is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 69,338 in 24,167 households and the

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 820 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Sabae is located in central Fukui Prefecture, bordered by the city Fukui to the north and Echizen to the south.

Neighbouring municipalities

*Fukui Prefecture ** Echizen ** Echizen (town) ** Fukui ** Ikeda

Climate

Sabae has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sabae is 14.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2417 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.0 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sabae has grown steadily over the past 50 years.

History

Sabae is part of ancient

Echizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga Province, Kaga, Wakasa Province, Wakasa, Hida Province, Hida, and Ōmi Provin ...

. During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Sabae Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003). It was based at Sabae ''Jin'ya'' ...

. Following 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, it was organised into part of Imadate District in Fukui Prefecture. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the town of Sabae was established. It merged with the villages of Shinyokoe and Funatsu in 1948, and with the villages of Shinmei, Katakami, Nakagawa, and the villages of Tachimachi, Yoshikawa and Yutaka from Nyū District to form the city of Sabae on January 15, 1955. The city annexed the village of Kawada in March 1957. In 1995, the city was host to the

World Gymnastics Championships Gymnastics World Championships refers to a number of different world championships for each of the disciplines in competitive gymnastics. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) organizes World Championships for six disciplines: acrobatic ...

Government

Sabae 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city legislature of 20 members.

Economy

Sabae is one of the largest manufacturing centers of eyeglass frames in Japan. Sabae is also home to a significant chemical and rayon industry.

Education

Sabae has 12 public elementary schools and three middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Fukui Prefectural Board of Education. The National Institute of Technology, Fukui College (NIT-Fukui), operated by the national government, is also located in Sabae.

Transportation

Railway

JR West surrendered ownership of the

Hokuriku Main Line The Hokuriku Main Line () is a railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with Tsuruga Station in Tsuruga, Fukui. The line formerly extended as far as Naoetsu Station in ...

in Sabae to third-sector company

Hapi-line Fukui is a Japanese third-sector railway company established in 2019 that operates passenger railway services on the section of the former JR West Hokuriku Main Line that lay within Fukui Prefecture. This section of the Hokuriku Main Line was separ ...

on 16 March 2024. *

** , *

Fukui Railway Fukubu Line The is a railway line operated by Fukui Railway in Fukui Prefecture. The line runs from Takefu-shin Station in Echizen, Fukui, Echizen to and stations in Fukui, Fukui, Fukui. Although it has its own right-of-way for most of the route, the Fuku ...

** - - - - -

Highway

Hokuriku Expressway The , (abbreviated as , is a 4-laned national Expressways of Japan, expressway in Japan. It is owned and managed by East Nippon Expressway Company and Central Nippon Expressway Company. Overview The first section was opened in 1972 by Japan ...

* *

Local attractions

* Kabutoyama Kofun, A National Historic Site * ruins of Mitsumine Castle are located within the city. * Nishiyama Park (West Mountain Park) is particularly beautiful in springtime, when hundreds of

azalea Azaleas ( ) are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi, Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and ''Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate ...

s trees bloom on the slopes. *

Nishiyama Zoo Sabae City's is a small zoo in the city of Sabae, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The admission-free municipal zoo is on a low hill ( Nishiyama Park). It is known for its red pandas; the species is the official animal of the city. Despite its small ...

is inside the park. *

Ōzan Kofun Cluster is group of ''kofun'' burial mounds located in what is now the Hinode area of the city of Sabae, Fukui in the Hokuriku region of Japan. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1967. Overview The Ōzan Kofun Cluster is locat ...

, A National Historic Site * Sabae Megane Museum File:Nishiyama Park.JPG, Nishiyama Park File:Red_Panda01.JPG,

Red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

in Nishiyama Zoo

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Fukui Prefecture