was a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in Nakakanbara District,

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. On January 1, 2006, Muramatsu was merged into the expanded city of

Gosen Gosen may refer to: *Gosen, Niigata, Japan * Gosen-Neu Zittau, Brandenburg, Germany * Gosen (Company), a Japanese manufacturer of sporting equipment *Gosen Wakashū, an ancient Japanese poetry anthology *Land of Goshen The land of Goshen ( he, ...

. Current mail addresses read "Gosen City, Muramatsu" (五泉市村松）to mark the merger. The town existed for several centuries as a feudal domain and independent town. It was famous for its mountain (Mt. Hakusan, approximately 1000 meters tall), the Jikoji Zen Temple, the Sakurando Onsen Hot Spring, and its city park boasting several thousand cherry trees that bloom each year in April. As of 2003, the town 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 20,066 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of 79.29 persons per km². The total area was 253.07 km².

History

The three-volume ''History of Muramatsu Town'' (村松町史）published in 1983 gives many details about its long history. One of only a few castle-towns in Niigata Prefecture, the Muramatsu Clan was ruled by the Hori Family throughout 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 characte ...

. The feudal castle was burned down during the Boshin War in 1868. The site is now a public park housing a small museum archive as well as the town's elaborate festival wagon, which is brought out each September during the

Autumn Equinox Autumnal equinox or variations, may refer to: * September equinox, the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere * March equinox, the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere Other uses * Autumnal Equinox Day (Japanese: 秋分の日, ''Shūbu ...

. In September 1945, 1800 members of the 1st and 2nd battalion, 27th regiment of US Army soldiers were housed at the Signal Corps barracks on the eastern edge of town. They stayed until that December, leaving a very positive impression on the Japanese citizens and contradicting rumors and suspicions spread by wartime propaganda. An English-language memoir of this period was published electronically in 2000 by the University of Kansas Center for East Asian Studies (Goto, 2000). In May, 1946, a very large fire burned for more than eight hours, destroying 70% of the town (over 1000 homes), injuring fifty-nine and killing two. Much of the downtown district was destroyed and historical buildings lost (History v. II, pp. 802–806).

Education

Muramatsu had five elementary schools (Muramatsu, Muramatsu Higashi, Kawachi, Juuzen, and Okambara), two middle schools (Atago and Sanno), and a prefectural high school.

Transportation

Railway

In October 1923, the Kanbara Tetsudou ( :ja:蒲原鉄道) established a railway in Muramatsu, including a new station and service north to Gosen City. The line then expanded south to Kamo City. The railway company was dissolved in 1999 and all train service in town suspended. The original wooden railway station was purchased and moved off-site to Yasuda City, where it was rebuilt as a small museum.

Highway

Japan National Route 290 National Route 290 is a national highway of Japan connecting Murakami, Niigata is a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 58,300 in 22,594 households, and a population density of 50 persons ...

References

*Goto, Y. (2000)
Those days in Muramatsu.
University of Kansas, Center for East Asian Studies. *村松町教育委員会 (1983).''村松史''.村松町史編纂委員会編 * Muramatsu Machi Kyouiku Inkai. (1983). History of Muramatsu town. Muramatsu Historical Committee, 1983. Dissolved municipalities of Niigata Prefecture Gosen, Niigata {{Niigata-geo-stub