Nakagawa, Tochigi

Nakagawa is a town in northeast Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, with an estimated population of 15,824 in 6,028 households as of 1 August 2020 and a total area of 192.79 square kilometres. It was created on 1 October 2005 by the merger of the towns of Bato and Ogawa; Bato itself dated from the municipal system of 1891. The town has a humid subtropical climate with warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall, and an average annual temperature of 12.8 degrees Celsius. Its economy depends heavily on agriculture. Part of the town was designated one of The Most Beautiful Villages in Japan in 2013. Local attractions include Bato onsen, the Karanogosho Cave Tombs, the ruins of Nasu Kanda Castle and the Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art. The town neighbours Ibaraki Prefecture and the Tochigi municipalities of Otawara, Nasukarasuyama and Sakura, and has been linked with Horseheads, New York, since 1990.