Mutsuzawa

Located in the mountainous area that divides the center of Bōsō Peninsula, Mutsuzawa has little flat terrain. The town consists primarily of rolling, sometimes steep, hills. The town is located in the southeastern part of Chiba prefecture, about 30 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba, and within 60 to 70 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The terrain is included in the Kanto Plain, with a gentle slope from the west toward the east with an elevation of 2 to 168 meters. The Habu, Mizusawa, and Chorakuji rivers flow through the central part of the town, and join the Ichinomiya river in the northeast.

Mutsuzawa has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Mutsuzawa is 15.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1745 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.7 °C.[2]

Per Japanese census data,[3] the population of Mutsuzawa has remained steady over the past 40 years.

Mutsuzawa is part of ancient Kazusa Province and has been settled since ancient times, and has several burial mounds from the Kofun period. Myōraku-ji, a temple founded in the Heian period, houses a wooden statue of the seated Dainichi Nyorai which has been designated one of the Important Cultural Properties of Japan. In the Edo period, Mutsuzawa was part of Ōtaki Domain. The villages of Tsuchimutsu, and Mizusawa were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The two villages merged on February 11, 1955 with a portion of the town of Chōnan to form the village of Mutsuzawa. It was elevated to town status on April 1, 1983.

Mutsuzawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 15 members. Together with the other municipalities in Chōsei District, Mutsuzawa contributes one member to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Chiba 11th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Mutsuzawa's agricultural areas produce rice and milk. The town is also located within the Minami Kantō gas field, and extraction of natural gas contributes to the local economy.

Mutsuzawa has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a public high school.

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• Official Website (in Japanese)