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 ...

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 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 n ...

. , the city had an estimated population of 96,236 in 37,017 households, and a population density of 179 persons per km². The total area of the city was .Shibata official profile
/ref>

Geography

Shibata is located in a mostly inland region of north-central Niigata Prefecture on the northern end of the Echigo Plain, with a small shoreline of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

Surrounding municipalities

** Kita-ku, Niigata ** Agano ** Tainai ** Aga ** Seiro *

Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi ...

** Kitakata *

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 nor ...

** Oguni

Climate

Shibata has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Shibata is 13.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1920 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Shibata population statistics
/ref> the population of Shibata peaked around the year 2000 and has been in decline since then.

History

The area of present-day Shibata 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 Niig ...

. The area developed as a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, a ...

for Shibata Domain 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 ...

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 character ...

. After 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 area was organized into

Kitakanbara District, Niigata is a district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipal ...

. The town of Shibata was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was elevated to city status on January 1, 1947. On July 7, 2003 the town of Toyoura (from Kitakanbara District) was merged into Shibata. Likewise, on May 1, 2005 the town of Shiunji, and the village of Kajikawa (both from Kitakanbara District) were merged into Shibata.

Government

Shibata 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 multi ...

city legislature of 27 members. Shibata, together with the town of Seirō, collectively contributes three members to the Niigata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Niigata 3rd 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 paral ...

Economy

The economy of Shibata is dominated by the agricultural sector, with rice as the primary crop. Industries include ''

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and in ...

'' brewing and plastics components production.

Education

Shibata has 19 public elementary schools and 10 public junior high schools operated by the city government. The city has seven public high schools operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education, and the prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped. Keiwa College is also located in Shibata.

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 ar ...

Uetsu Main Line The is a railway line in the Tohoku and Chubu regions of Japan. Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) system, it connects Niitsu Station in the city of Niigata and Akita Station in Akita. The name "Uetsu" refers to the ancient ...

* - - - - JR logo (east)

Hakushin Line The is a Japanese railway line which runs between and stations in the cities of Niigata and Shibata in Niigata Prefecture. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network. Basic data *Operators, distances: ** East Japan Ra ...

* - -

Highway

* * * * *

Sister city relations

* -

Uijeongbu Uijeongbu () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Overview Uijeongbu is located north of the Korean capital Seoul; it lies inside a defile, with mountains on two sides, and commands a natural choke point across the main traditional in ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

(friendship city) * - St. James, Missouri, US * -

Orange City, Iowa Orange City is a city in, and the county seat of, Sioux County, Iowa, United States. Its population was 6,267 in the 2020 census, an increase from 5,582 in 2000. Named after William of Orange, the community maintains its Dutch settler traditio ...

, US

Local attractions

* is the main visitor attraction and provide the backdrop to the spring

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

viewing parties. * Garden * . * hot spring File:160716 Shimizuen Shibata Niigata pref Japan29s3.jpg, Shimizuen garden File:160717 Tsukioka Onsen Shibata Niigata pref Japan02s3.jpg, Tsukioka Onsen

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Niigata Prefecture