Yoshinogari is located in the northern part of Saga Prefecture. It is about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Saga City and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Fukuoka. Yoshinogari is very narrow north to south. The southern part contains the northern end of the Chikushi Plains (part of the Saga Plains), and north of the Nagasaki Expressway is the southern end of the Sefuri Mountains.
Yoshinogari has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Yoshinogari is 15.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1946 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.0 °C.[3]
Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Yoshinogari is as shown below. [4]
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1940
7,728
—
1950
11,365
+47.1%
1960
13,006
+14.4%
1970
13,864
+6.6%
1980
14,506
+4.6%
1990
15,678
+8.1%
2000
16,042
+2.3%
2010
16,381
+2.1%
2020
16,323
−0.4%
History
The area of Yoshinogari was part of ancient Hizen Province. During the Edo Period, it was part of the holdings of Saga Domain. Following the Meiji restoration, the villages of Mitagawa and Higashi-Sefuri were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1965 Mitagawa was raised to town status. Mitagawa and Higashi-Sefuri merged to form the town of Yoshinogari on March 1, 2006. The town took its name from the remains of a Yayoi period moat-encircled village that was discovered on Yoshinogari Hill in 1986 at the site of a planned factory housing complex.
Government
Yoshinogari has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 12 members. Yoshinogari, collectively with the other municipalities of Miyaki District, contributes two members to the Saga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Saga 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.