is 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 or ...

located in Kahoku District,

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...

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 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 26,811 in 10783 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 RosenberPop ...

of 1300 persons per km². The total area of the town was .

Geography

Uchinada is located near the middle of Ishikawa Prefecture, bordered by 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 ...

to the west, the city of

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな� ...

to the south and the city of Kahoku to the north. Uchinada sits in a typical seaside sand-dune environment, lacking any major mountains or rivers, with an average elevation of 20 meters. The highest point of elevation reaches 58.51 meters, with a dynamic landscape formed by the constant forming and reforming of sand dunes, both new and old. It is a suburb of

, the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture. The town has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezin ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by mild summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Uchinada is 14.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2534 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.2 °C.

Neighbouring municipalities

*Ishikawa Prefecture **

** Kahoku ** Tsubata

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Uchinada nearly doubled in the 1970s and has remained relatively stable in recent decades.

History

Remains of earthenware pots found in the sand dunes of Uchinada reveal the existence of humans living in the area since the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

. The area around Uchinada was mostly part of ancient

Kaga Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abbr ...

. The area became part of

Kaga Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1583 to 1871.

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 characterize ...

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' ...

. 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 r ...

, the area was organised into

Kahoku District, Ishikawa is a district located in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 62,374 and a density of 476.79 persons per km2. The total area is 130.82 km2. Towns and villages * Tsubata * Uchinada Merger *On ...

. The village of Uchinada was founded on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. It was rated to town status on January 1, 1952. Uchinada became the center of the first large-scale protest movement against one of the US military bases that remained in Japan even after the end of the US Military Occupation of Japan. The movement arose in protest against the construction of an artillery range to train

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

units during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{{ ...

. Nationwide sympathy was aroused by the perceived danger to the natural ecosystem of the Uchinada sand dunes. Activists from around Japan joined the protests, and the "Uchinada Incident" helped launch a nationwide anti-base movement. Ultimately, the protest movement, which lasted from 1952 to 1953, failed to stop the opening of the range. The artillery range opened in March 1953, and was turned over to the Japanese government in 1957.

Economy

Commercial fishing was formerly a mainstay of the local economy, followed by the industrial fiber industry, and agriculture. The town is increasingly a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for Kanazawa.

Education

Uchinada has six public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government as of April 2018. The town has one public high school operated by the Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education. Kanazawa Medical University is also located in Uchinada.

Transportation

Railway

Hokuriku Railroad The is a transportation company in Kanazawa, Japan. The company or its lines are commonly known as . The company was founded in 1943, when all the private railway and bus operators in Ishikawa Prefecture were merged into one. Some of its lin ...

- Ishikawa Line * -

Highway

Sister city relations

: Haboro,

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

Wujiang District, Suzhou Wujiang District (; Suzhounese: ''Wukaon Chiu''), formerly Wujiang City, is one of five urban districts in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. As the southernmost county-level division of Jiangsu, it borders Shanghai to the northeast and Zhejiang province t ...

, China

Local attractions

*Uchinada Multipurpose Park

Events

* World Kite Festival: Uchinada is internationally known for its World Kite Festival which occurs annually on May 3 and 4. People from around Japan and the world gather on the shores of Uchinada's beaches every year to fly kites during this festival. *Acacia Romantic Festival: This festival occurs every year in mid-May when the blossoms from the false acacia trees shielding the town from sand and wind are in full bloom. It consists of a flea market on the 2.1 km Forest Promenade in the morning and a series of performances by various associations in the town at the nearby Hamanasu Dinosaur Park starting at noon.

External links

* *
Pictures of Uchinada World Kite Festival

Kanazawa Medical School located in Uchinada
In Japanese and English

References

{{Authority control Towns in Ishikawa Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan