In a mountain fold of this town stands a hamlet where thatched roofs still line up. The houses with roofs thatched of straw and reed, drawing close together in the valley, are a scene that keeps the form of old mountain-village life, and have been chosen as a national preservation district. Further into the mountains, over the headwaters of a great river, a natural forest that a university keeps for its research spreads out. The village of thatched roofs and the natural forest of the headwaters — old mountain life and untouched nature, this land holds in its depths. The city area is broad, the second largest in the prefecture. Four towns were bundled into one, and this city was born. A land holding a village of thatched roofs and a research forest, this town has shed population while bundling four towns. Nantan’s numbers are the record of a town inscribed with the history of the merger of four towns, the village of thatched roofs, and the natural forest of the headwaters.
A city in the central part of Kyoto Prefecture, in the Tanba region, with the second largest city area in the prefecture. This city was formed in 2006 when four towns were bundled into one. Its post-founding population has moved from 35,214 in 2010 toward 31,629 in 2020. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "a city of the prefecture’s center," but the causal thread: how the history — the merger of four towns, the village of thatched roofs, and the natural forest of the headwaters — is translated into today’s population and finances.
01 · Seeing the present Nantan in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about 32,000 (31,629 in 2020). Because this city was formed in 2006 when four towns were bundled into one, the statistics treat the period after the founding. The post-founding population has fallen from 35,214 in 2010, through 33,145 in 2015, to 31,629 in 2020.
Looking inside, the figure of the prefecture’s second-broadest mountain-fold city, raising its age, appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 29.6% in 2010 to 33.1% in 2015 and 35.2% in 2020. The household-with-children share is 16.4% in 2020, and the crude birth rate is 5.2 per thousand in 2020. The Childcare Waitlist, 1 in 2024 and 3 in 2025, has arisen slightly. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.31 in fiscal 2023, a level where its own tax revenue can cover only a little over three-tenths of expenditure, leaning heavily on the local allocation tax. The figure of a land holding a village of thatched roofs and a research forest, shedding population while bundling four towns, appears in the numbers. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without going back over the history of the prefecture’s second-broadest city area, the village of thatched roofs, and the merger of four towns.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency) / Real Estate Information Library (MLIT)
02 · The prefecture’s second-broadest city area, the village of thatched roofs, the natural forest of the headwaters, the merger of four towns — the history behind the numbers
This town’s skeleton is set by the size of the prefecture’s second-broadest city area, and by the village of thatched roofs, the natural forest of the headwaters, and the merger of four towns. The beginning layer is the prefecture’s second-broadest city area. This land, in the central part of Kyoto Prefecture, in the Tanba region, has a city area that, after the prefecture’s central city, is the second largest in the prefecture. Settlements are scattered through the mountain folds, and deep in the back a deep forest spreads. The broad city area was this town’s foundation.
In this broad mountain fold, a village of thatched roofs and a natural forest of the headwaters remained. In one hamlet of the mountain folds, houses with roofs thatched of straw and reed still line up, and as a thing that keeps the form of old mountain-village life, it has been chosen as a national preservation district. Further into the mountains, over the headwaters of a great river, a natural forest that a university keeps for its research spreads out. The village of thatched roofs and the natural forest of the headwaters have colored this land’s depths. The road to becoming a city mirrors this town too. In 2006, four towns were bundled into one and became the present city. By this, the range the city measures widened. The prefecture’s second-broadest city area, the village of thatched roofs, the natural forest of the headwaters, and the merger of four towns — this town’s shape stands upon the history of the prefecture’s second-broadest mountain fold, which held a village of thatched roofs and a natural forest of the headwaters and bundled four towns.
Source: Nantan City / Miyama Kayabuki no Sato (in the Tanba region of central Kyoto Prefecture, the Kita hamlet of the Miyama district, where thatched-roof houses still stand, is an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings; a mountain hamlet at the uppermost reaches of the Yura River — overview) / Nantan City / the Yura River headwaters and the research forest (a broad city area, with a university research forest of natural woodland spreading over the headwaters of the Yura River; in area the second largest in the prefecture after Kyoto City — overview) / Nantan City (formed on 2006-1-1 by the new merger of four towns — Sonobe, Yagi and Hiyoshi of Funai County and Miyama of Kitakuwada County; the statistics treat the period from 2010 on, after the founding — overview)
03 · In a land holding a village of thatched roofs and a research forest, shedding population while bundling four towns
What characterizes Nantan is that, holding the history of a village of thatched roofs and a natural forest of the headwaters, it is shedding population even after bundling four towns. From 35,214 in 2010, after the founding, to 31,629 in 2020, about three thousand five hundred were lost over ten years. Even in this land that keeps old mountain-village life, one can read that part of the younger generation moved toward the larger cities, and that the whole town’s age has risen. That the share aged 65 and over rose to 35.2% in 2020 is its expression.
