1955 Kanegasaki absorbed the neighboring village of Nagaoka, also from Isawa District. Government Kanegasaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 16 members. Kanegasaki, together with the city of Ōshū contributes five seats to the Iwate Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Iwate 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan. Economy Kanegasaki has a relatively diverse economy that includes rice paddies typical of the region, but also extensive dairy farms in the western portion of the town and a large industrial park. The industrial park has several different manufacturing facilities, such as a Toyota plant that produces Lexus automobiles (Kantō Jidōsha) and a Fujitsu semiconductor facility. Education Kanegasaki has five public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education. In addition, the town is known for having developed a system of Life-Long Learning Centers situated throughout the town that provide educational and other opportunities for the local residents. Transportation Railway East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Tōhoku Main Line - Highway International relations Amherst, Massachusetts, United States (since August 1993) Changchun, People's Republic of China (since February 1989) Leinefelde-Worbis, Germany (since September 2002) Local attractions Tonomi Palisade Site, ruins of a late Nara-period fortification, National Historic Monument Nanbu-Date border mounds, Edo-period border markers between Morioka Domain and Sendai Domain, a National Historic Site Noted people from Kanegasaki Houko Kuwashima, voice actress References External links Official Promotion(in Japanese) Towns in Iwate Prefecture