Minamiise, Mie

Minamiise (南伊勢町) is a town located in Watarai District, Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 11,745 in 5752 households and a population density of 48 persons per km2. The total area of the town was 241.89 sqkm.

Geography
Minamiise occupies a ria coastal region with numerous deeply indented bays located in the eastern part of the Kii Peninsula in central Mie Prefecture, along the Kumano Sea. Parts of Minamiise are inside Ise-Shima National Park.

Neighboring municipalities
Mie Prefecture
 * Ise
 * Shima
 * Watarai
 * Taiki

Climate
Minamiise has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Minamiise is 15.9 C. The average annual rainfall is 2273.5 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.7 C, and lowest in January, at around 5.9 C.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Minamiise has decreased rapidly over the past 70 years and is now much less the it was a century ago.

History
The area of Minamiise was once part of the ancient Shima Province, and was transferred to Ise Province in 1582. The village of Gokasho was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to town status in 1940. Gokasho merged with the neighboring villages of Honohara, Minami and Shikutaso to form the town of Nansei in 1955. On October 1, 2005, Nansei merged with the town of Nantō to form the town of Minamiise.

Government
Minamiise has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 14 members. Minamiise, collectively with the other municipalities in Watari District, contributes two members to the Mie Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Mie 4th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy
The economy of Minamiise is dominated by commercial fishing, including the raising of pearl oysters. Most of the business center around main town centers of Nansei and Nanto.

Education
Minamiise has three public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Mie Prefectural Board of Education.

Railway

 * Minamise has no passenger train service.

Noted people from Minamiise

 * Kiriko Isono, actress, entertainer