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

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 north ...

. , 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 using a ...

of 81,836 in 34,883 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 RosenberPopul ...

of 187 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Kashiwazaki is located in a coastal region of south-central Niigata Prefecture. Part of the city is within the borders of the Sado-Yahiko-Yoneyama Quasi-National Park. The highest elevation is the summit of Mount Gozu at 912 meters.

Surrounding municipalities

** Jōetsu ** Nagaoka **

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 ...

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 ...

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 centr ...

Climate

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

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kashiwazaki has been declining for the past 30 years.

History

The area of present-day Kashiwazaki was part of ancient Echigo Province and developed as a post station on the Hokuriku-dō highway. 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 ...

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 characteriz ...

Japan, parts of what is now Kashiwazaki were under the control of

Shiiya Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in Echigo Province, in the Hokuriku region of Honshū. The domain was centered at Shiiya Jin'ya, located on the coast of what is now part of the cit ...

, a minor '' fudai''

feudal domain A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

ruled by a junior branch of the

Hori clan Hori may refer to: Ancient Egypt *Sewadjkare Hori, late 13th dynasty Pharaoh, also known as Hori II *Hori (High Priest of Osiris) Son of Wennenufer and High Priest of Osiris during the reign of Ramesses II (19th dynasty) *Hori I (High Priest of Pta ...

, while other parts were ''

tenryō 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 ...

'' territory under direct control of the shogunate, or were exclaves of

Kuwana Domain 250px, Reconstructed portion of Kuwana Castle was a Japanese feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Ise Province. It was centered on Kuwana Castle in what is now the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture. It was con ...

(Ise Province), Kaminoyama Domain (Mutsu Province),

Nagaoka Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Echigo Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Nagaoka Castle, located in what is now part of the city of Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture ...

(Echigo Province) or

Yoita Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in Echigo Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Yoita Jin'ya, located in what is now part of the city of Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture. ...

(Echigo Province). Pre-modern Kashiwazaki was located within the holdings of Kuwana Domain. The modern town of Kashiwazaki was established on April 1, 1889, within

Kariwa District, Niigata is a district located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. As of July 1, 2019, the district has an estimated population of 4,578 with a density of 174 persons per km2. The total area is 26.27 km2. Municipalities The district consists of only one v ...

with the establishment of the municipalities system. During the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the discovery of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

in the area led to an economic boom and increase in population. Kashiwazaki was elevated to city status on 1 July 1940. (It was the fifth city created within

). On November 1, 1968, Kashiwaza absorbed the village of Kurohime, followed by the town of Kitajō on May 1, 1971 (both from Kariwa District). The city annexed part of the town of Kakizaki (from Nakakubiki District) on April 1, 1989 and the towns of Nishiyama and Takayanagi (both from Kariwa District) on May 1, 2005.

2007 earthquake

On July 16, 2007, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit off the coast of Kashiwazaki, killing 11 people, and injuring more than 700, causing massive power outages, a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

warning, and other disasters. The quake forced the

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant The is a large, modern (housing the world's first advanced boiling water reactor or ABWR) nuclear power plant on a site.TEPCO Official Press Release (Japanese)First in Japan – Use of the Full Area for Power Plant Buildings, Reinforced Concret ...

to shut down for 10 months as of May 2008.

Government

Kashiwazaki 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 multic ...

city legislature of 26 members. The city contributes two members to the Niigata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Niigata 2nd 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 paralle ...

Economy and Industries

Kashiwazaki has traditionally been a center for

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

, machinery, glassware and lumber processing. The city is home to the

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant The is a large, modern (housing the world's first advanced boiling water reactor or ABWR) nuclear power plant on a site.TEPCO Official Press Release (Japanese)First in Japan – Use of the Full Area for Power Plant Buildings, Reinforced Concret ...

, the largest nuclear generating station in the world by net

electrical power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions o ...

rating. Bourbon, a major confectionery company in Japan, is headquartered in Kashiwazaki.

