is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. It is the second largest city in the prefecture, after the capital city of Niigata. , the city had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 264,611 in 109,283 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of . The total area of the city was .

Geography

Nagaoka is in the center of Niigata prefecture and the surrounding Chūetsu region of Japan, between longitude 138°E and latitude 37°N. It is 80 minutes from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

by way of the Joetsu Shinkansen or three hours on the Kan-Etsu Expressway and is considered a strategic traffic point in the region. Nagaoka was an inland city until January 1, 2006, when the city merged with four municipalities; two were touching the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

. The

Shinano River The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing ...

flows through the city from south to north and industrial development is on both banks of the river. The Higashiyama mountain range lies to the east.

Surrounding municipalities

** Tsubame ** Yahiko ** Nishikan-ku, Niigata **

Izumozaki is a town located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 4,190, and a population density of 94.4 persons per km². The total area of the town was . Geography Izumozaki is located in a coastal region of central ...

** Kashiwazaki **

Kariwa is a village located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 4,578 in 1613 households, and a population density of 174 persons per km². The total area of the village was . Geography Kariwa is located in centra ...

Tōkamachi is a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 28,728 in 19,823 households, and a population density of 86.3 persons per km². The total area of the city was , although some borders of the city ar ...

** Ojiya ** Uonuma ** Sanjō ** Mitsuke

Climate

Nagaoka has a humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nagaoka is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nagaoka peaked at around 1995 and has declined steadily since.

History

Nagaoka jouka nenju gyouji zue - Nenshi tojo

Echigo no kuni Uesugi Kagekatsu katoku arasoi kassen

The area of present-day Nagaoka was part of ancient

Echigo Province was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niig ...

. Under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, a castle town was constructed by Hori Naoyori lord of Nagaoka Domain in 1616. However, as the initial castle was located in an area prone to flooding by the

, a new castle was built at the site of present-day Nagaoka Station in 1617. Nagaoka flourished as under the reign of the 13 generations of the Makino clan during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. In the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

of 1868 during the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, Nagaoka Domain was a member of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei against the imperial forces, and the city was reduced to rubble during the

Battle of Hokuetsu The was a battle of the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration, which occurred in 1868 in the northwestern part of Japan, in the area of modern Niigata Prefecture. Background The Boshin War erupted in 1868 between troops favourable to the rest ...

. A gift of one hundred sacks of rice from a neighboring province was sold to finance a new school during the reconstruction of Nagaoka, from which the anecdote of '' Kome Hyappyo'' was born. With the Meiji period creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the towns of Nagaoka and Nagaoka-honmachi were established. The two towns were merged on November 1, 1901 with the towns of Senju, Kusouzu, Ara, and village of Ouchi to form the modern town of Nagaoka, which was then raised to city status on April 1, 1906.

Municipal timeline

* April 1, 1906: The city of Nagaoka is established. * August 1, 1945: Nagaoka is reduced to rubble by 125 B-29 bombers in the Bombing of Nagaoka in World War II. 1,470 lives are lost. * January 1963: A record-breaking heavy snowfall hits Nagaoka. * November 15, 1982: Joetsu Shinkansen service arrives at Nagaoka Station. * July 12–13, 2004: A heavy downpour causes extensive flooding in Nagaoka. * October 23, 2004: The Chūetsu earthquake strikes, causing extensive damage in Nagaoka and surrounding areas. * February 2005: Nagaoka experiences the heaviest snowfall in 19 years. * April 1, 2005: The town of Oguni (from Kariwa District), the village of

Yamakoshi Yamakoshi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Kohei Yamakoshi (born 1993), Japanese footballer * Kyotaro Yamakoshi (born 1991), Japanese footballer * Yasuhiro Yamakoshi (born 1985), Japanese footballer {{Surname Japanese-lang ...

