Bordering municipalities

Wakasa, while located in Tottori Prefecture, borders Hyōgo and Okayama prefectures. Tottori Prefecture

• Tottori
• Chizu
• Yazu

Hyōgo Prefecture

• Yabu
• Shisō
• Kami
• Shinonsen

Okayama Prefecture

• Nishiawakura^[1][3]

Climate

Wakasa has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with moderate snowfall. The average annual temperature in Wakasa is 10.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1982 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.3 °C.^[6]

Early history

The mountainous areas of Wakasa do not appear to have supported a population in early Japanese history. No remains from the Jōmon (14,000 – 300 BCE) or Yayoi 300 BCE – 250 CE) periods have been found in Wakasa.^[1] The town had two or three small settlements in the Kofun period (250–538). Wakasa became part of Yakami District in Inaba Province early in recorded Japanese history. Settlements in the area are appeared early in the Heian period (794–1185), and the name of a village called "Wakasa" first appear in the historical record this time. The Yabe clan controlled Wakasa throughout the Heian period to the end of the Kamakura period (1185 – 1333). The Yabe built Wakasa Oniga Castle in this period.^A The existence of the Yabe clan and Oniga castle are noted in the Taiheiki, a Japanese historical epic written in the late 14th century.^{[1][8][9][10]}

Later history

Wakasa, located in a richly forested area of the Chūgoku Mountains, was a source of lumber and lumber products from early times. The production of raw timber, planks, charcoal, and firewood is noted as early as the Kamakura period. These products, as well as rice, were transported on the Hattō River for export to other parts of Japan via the Japan Sea. At the beginning of the Edo period (1603–1868) the Tokugawa shogunate developed land for rice paddies in Wakasa as part of a nationwide effort to increase rice production in Japan. The mountainous areas of Wakasa provided extensive irrigation for rice-producing areas in the flatlands of the lower Sendai River, but Wakasa suffered frequent flooding from the Hattō River, notably in 1815 and 1888.^[3][5] After the Meiji Restoration in 1868 Wakasa became part of the newly formed Tottori Prefecture. The town was officially incorporated under administrative reforms by the Meiji government in 1889.^[1][10]

Railway

Wakasa Railway - Wakasa Line

• Wakasa

Highways

• National Route 29
• National Route 482