Like many districts in rural Japan, the area has been struggling with an aging population and an exodus of young people to Tokyo and other major cities.

The town's population peaked in the 1950s at 16,199 people, (Cort & Nakamura, 1994) but has steadily declined since the closure of the Mitate mine in March, 1970.

The villages of Nanori (七折村), and Iwaikawa (岩井川村), within Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki were established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system.

Hinokage has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of eight members.

Local specialities include bamboo crafts, processed fruit products and dried shiitake mushrooms.

Services were discontinued on September 6, 2005, after flooding triggered by Typhoon Nabi washed away two bridges on the line, halting all operations.

Efforts to obtain funding for rebuilding were unsuccessful, and the company was liquidated in 2009..[3] This Miyazaki Prefecture location article is a stub.