(from Koshi District), the town of Nakanoshima (from Minamikanbara District), and the towns of Koshiji and Mishima (both from Santō District), were absorbed into Nagaoka. Prior to the merger, the size of Nagaoka was 262.45 km² and the population was 192,292. * January 1, 2006: The city of

Tochio was a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1954. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 23,855 and the density of 116.41 persons per km². The total area was 204.92 km². On January ...

, the towns of Teradomari and Yoita, and the village of Washima (all from Santō District) were absorbed into Nagaoka. * April 1, 2007: Nagaoka is designated a special city with increase local autonomy * March 31, 2010: The town of Kawaguchi (from Kitauonuma District) was absorbed into Nagaoka.

Government

260px, Nagaoka City Hall Nagaoka has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

city legislature of 34 members. The city contributes six members to the Niigata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Niigata 5th district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

Economy

Industry

The manufacturing industry prospered in Nagaoka following World War II, due in part to favorable location and good transportation infrastructure. Current industrial production includes precision instruments and

machine tool A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, boring, grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping. Al ...

s. * Nippon Seiki, a manufacturer of automotive instruments, is headquartered in Nagaoka. * TDK-Lambda, a manufacturer of switched-mode power supplies, has a plant in Nagaoka. *Schlumberger, an oilfield services company has a location in Nagaoka.

Education

Universities and colleges

Nagaoka University of Technology , abbreviated as Nagaoka Gidai, is a national technology university founded in 1976 in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan. It is one of only two Universities of Technology, a form of university in Japan, the other being Toyohashi University of Technology ...

National Institute of Technology The National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are the central government-owned-public technical institutes under the ownership of Ministry of Education, Government of India. They are governed by the National Institutes of Technology, Science ...

, Nagaoka campus * Nagaoka University *

Nagaoka Institute of Design The is a public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private universit ...

Primary and secondary education

The city of Nagaoka operates 61 public elementary schools and 27 public middle schools. There is also one public middle school operated by the national government. Nagaoka also has nine public high schools operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education and three private high schools. The prefecture also operates three special education schools in the city.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

(JR East) – Joetsu Shinkansen * JR logo (east)

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

– Joetsu Line * – <> – – – JR logo (east)

–

Shin'etsu Main Line The Shinetsu Main Line ( ja, 信越本線, ) is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . ...

* – – – – – – – JR logo (east)

– Echigo Line * – – – JR logo (east)

– Iiyama Line *

Bus

Local bus service in Nagaoka is managed by

Echigo Kotsu is a public transportation company which operates local and long-distance buses in Niigata prefecture, Japan. Bus lines Regular buses , Echigo Kotsu and its subsidiary (Minami Echigo Kanko Bus) operate regular buses mainly in the cities of ...

. The bus terminal located at the east entrance of Nagaoka Station serves as the hub for the route network. Service extends to all parts of the city as well as many outlying suburban areas and villages. A bus service connecting Nagaoka Station to

Niigata, Niigata is a city located in the northern part of Niigata Prefecture (). It is the capital and the most populous city of Niigata Prefecture, and one of the cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, located in the Chūbu region of Japan. I ...

Station runs at intervals of approximately 30 minutes. Additionally, long-distance bus services are available to all major cities in the prefecture as well as Tokyo.

Road

Expressway

Nagaoka JCT is a strategic interchange which connects two expressways, Hokuriku Expressway and Kan-Etsu Expressway. * 20px Hokuriku Expressway – Ōzumi PA – Nagaoka JCT – Nagaoka-kita Bus stop – Nagaoka-kita IC(ETC Only) – Nakanoshima-Mitsuke IC * E17 Expressway (Japan)

Kan-etsu Expressway – Echigo-Kawaguchi IC/SA – Ojiya IC* – Nagaokaminami-Koshiji IC(ETC Only) – Nagaoka IC – Nagaoka JCT *Ojiya IC is in Ojiya city

Japan National Route

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Twin towns – sister cities

Nagaoka is twinned with: *

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States (1987) *

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, United States (2002) * Romainmôtier-Envy,

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...