Education

Colleges and universities

Niigata Institute of Technology is a private university in Kashiwazaki, Niigata, 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 Ja ...

Niigata Sangyo University is a private university in Kashiwazaki, Niigata, 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 ...

Primary and secondary education

Kashiwazaki has 27 public elementary schools and 12 public middle schools operated by the city. There are five public high schools operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

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 are ...

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 The is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which connects the cities of Kashiwazaki and Niigata in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The line's name is taken from the name of the ancient Echigo Province, which correspond ...

* - - - - - - -

Highway

Hokuriku Expressway The , (abbreviated as , is a 4-laned national 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 Highway Public Corpo ...

– Yoneyama IC, Kashiwazaki IC, Nishiyama IC * * * * * * *

Sister city relations

* -

Emeishan City Emeishan () is a county-level city in Sichuan province, China. It is administered by the prefecture-level city Leshan. Its population in 1990 stood at 396,445. It is named after Mount Emei, a famous mountain located within its administration. Cli ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China, friendship city since August 2, 1994.

Local attractions

* Shimoyachi Site, a National Historic Site. * Kashiwazaki is host to many cultural events every year, including the ''Kaze no Jin'' festival in May, ''En Ma Ichi'' in June, ''DonGALA'' in July, and ''Gion'', also in July.

Notable people from Kashiwazaki

Akiko Yajima is a Japanese voice actress from Kashiwazaki, Niigata. Her best-known role is as the title character Shinnosuke Nohara in the long-running anime series '' Crayon Shin-chan''. She also voices Mipple in the original '' Futari wa Pretty Cure'', ...

, voice actress *

Daisuke Sakaguchi is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production. He is best known for his roles in '' Mobile Suit Victory Gundam'' as Üso Ewin, ''Gintama'' as Shinpachi Shimura, '' Clannad'' as Youhei Sunohara, '' Blood Blockade Battlefront ''as Le ...

, voice actor * Hiroki Yagami, manga artist *

Ikue Ōtani is a Japanese actress, singer, voice actress and narrator from Tokyo, Japan. She is best known for her anime roles in the ''Pokémon'' series (as Pikachu), ''One Piece'' (as Tony Tony Chopper), ''Corpse Party'' (as Sachiko Shinozaki), ''Nar ...

, actress *

Ikuo Hirayama Ikuo Hirayama (''Hirayama Ikuo'' 平山郁夫; 15 June 1930 – 2 December 2009), was a Japanese Nihonga painter and educator. Born in Setoda, Hiroshima, Setoda-chō, Hiroshima Prefecture, he was famous in Japan for Silk Road paintings of drea ...

, former governor of Niigata Prefecture *

Makiko Tanaka is a Japanese politician. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and his official wife Hana. Early life Tanaka attended high school at Germantown Friends School in the United States and graduated from Waseda University. She s ...

, politician *

Kakuei Tanaka was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1947 to 1990, and was Prime Minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. After a power struggle with Takeo Fukuda, he became the most influential member of the ruling Liberal ...

, politician and the 64th and 65th

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

Makoto Ogawa is a Japanese singer and actress, best known as a former member of Japanese girl group Morning Musume. She joined the group in August 2001 along with fellow fifth generation members Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki, and Asami Konno. On March 31, 2 ...

, singer (former member of

Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles ...

) *

Mihiro , real name , is a Japanese actress, singer, fiction writer, TV entertainer (notices artist) and former adult video (AV) actress. Life and career Mihiro was born in Niigata prefecture on May 19, 1982. She began a career as a softcore nude model ...

, singer and actress * Motoei Shinzawa, manga artist * Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, first president of

Sōka Gakkai is a Japanese Buddhist religious movement based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese priest Nichiren as taught by its first three presidents Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, Jōsei Toda, and Daisaku Ikeda. It is the largest of the Japanes ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Niigata Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan