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 77,382 in 29,406 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 697 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Tsubame is located in the coastal plains of central Niigata Prefecture, but does not have a coastline on 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, it h ...

. 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 ...

flows through the city.

Surrounding municipalities

** Niigata ** Nagaoka ** Sanjō ** Yahiko

Climate

Tsubame has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Tsubame is 12.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2093 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.12 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Tsubame population statistics
/ref> the population of Tsubame has remained relatively unchanged over the past 50 years.

History

The area of present-day Tsubame was part of ancient Echigo Province and has been settled since prehistoric times. Under 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 ...

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 town of Tsubame was part of the holdings of

Murakami Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Echigo Province (modern-day Niigata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Murakami Castle in what is now the city of Murakami, Niigata.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 into

Nishikanbara District, Niigata is a district located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. As of July 1, 2019, the district has an estimated population of 7,824 and a density of 311 persons per km2. The total area is 25.17 km2. Towns and villages On March 20, 2006, the towns ...

. The town of Tsubame was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to city status on March 31, 1954 by merging with the neighbouring villages of Koike, Konakagawa and Matsunaga. On March 20, 2006 Tsubame absorbed the towns of Bunsui and Yoshida (both fromishikanbara District).

Government

Tsubame 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 24 members.

Economy

Tsubame was traditionally known for its copper ware and the production of ''

kiseru A is a Japanese smoking pipe (tobacco), smoking pipe, traditionally used for smoking ''kizami'', a finely shredded tobacco product resembling hair. History The word ''kiseru'' is said to have originated from the Cambodian word ''khsier'' aroun ...

'' (Japanese smoking pipes). In modern times, Tsubame is noted for its production of tableware and cutlery.

Education

Tsubame has 15 public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government. There are three public high schools operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education, and the prefecture also operates one special education 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 ...

Yahiko Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which connects Yahiko Station in the village of Yahiko and Higashi-Sanjō Station in the city of Sanjo, both in Niigata Prefecture. The line shares its name with ...

* () - - - - () 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 ...

* - - - - Note: Although the nearest stop on the

Jōetsu Shinkansen The is a high-speed shinkansen railway line connecting Tokyo and Niigata, Japan, via the Tōhoku Shinkansen, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Despite its name, the line does not pass through the city of Joetsu or the hist ...

is called

Tsubame-Sanjō Station is a railway station in the city of Sanjō, Niigata, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The station sits directly on the border of the cities of Sanjō and Tsubame. As the station headquarters are located on the Sanjō side ...

, the station is physically located in the city of Sanjō and not in Tsubame.

Highway

* 20px

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 ...

* *

Local attractions

Kokujouji Temple, Tsubame, Niigata, Japan, May 2021

*Mount Kugami / Kokujo Temple

Sister cities

Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populatio ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

-since January 11, 1996 *

Dundee, Michigan Dundee is a village in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,323 at the 2020 census. The village is within Dundee Township and is served by Dundee Community Schools. Settled as early as 1823, Dundee was incorpora ...

, US and Tsubame have an exchange program through their local middle school.

Notable People from Tsubame

Chinami Nishimura is a Japanese voice actress from Chiba Prefecture, and affiliated with 81 Produce. Her major roles include Fake Yuna and Miki Shiratori in ''Galaxy Fraulein Yuna'', Neko Musume in '' GeGeGe no Kitaro'', Junsa (Officer Jenny) in ''Pokémon'', ...

(politician) *

Killer Khan Krugman, Michael. ''André the Giant: A Legendary Life'', p.48. (born March 6, 1947) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. Popularly known as Killer Khan, he was billed from Mongolia and had numerous high-profile matches with André the G ...

(professional wrestler) *

Kiriko Nananan is a Japanese manga artist from Tsubame, Niigata. Nananan is famous for her realistic ''josei'' work featuring understated artwork with a sense of detachment. In addition, she has affiliated herself with the "La nouvelle manga" movement. Her fir ...

(manga artist)

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Niigata Prefecture