270px, Shiobara Onsen 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

Tochigi Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi ...

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 115,794 in 48,437 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 67 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Nasushiobara is the northernmost city in the

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

of Japan, bordering

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 ...

to the north. It is located in the northern portion of Tochigi Prefecture, in the mountains.

Surrounding municipalities

* Minamiaizu * Nishigō * Shimogō

* Nasu * Nikko *

Ōtawara is a Cities of Japan, city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 72,189 in 30,136 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city's name may also b ...

* Shioya *

Yaita 270px, Mount Takahara is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 31,859 in 13,173 households, and a population density of 67 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Yaita is loc ...

Climate

Nasushiobara has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm to hot summers and cool winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nasushiobara is . The average annual rainfall is with July 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, the population of Nasushiobara has recently plateaued after a century of strong growth.

History

Before 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 which is now Nasushiobara was mostly uninhabited wasteland, due to lack of suitable water for agriculture. Ōtawara Domain built a number of

irrigation canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

s 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 ...

, but the scale was small. However, in the Meiji period, the Nasu Canal and other agricultural development projects aimed at opening the region to farming led to rapid development, and many local place names still bear the names of various government officials of the Meiji period. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the villages of Karino, Takabayashi, Nabekake, Nishi-Nasuno, Higashi-Nasuno in Nasu District, and Shiobara in Shioya District were formed. A portion of Higashi-Nasuno became the town of Kuroiso in 1912. Shiobara became a town in 1919, and Nishi-Nasuno in 1932. In 1955, Kuroiso annexed Takabayashi, Nabekake and the remainder of Higashi-Nasuno, and Nishi-Nasuno annexed Kariya. Kuroiso became a city in 1970, and Shiobara was transferred to Nasu District in 1982. The modern city of Nasushiobara was established on January 1, 2005, from the merger of the former city of Kuroiso, and the towns of Nishinasuno and Shiobara (both previously constituent towns of Nasu District).

Government

Nasushiobara 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 assembly of 26 members. Nasushiobara, together with the town of Nasu collectively contributes four members to the Tochigi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Tochigi 3rd 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

Nasushiobara relies heavily on seasonal tourism to its

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

and ski resorts. Agriculture is centered on dairy production. The city mascot, Miruhi, was created to represent the city's dairy production. The city also has several

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

Education

* Utsunomiya Kyowa University *Nasushiobara has 20 public

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s, ten public

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

s and one combined primary/middle school operated by the city government. The city has four public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

s operated by the Tochigi Prefectural Board of Education. The prefectural 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 ...

–

Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island, Honshu. Operated by the East Japan Railway Company, it links Tokyo in the south to Aomori in the north, with ...

–

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line () is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Uts ...

(

Utsunomiya Line The Utsunomiya Line () is the name given to a section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Tokyo Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network. Services Serv ...

) * – –

Highway

* – Nishinasuno Interchange – Kuroiso Interchange * * *

Local attractions

Nasushiobara serves as a gateway for tourism in northern Tochigi. * Hunter Mountain Shiobara *Itamuro onsen *Momiji-dani Suspension Bridge *Nogi Jinja (former residence of General

Nogi Maresuke Count , also known as Kiten, Count Nogi GCB (December 25, 1849September 13, 1912), was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and a governor-general of Taiwan. He was one of the commanders during the 1894 capture of Port Arthur from ...

) *former Shiobara Imperial Palace *Shiobara onsen *former house of Aoki Shuzo

Notable people

Hiromi Hara is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. He also managed Japan national team as caretaker. Club career Hara was born in Nasushiobara on October 19, 1958. After graduating from Waseda University, he j ...

, professional football player * Aya Hirayama, actress * Yoshitomo Nara, artist *

Takashi Sanada is a Paralympic tennis player from Japan who won a series of national championships such as 2011 Osaka Open, Japan Open and Peace Cup (both 2011 and 2012). He also was a winner of international championships such as Taiwan Open and the Gauteng ...

, wheelchair tennis player * Yoko Shibui, Olympic runner
Sports-Reference.com * Masayoshi Takayama, three-star Michelin head chef of the Manhattan sushi restaurant Masa (born in Kuroiso) * Yoshimi Watanabe, politician

References

External links

Official Website

Shiobara Onsen
{{Authority control Cities in Tochigi Prefecture Nasushiobara