is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (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 city 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 39,908 in 15,139 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 510 persons per km². The total area of the city is , making it the smallest city in Niigata Prefecture in terms of area.

Geography

Mitsuke is located in an inland region near the geographical centre of Niigata Prefecture, it has a monument called the . The city is located approximately 50 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Niigata and 300 kilometers from central Tokyo. The Kariyata River divides the center of the city into northern and southern districts before joining 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 ...

just outside the city borders. The main population center, former Mitsuke-cho, is located on the northern bank of the river and was formerly subject to frequent flooding. The eastern part of the city is a hilly area, and the western part is in the plains. The city extends from 11.5 kilometers from east-to-west by 14.7 kilometers from north-to-south. The highest elevation is 300 meters above sea level, and the lowest is 10 meters above sea level. Over 50% of the city area is farmland, mostly in the northern part of the city.

Surrounding municipalities

* Nagaoka * Sanjō

Climate

Mitsuke has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Mitsuke is 12.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2176 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Mitsuke population statistics
/ref> the population of Mitsuke has remained relatively steady over the past 60 years.

History

The area of present-day Mitsuke 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, ...

. During 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 ...

the area was divided between

Nagaoka Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Echigo Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Nagaoka Castle, located in what is now part of the city of Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture ...

Muramatsu Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in Echigo Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Muramatsu ''Jin'ya'' (later renamed Muramatsu Castle), located in what is now part of the c ...

and

Shibata Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Echigo Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Shibata Castle, located in what is now the city of Shibata in Niigata Prefecture. It was r ...

under the

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 start of the

Meiji period The was 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 colonizatio ...

, the area was organised as part of

Minamikanbara District, Niigata is a district located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. As of July 1, 2019, the district had an estimated population of 11,481 with a density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volum ...

. The town of Mitsuke was established on April 1, 1887 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to city status on March 31, 1954.

Government

Mitsuke 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 ...

city legislature of 17 members. Mitsuke contributes one member to the Niigata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Niigata 4th district is an electoral district of the Japanese House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet. The district is located in the Chūetsu region in central Niigata Prefecture and was created as part of the general move from multi-member d ...

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

Mitsuke was traditionally known for its silk weaving industry. The city is now known for the production of knitted and synthetic fabrics. The main agricultural products are rice and tobacco. The Mitsuke Oil Fields were once one of the most productive petroleum deposits in Japan. Mitsuke is the home of Canon Tokki Corporation. This is one of the world market leaders for vacuum machines for the production of OLED screens.

Education

Mitsuke has eight public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government. There is one public high school operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education and one private high school. The prefecture, also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

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 ...

Shin'etsu Main Line The is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . Since the opening and later extension of ...