is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

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 village 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 5,291 in 1920 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 17.7 persons per km². The total area of the village was .

Geography

Sekikawa is located in mountainous northeastern Niigata Prefecture, bordered by Yamagata Prefecture to the east.

Surrounding municipalities

** Murakami **

Tainai 270px, Tulip fields in Tainai is a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 28,495 in 10,821 households, and a population density of 110 persons per km2 (288/sq mi). The total area of the city was . Ge ...

Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the north, ...

** Oguni

Climate

Sekikawa has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sekikawa 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,Sekikawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Sekikawa has declined steadily over the past 50 years.

History

The area of present-day Sekikawa 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 ...

, much of the area was part of the holdings of

Yonezawa Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered at Yonezawa castle in what is now the city of Yamagata, Yamagata, Yamagata, and its territory extended over t ...

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 ...

. The area was organized as part of

Iwafune District, Niigata is a Districts of Japan, district located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. As of July 1, 2019, the district has an estimated population of 5,644 with a density of 18.2 persons per km2. The total area is 309.39 km2. The district currently has t ...

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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. The modern village of Sekigawa was established on August 1, 1954 by the merger of the villages of Seki, Shichikatani, and Kukatani. On August 1, 1954, Sekikawa merged with the neighboring village of Onnagawa.

Economy

The local economy is dominated by agriculture.

Education

Sekikawa has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.

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 ...

Yonesaka Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Yonezawa Station in Yamagata Prefecture to Sakamachi Station in Niigata Prefecture. At Yonezawa, connections to the Yamagata Shinkansen and Ōu Main L ...

* - - -

Highway

* *

References

External links

*
Official Website
Villages in Niigata Prefecture Sekikawa, Niigata {{Niigata-geo-stub