Oyama is located in the far northeastern corner of Shizuoka Prefecture, bordering on Yamanashi and Kanagawa Prefectures. Located in between the Tanzawa Mountains and the foothills of Mount Fuji, the town has an average altitude of 800 meters, and has a cool climate with heavy rainfall. Some 65% of the town is covered in forest.
Per Japanese census data,[3] the population of Oyama has been in decline over the past 50 years.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1940
9,170
—
1950
10,768
+17.4%
1960
25,944
+140.9%
1970
24,256
−6.5%
1980
23,212
−4.3%
1990
23,566
+1.5%
2000
22,235
−5.6%
2010
20,630
−7.2%
2020
18,568
−10.0%
Climate
The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (Köppen climate classificationCfa). The average annual temperature in Oyama is 12.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1817 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.7 °C.[4]
History
A small post town existed in this area since the Heian period, as Oyama is located at the base of the Ashigara Pass on the main route connecting the ancient provinces of Sagami with Kai and Suruga Provinces. The area was mostly tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system in the early Meiji period on April 1, 1889, the area was reorganized into the villages of Rokugo, Kannuma, Ashigara, Kitago and Subashiri within Suntō District, Shizuoka, two months after the opening of Suruga-Oyama Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line (now Gotemba Line).
The villages of Rokugo and Suganuma merged to form Oyama on August 1, 1912. Oyama annexed neighboring Ashigara on April 1, 1955, Kitago Village on August 1, 1956 and Subashiri on September 30, 1956. The Furusawa District of former Kitago transferred from Oyama to Gotemba on September 1, 1957.
Economy
Due to its proximity to the Tokyo metropolitan area, Oyama has a mixed economy of agriculture and light industry. Rice is the principal agricultural crop.
Education
Oyama has five public elementary schools and three public junior high school operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education.
^"International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
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