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

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...

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 ...

on the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

. As of October 2016, the city has an estimated population of 168,398 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 590 persons per km². The total area is .

History

as a modern municipality was established in Yamaguchi's Asa District as part of the modernization of municipalities in most prefectures in 1889. It became on November 1, 1921 in a rare direct elevation from village to city, without being 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 ...

in between. Previously a

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

town, the city has developed an effective policy to improve its environment. In particular it has combated the problem of

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

and its success in doing so saw it being recognised by the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

as among UNEP's Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1997. On November 1, 2004, the town of Kusunoki (from Asa District) was merged into Ube. This brought the city to its current extent, together with previous municipal mergers (

Fujiyama , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highes ...

in 1931, Kōnan in 1941, Nishi- (West) Kiwa in 1943, Great Shōwa mergers/1954: Kotō, Futamatase, Ono, Higashi- (East) Kiwa).

Geography

Climate

Attractions

Ube publicizes itself as "a city of greenery, flowers, and sculptures". Tokiwa Park is the centerpiece of this

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

, as it covers a large area near the center of the city and houses a large number of modern, mostly domestic sculptures on the shores of Lake Tokiwa. The sculptures can be found around the city. A sculpture competition is held biennially to provide new additions. A well-known attraction of the park was a

great white pelican The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes. ...

called "Katta-kun", so named after his parents who were from

Kolkata, India Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

. Hatched in the park in 1985, he became famous as he began visiting schools in the vicinity. Katta-kun died in 2008, but there are a number of pelicans still residing in an enclosure there. In addition to the pelicans there were many

mute swans The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home ...

and

black swans Black swan is the common name for ''Cygnus atratus'', an Australasian waterfowl. (The) Black Swan(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Black Swan'' (film), a 1942 swashbuckler film * ''Black Swans'' (film), a 2005 Dutch drama film * ' ...

residing there until 2011, when they were culled after an outbreak of H1N5 avian influenza. Two new mute swans were introduced in 2017. There is a coal mining museum with a view over the city and airport. Ubebridge

Twin towns – sister cities

Ube is twinned with: *

Castellón de la Plana Castellón de la Plana (officially in ca-valencia, Castelló de la Plana), or simply Castellón ( ca-valencia, Castelló, link=no) is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located in the east ...

, Spain *

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, Australia (1980) *

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...

, China

Festivals

Ube holds two

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

each year, one in May and the other in November featuring food stands and carnival games.

Transportation

Air

Yamaguchi Ube Airport is a domestic airport located southeast of Ube-Shinkawa Station, Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is the westernmost airport on the island of Honshu, and is marketed as an alternative to the New Kitakyushu Airport for Yamaguchi prefectur ...

The city is served by Yamaguchi Prefecture's only airport, Yamaguchi Ube Airport, with daily flights to and from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Rail

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

(bullet train) There are no Shinkansen stations in this city. The closest Shinkansen stations are:

Asa Station is a railway station in San'yō-Onoda, Yamaguchi, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Asa Station is served by the Sanyō Shinkansen and Sanyō Main Line, and also forms the terminus of the Mine Line. Station layo ...

( Sanyo Onoda) and

Shin-Yamaguchi Station is a railway station operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, and is a stopping point for the Sanyō Shinkansen and the Sanyō Main Line, and serves as termini of Yamaguchi Line and Ube Line. It is also the start ...

( Yamaguchi) *

West Japan Railway , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and i ...

lines **

San'yō Main Line The is a major railway line owned by JR Group companies in western Japan, connecting Kōbe Station and Moji Station, largely paralleling the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, Inland Sea, in other words, the southern coast of western Honshu. The Sa ...

Ube Line The is a railway line in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line connects Shin-Yamaguchi Station in Yamaguchi and Ube Station in Ube. Stations All stations are in Yamaguchi Prefecture. R ...

Onoda Line The is a railway line in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line connects Ube-Shinkawa Station in Ube and Onoda Station in San'yō-Onoda. The branch from Suzemeda to Motoyama is part of this l ...

The main train station located in 'downtown' Ube is called Ube-Shinkawa Station (Ube Line).

Ube Station is a railway station in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Ube Station is served by the Sanyō Main Line and the Ube Line. See also * List of railway stations in Japan The links below con ...

is farther inland and is located in a more suburban area known as Kōnan (厚南).

Education

Universities

Yamaguchi University is a national university in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It has campuses at the cities of Yamaguchi and Ube. History The root of the university was , a private school founded by Ueda Hōyō (, 1769–1853) in 1815. In 1863 the school became ...

(national) **School of Medicine **Faculty of Engineering * Ube Frontier University (private)

Primary and secondary schools

The city formerly had a North Korean school, Ube Korean Elementary and Junior High School ( 宇部朝鮮初中級学校).ウリハッキョ一覧

.

