Japanese)