, Switzerland (2006) *

Taiarapu-Ouest Taiarapu-Ouest (literally "Ta'iarapu West") is a commune of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Tai'arapu-Ouest is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Wind ...

, French Polynesia (1991) *

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

, Germany (2006)

Friendship city

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

, Upper Franconia, Germany (1995)

Local attractions

Places of interest

* Kome Hyappyo Monument * Tsuginosuke Kawai Monument in Yukyuzan Park * Haibu Nagaoka Stadium * The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art * Niigata Prefectural Museum of History * Yukyuzan Park * National Government Echigo Hillside Park * Nagaoka Lyric Hall * Nagaoka City Local Museum

National Historic Sites

* Tochio Castle ruins * Araya Site * Fujihashi Site * Umataka-Sanjūinaba Site * Hachimanbayashi Kanga ruins File:Nagaoka-city.JPG, Ote-dori Street and Nagaoka Station File:Quina Saffron Winery 03.jpg, Quina Saffron Winery File:Hasegawa Family Residence.jpg, Hasegawa Family Residence File:Hotokusan Inari Taisha Shrine 06.jpg, Houtokusan Inari Taisya Shrine File:Nagaoka City Local Museum.jpg, Nagaoka City Local Museum File:Bullfighting in Yamakoshi, Nagaoka 04.jpg, Bull wrestling in Yamakoshi File:Nakayama-zuidou 02.jpg, Nakayama tunnel File:Momijien 2006 004.jpg, Momijien File:Teradomari Aquarium 03.jpg, Teradomari Aquarium File:新潟近代美術館.jpg, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art File:Niigata Prefectural Museum of History.jpg, Niigata Prefectural Museum of History File:Kawai Tsuginosuke Memorial Museum 2.jpg, Kawai Tsuginosuke Memorial Museum File:Yamamoto Isoroku Memorial Museum.jpg,

Yamamoto Isoroku was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until he was killed. Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reo ...

Memorial Museum File:Ryokan's Grave.jpg, Ryōkan's grave (Ryusenji)

Festivals

* Nagaoka Festival and Grand Fireworks Festival (August) * Nagaoka Aki Matsuri (Autumn Festival) and Kome Hyappyo Festival (October)

Notable people from Nagaoka

Ryō Hirohashi is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Aoni Production. She mainly voices young girls and young boys. She is known for voicing Miles "Tails" Prower in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. Biography Hirohashi was born in Niigata Prefecture, he ...

(

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talen ...

) *

Tomoko Hoshino is a Japanese actress and essayist. She graduated from Hosei University is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan. The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha (, i.e. Tokyo association of law), established in 1880 ...

(actress) * El Desperado (

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

) *

Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto , also known as Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, was a Japanese American autobiographer and novelist. Biography She was born in Nagaoka in Echigo Province (which means "Behind the Mountains") in Japan, now part of Niigata Prefecture. Her father had o ...

(writer) * Inoue Enryō (

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and founder of

Toyo University is a university with several branches in Japan, including Hakusan, Asaka, Kawagoe, Itakura, and Akabane. Overview The predecessor to Toyo University was , which was founded at Rinsho-in Temple by Enryo Inoue in 1887. Inoue felt that the ...

) *

Yuki Kondo is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. He has officially 111 professional fights, making him one of the most experienced mixed martial artists ever. He has also competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Seng ...

(mixed martial artist) * Jūshirō Konoe (actor) * Koharu Kusumi (Morning Musume) *

Haruo Minami , (born ; July 19, 1923 – April 14, 2001) was an enka singer in postwar Japan. Early life He was born Bunji Kitazume (北詰文司 ''Kitazume Bunji'') in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan. Career In 1939, at the age of 16, Bunji debuted as a performer ...

( Enka singer) *

Nobuhiro Watsuki , better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his samurai-themed series '' Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story'' (1994–1999), which has over 70 million copies in circulation and a sequel he is cur ...

(

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist bef ...

) * Isoroku Yamamoto (Commander of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

during the first four years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

)

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Niigata Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Articles containing video clips