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 39,908 in 15,139 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 510 persons per km². The total area of the city is , making it the smallest city in Niigata Prefecture in terms of area.

Geography

Mitsuke is located in an inland region near the geographical centre of Niigata Prefecture, it has a monument called the . The city is located approximately 50 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Niigata and 300 kilometers from central Tokyo. The Kariyata River divides the center of the city into northern and southern districts before joining 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 g ...

just outside the city borders. The main population center, former Mitsuke-cho, is located on the northern bank of the river and was formerly subject to frequent flooding. The eastern part of the city is a hilly area, and the western part is in the plains. The city extends from 11.5 kilometers from east-to-west by 14.7 kilometers from north-to-south. The highest elevation is 300 meters above sea level, and the lowest is 10 meters above sea level. Over 50% of the city area is farmland, mostly in the northern part of the city.

Surrounding municipalities

* Sanjō * Nagaoka

Climate

Mitsuke has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Mitsuke is 12.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2176 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Mitsuke population statistics
/ref> the population of Mitsuke has remained relatively steady over the past 60 years.

History

The area of present-day Mitsuke 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 Niigata ...

. 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 characteriz ...

the area was divided between

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 ...

, Muramatsu Domain and

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

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 ...

. After the start of 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 area was organised as part of

Minamikanbara District, Niigata is a district located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. When the district was formed back in the Meiji Period, the district covered the cities of Sanjō and Mitsuke, the town of Tagami, and parts of Kamo and the northern part of Nagaoka. As of Ju ...

. The town of Mitsuke was established on April 1, 1887 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to city status on March 31, 1954.

Government

Mitsuke 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 17 members. Mitsuke contributes one member to the Niigata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Niigata 4th 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

Mitsuke was traditionally known for its silk weaving industry. The city is now known for the production of knitted and synthetic fabrics. The main agricultural products are rice and tobacco. The Mitsuke Oil Fields were once one of the most productive petroleum deposits in Japan. Mitsuke is the home of Canon Tokki Corporation. This is one of the world market leaders for vacuum machines for the production of OLED screens.

Education

Mitsuke has eight public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government. There is one public high school operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education and one private high school. The prefecture, also operates one special education school 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 . S ...