Nagano [village] - Nagano

Japanese: 奈川[村] - ながわ

A village in Minamiazumi County, western Nagano Prefecture. Population 1,243 (1995). Located in the basin of the Nakawa River, a tributary of the Azusa River, 90% of the village area is forest and wilderness. There are small settlements along the Nakawa River, but very little cultivated land. The Nomugi Highway, which crosses the Nomugi Pass, connects Hida Takayama with Matsumoto, and from the Edo period to the end of the Meiji period, there were people who made a living by transporting goods using oxen, and they were called Nakawa no ushigai. It was also a route taken by female workers who left Hida to work at the silk mills in Okaya. The road fell into disuse after the opening of the Chuo Main Line. In 1969, the Nakawato Dam was completed, and an artificial lake, Lake Azusa, was created.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

長野県西部，南安曇（みなみあずみ）郡の村。人口1243(1995)。梓川の支流奈川の流域を占め，村域の9割が山林･原野である。奈川沿いに小集落があるが，耕地はきわめて少ない。野麦峠を越える野麦街道が飛驒高山と松本を結び，江戸時代から明治末期まで牛による荷運びを業とする者があり，奈川の牛稼とよばれた。また飛驒を出て岡谷の製糸工場で働く女工の通る道でもあった。街道は中央本線の開通後はさびれた。1969年奈川渡ダムが完成し，人造湖の梓湖ができた。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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