Aira

Aira is a city in central Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan, lying west of Kirishima and north of Kagoshima city. It took its present form on 23 March 2010, when the former city of Aira joined the towns of Kajiki and Kamo. The territory runs roughly 25 kilometres north to south and 24 kilometres east to west, with part of its southeast side facing Kagoshima Bay, where four rivers deposit the alluvial Aira Plain that carries the main urban area; the northern edge is lined with mountains of the Kitasatsu Volcanic Group. Its history reaches back to Paleolithic habitation, the Hayato people and the Shimazu clan. The local economy mixes agriculture, fishing, forestry, light manufacturing and food processing, and the climate is humid subtropical with heavy rain from June to September.