Misato

History

The area of Misato was part of ancient Iwami Province. During the Edo Period, the area was tenryō or direct territory of the Tokugawa shogunate, administered together with the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine. Kasubuchi, the center of Misato Town, is located at the point where the Enokawa River, which flows northward in the Chugoku Mountains, bends and flows westward, and has prospered as a key point for boat transport on the Enogawa River. After the Meiji restoration, villages were established within Ōchi District, Shimane on April 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The town of Misato was formed on October 1, 2004, from the merger of the village of Daiwa and the town of Ōchi.

Geography

Misato is located in central Shimane, in the Chugoku Mountains bordered by Hiroshima Prefecture to the south. The Enokawa River runs through the town. Misato has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Misato is 13.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1711 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.4 °C.

Most-observed species

• Japanese Treefrog

  Dryophytes japonicus (Günther, 1859) · Amphibia
  3
• Japanese Four-lined Ratsnake

  Elaphe quadrivirgata (Boie, 1826) · Squamata
  3
• Gray Wagtail

  Motacilla cinerea Tunstall, 1771 · Aves
  3
• Greater Japanese Horseshoe Bat

  Rhinolophus nippon Temminck, 1835 · Mammalia
  3
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3
• East Asian Rhinoceros Beetle

  Trypoxylus dichotomus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Insecta
  2
• Oak Longicorn Beetle

  Moechotypa diphysis (Pascoe, 1871) · Insecta
  2
• Japanese Carpenter Bee

  Xylocopa appendiculata Smith, 1852 · Insecta
  2

Most recent

• M 5 — 2026-01-06
  17 km S of Matsue, Japan
• M 4.8 — 2026-01-06
  4 km S of Yasugichō, Japan
• M 5.7 — 2026-01-06
  13 km WSW of Yasugichō, Japan
• M 4.4 — 2025-06-29
  10 km S of Yasugichō, Japan
• M 4.5 — 2021-08-17
  14 km NNE of Sh?bara, Japan
• M 4.4 — 2021-08-02
  21 km N of Sh?bara, Japan