is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 10,386 in 4490 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 11 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Aga is in northeastern Niigata Prefecture. Covering 6.8% in area of the entire prefecture, Aga is the third largest municipality in Niigata after Jōetsu and Murakami. The

Agano River The is a river system in the Hokuriku region of Honshu, Japan. It is also called the Aga River or the Ōkawa River in Fukushima. It is designated as a Class A river. The source of the river is Mount Arakai on the border of Fukushima and Toc ...

and its tributary, the Tokonami River, flow through the center of the town.

Surrounding municipalities

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

* Kaneyama * Kitakata * Nishiaizu * Tadami

* Agano *

Gosen Gosen may refer to: * Gosen, Niigata, Japan * Gosen-Neu Zittau, Brandenburg, Germany * Gosen (Company), a Japanese manufacturer of sporting equipment *Gosen Wakashū, an ancient Japanese poetry anthology *Land of Goshen, an area in Biblical Egypt ...

* Sanjō * Shibata

Climate

Aga has a humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Aga 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,Aga population statistics
/ref> the population of Aga has declined by nearly three-quarters over the past 70 years.

History

The area of present-day Aga was part of ancient

Echigo Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...

, and was part of the territories held by

Aizu Domain was a Han (Japan), domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 The Aizu Domain was based at Aizuwakamatsu Castle, Tsuruga Castle in M ...

under the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the area was organised as part of

Higashikanbara District, Niigata is a Districts of Japan, district located in Niigata Prefecture, Niigata, Japan. As of July 1, 2019, the district has an estimated population of 10,327 with a population density, density of 10.8 persons per km2. The total area is 952.89 km2. ...

. The town of Aga was established on April 1, 2005 in a merger of the towns of Kamikawa and Kanose and the villages of Mikawa, and Tsugawa, all from Higashikanbara District.

Government

Aga 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

town council of 13 members. Aga, together with the city of

contributes two members to the Niigata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Niigata 11th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

The local economy is dominated by agriculture. The Kamikawa (上川) area of Aga is particularly famous for its ''

Koshihikari is a popular cultivar of Japonica rice cultivated in Japan as well as Australia and the United States. ''Koshihikari'' was first created in 1956 by combining 2 different strains of ''Nourin No.1'' and ''Nourin No.22'' at the Fukui Prefectura ...

'' rice, which is also used to make ''

sake Sake, , or saki, 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 indeed any East Asi ...

'' in two local breweries, which are also among the main employers of the district. The Mikawa (三川) area is also famous for mushrooms, and is host to a mushroom park where people can either pick their own mushrooms or choose from a wide variety of locally grown produce.

Education

Aga has three public elementary schools and two public middle school operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

Ban'etsu West Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kōriyama Station (Fukushima), Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, and Niitsu Station in Akiha-ku, Niigata, Akiha Ward, Niigata (cit ...

* - - - - - -

Highway

* * *

Local attractions

National Historic Sites

* Kosegasawa Cave, Jōmon period archaeological site * Muroya Cave, Jōmon period archaeological site

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Niigata Towns in Niigata Prefecture