Chongryon The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan,
" ''

. November 6, 2005. Retrieved on October 15, 2015.

Economy and industry

Ube Industries is a Japanese chemical company manufacturing chemicals, plastics, battery materials, pharmaceuticals, cement, construction materials, and machinery. The former company name is The company was founded in 1897 when Sukesaku Watanabe —an indus ...

is headquartered and has major plants in Ube. Also,

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

product company of Solato, printer machine product company of Riso Kagaku, glass product company Central Glass,

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

and parts product company of Renesas, pharmaceutical research and product company of

Kyowa Hakko Kirin is a Japanese pharmaceutical and biotechnology company under the Kirin Holdings, and is among the 40 largest in the world by revenue. The company is headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo and is a member of the Nikkei 225 stock index. History On ...

, clinical laboratory research company of Miraca Holdings are plant and factory base on Ube.

People from Ube

Masaki Kito is a Japanese attorney at law who specializes in consumer affairs, Securities fraud, investment frauds and cases involving Cult, religious cults, especially Aum Shinrikyo, Aleph (formerly known as Aum Shinrikyo) and Unification church. He regular ...

, attorney at law *

Naoto Kan is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to serve for m ...

, former prime minister of Japan *

Tadashi Yanai is a Japanese billionaire businessman, the founder and president of Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo ("unique clothing"). As of October 2021, he was the richest person in Japan, with an estimated net worth of US$26.5 billion & 40t ...

, founder and president of Uniqlo *

Kazuo Hara is a Japanese documentary film director. After dropping out of university to work at a special education school, he made his 1972 debut work ''Goodbye CP'' about a group of individuals with cerebral palsy. He won the award for Best Director a ...

, documentary film director *

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...

, animator and film director *

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...

, film director *

Aimi Kobayashi is a Japanese classical pianist. She was a finalist at the XVII International Chopin Piano Competition and won 4th prize at the subsequent XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition. Biography She was born in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and ...

, pianist *

Shunsuke Kiyokiba (born January 11, 1980 in Ube, Yamaguchi) is a Japanese pop singer who debuted in 2001 with the then six-member vocal and dance group, Exile, as their vocalist under the name, Shun. In 2004, he participated in the tribute album for Yutaka Ozaki ...

, pop singer (formerly vocalist of

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

) * Satomi', pop singer *

Sayumi Michishige is a Japanese singer, actress and model. She is a former sixth-generation member and former leader of the J-pop group Morning Musume. Following the departure of fifth-generation member Risa Niigaki on October 12, 2013, Michishige has the longe ...

, pop singer (former

Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...

member) *

Tomomi Nishimura is a Japanese given name which can be given to either gender. Possible writings *智美, "wisdom, intellect, reason, beauty" *知美, "knowledge, beauty" *朋美, "companion, friend, beauty" *友美, "friend, beauty" *智実, "wisdom, fruit" *智 ...

, actress *

Kishō Taniyama is a Japanese voice actor, singer and lyricist affiliated with Ken Production. He is also the vocalist and lyricist of the Japanese rock band Granrodeo under his stage name Kishow. He is the official Japanese dubbing voice for Fred Jones in the ...

, voice actor *

Hitomi Harada is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Ube, Yamaguchi. Career She was scouted as a singer and began singing in the TWOFIVE production company. After that, she joined the talent agency Production Baobab to work as a voice actress. After ...

, voice actress and singer *

Norihiro Akimura is a retired Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher. He was with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and the Nippon Ham Fighters. Biography In the summer of 1982, his sophomore year, he achieved consecutive no-hit, no-run games against Iwakuni High ...

, baseball player *

Makiko Horai is a former Japanese volleyball player. She also played for Japan National women's volleyball team and participated at the 2006 World Championship. Her nickname is Japanese High Tower (ジャパニーズハイタワー). Profile *Birthplace:� ...

, volleyball player *

Sotaro Yasunaga is a Japanese former footballer and manager. Club career Yasunaga was born in Ube on April 20, 1976. After graduating from Shimizu Commercial High School, he joined Yokohama Marinos (later ''Yokohama F. Marinos'') in 1995. In 1995 season, he p ...

, soccer player * Daisuke Tomita, soccer player *

Yuji Nakagawa is a former Japanese football player. He is the goalkeeper coach J2 League club of Ventforet Kofu. Club career Nakagawa was born in Ube on October 22, 1978. After graduating from Meiji University, he joined Japan Football League club YKK ...

, soccer player *

Ryota Takasugi is a Japanese football player currently playing for Tochigi SC , commonly referred to as Tochigi SC are a football club based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. They currently play in the J2 League. History Teachers in Tochigi Pre ...

, soccer player

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Yamaguchi Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan 1921 establishments in Japan Populated places established in 1921