Minokamo City (美濃加茂市) is located in the central part of southern Gifu. As of 2021, it had a population of 57,214 people, of which 5,267 (9.2%) were foreign nationals - extremely high for Japan. This foreign population is mostly from Brazil or the Phillipines, and work in the factories in Minokamo and the surrounding municipalities. This means that schools in Minokamo have a large proportion of foreign students, and Minokamo City employs several interpreters and assistants at schools and government bodies to cater for these students and their families.
It is the sister city of Dubbo (NSW, Australia), which enables a student exchange programme, among other initiatives.
JETs in Minokamo[]
Minokamo City has prefectural housing that is used by ALTs who work in neighbouring municipalities, and the City Hall employs CIRs.
Transport[]
Minokamo is a major transport hub for road and rail. The main train station is Mino-Ota, that is on the JR Takayama Main Line that connects Gifu City to Gero and Takayama in the Hida region. It is the terminal station of the JR Taita Line to Tajimi, and the Nagaragawa Railway that goes through Seki, Mino, and Guji-Hachiman.
There is a daily overnight bus connection to Tokyo from Gifu-Seiryu Satoyama Park.
There is also a local bus (the Ai Ai Bus) to get around the city, but it comes infrequently.