Arai, Shizuoka

Former municipality in Chūbu, Japan

Arai Flag Emblem
Location of Arai in Shizuoka Prefecture

Symbols

Bird	Barn swallow
Flower	Azalea
Tree	Japanese black pine

Arai (新居町, Arai-chō) was a town located in Hamana District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

As of March 31, 2010, the town had an estimated population of 16,975 and a population density of 910 persons per km². The total area was 18.65 km².

On March 23, 2010, Arai was merged into the expanded city of Kosai and thus no longer exists as an independent municipality. Hamana District was dissolved as a result of this merger.^[1]

Geography

Arai was located at the southwest end of Shizuoka Prefecture, with part of Lake Hamana located within the town boundaries. The town was on the Enshu Sea of the Pacific Ocean, with a temperate maritime climate with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters.^{[citation needed]}

History

Arai was located in former Tōtōmi Province, and was largely tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period, when it was called Arai-juku, and prospered as a post town on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto. During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period in 1889, the area was reorganized into Arai Town within Fuchi District, Shizuoka Prefecture. Fuchi District was merged into Hamana District in 1896.^{[citation needed]}