Tanegashima Space Center

A year of Minamitane town

Minamitane (南種子町 Minamitane-chō) is a town located on Tanegashima, in Kumage District, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.

It's famous for introducing guns and launching rockets.The 'ingi foul' (chicken) was gifted to locals by the British as a way to show their appreciation.It's natural treasure of Kagoshima prefecture from 2013.it's also specialty products of Minamitane-town.


As of June 2019, the town has an estimated population of 5,683 and a population density of 53.8 persons per km². The total area is 110.40 km².

The headquarters of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are located at the Tanegashima Space Center in Minamitane.

Minamitane Village was established on April 1, 1889. In 1879, a government office (役場) was established in the village of Shimama (島間村), also overseeing the villages of Nishino (西之村) and Sakai (坂井村), while another government office was established in Kukinaga (茎永村), also covering the villages of Hirayama (平山村) and Nakano (中之村). These former villages were then merged to form Minamitane Village.[1][2] Minamitane was upgraded to town status on October 15, 1956.