On the other hand, the Childcare Waitlist, 1 in 2024 and 3 in 2025, has arisen slightly, while many cities in the prefecture hold zero. The household-with-children share is 16.4% in 2020, and the crude birth rate is 5.2 per thousand in 2020. The Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.31, where its own tax revenue can cover only a little over three-tenths of expenditure, shows the heavy leaning on the local allocation tax seen commonly in mountain-fold lands. The waitlist of one in 2024 and three in 2025 is, as a number, very small. But considering that settlements are scattered over the prefecture’s second-broadest city area, whether a place of childcare is near the home can differ from household to household. Behind the average of a broad city, the differences from district to district are hidden.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
04 · The prefecture’s second-broadest mountain fold held a village of thatched roofs and a natural forest of the headwaters, and bundled four towns
Nantan holds several functions of its own. One is the history of the prefecture’s second-broadest city area, the second largest in the prefecture, with settlements scattered through the mountain folds. Another is its character of a village of thatched roofs, where houses with roofs thatched of straw and reed line up, chosen as a national preservation district. And it holds the face of a natural forest of the headwaters, holding deep in the mountains a natural forest, over the headwaters of a great river, that a university keeps for its research. Over the prefecture’s second-broadest mountain fold, the village of thatched roofs that became a national preservation district and the natural forest of the headwaters that a university keeps are scattered.
The one is an old form of life kept by human hands from generation to generation; the other a forest kept without the hand of man laid upon it. That a village kept by tending and a forest kept by not tending dwell together is owed to this breadth. Breadth appears thinly in population, and thickly in the breadth of the assets it holds.
Source: Nantan City / Miyama Kayabuki no Sato (in the Tanba region of central Kyoto Prefecture, the Kita hamlet of the Miyama district, where thatched-roof houses still stand, is an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings; a mountain hamlet at the uppermost reaches of the Yura River — overview) / Nantan City / the Yura River headwaters and the research forest (a broad city area, with a university research forest of natural woodland spreading over the headwaters of the Yura River; in area the second largest in the prefecture after Kyoto City — overview) / Nantan City (formed on 2006-1-1 by the new merger of four towns — Sonobe, Yagi and Hiyoshi of Funai County and Miyama of Kitakuwada County; the statistics treat the period from 2010 on, after the founding — overview)
05 · Atlas’s note — a village kept by tending and a forest kept without it dwell together
One thing that catches the eye in Nantan’s numbers is that the Childcare Waitlist has arisen slightly, while many cities in the prefecture hold zero. The waitlist is 1 in 2024 and 3 in 2025. As a number, it is very small. But considering that settlements are scattered over the prefecture’s second-broadest city area, whether a place of childcare is near the place one lives can differ from household to household. In a broad city area, behind the average the differences from district to district are hidden — this is what I always keep my eye on when I read the numbers of a broad-area city.
One more thing I want to consider is that this town holds in its depths two contrasting assets, "a village of thatched roofs" and "a research forest." The one is an old form of life kept by human hands from generation to generation; the other a natural forest kept without the hand of man laid upon it. A village of thatched roofs kept by the laying-on of human hands, and a forest of the headwaters kept by not laying human hands upon it. That two contrasting things dwell together within the same city area is the deep bosom of this broad city. Breadth appears thinly in the numbers of population, and thickly in the breadth of the assets it holds. Deep within the prefecture’s second-broadest city area, a village of thatched roofs kept by human hands from generation to generation and a forest of the headwaters kept without the hand of man dwell together. Breadth appears thinly in the numbers of population, and thickly in the breadth of the assets it holds — that is the deep bosom of this city.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Nantan City / Miyama Kayabuki no Sato (in the Tanba region of central Kyoto Prefecture, the Kita hamlet of the Miyama district, where thatched-roof houses still stand, is an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings; a mountain hamlet at the uppermost reaches of the Yura River — overview) / Nantan City / the Yura River headwaters and the research forest (a broad city area, with a university research forest of natural woodland spreading over the headwaters of the Yura River; in area the second largest in the prefecture after Kyoto City — overview) / Nantan City (formed on 2006-1-1 by the new merger of four towns — Sonobe, Yagi and Hiyoshi of Funai County and Miyama of Kitakuwada County; the statistics treat the period from 2010 on, after the founding — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (wave36-kinki 2026-06-05)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: wave36k_