Otari, Nagano  Otari is located in the mountainous far northwestern Nagano Prefecture, bordered by Niigata Prefecture to the north and west. Much of the village is within the borders of the Chūbu-Sangaku National Park or the Myōkō-Togakushi Renzan National Park. Per Japanese census data, the population of Otari has remained decreased considerably over the past60 years. The village has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cold winters (Köppen climate classification "Cfa"). The average annual temperature in Otari is 10.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1420 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.1 °C. The area of present-day Otari was part of ancient Shinano Province and was part of the territory controlled by Matsumoto Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of the Edo period. The modern village of Otari was established on April 1, 1954 by the merger of the villages of Minami-Otari, Kita-Otari and Nakatsuchi. Otari has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.