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 the northwestern corner of

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

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 154,114 in 69,191 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 1500 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is famous for its production of

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

Geography

Noda is the northernmost city in Chiba Prefecture, and the 36th parallel north passes through it. It is about 40 kilometers from then prefectural capital at Chiba, and 30 to 40 kilometers from central Tokyo. The city center is surrounded by rivers on three sides, with the

Shimōsa Plateau The is a plateau on the Kantō Plain in central Honshu, Japan. The plateau covers most of northern Chiba Prefecture. The plateau was historically richly agricultural, but in the 20th century the western and central Shimōsa Plateau became one of ...

, the

Tone River The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It is in length (the second longest in Japan after the Shinano River) and has a drainage area of (the largest in Japan). It is nicknamed Bandō Tarō (); ''Bandō'' is an obsolete alias of the ...

to the east of the city, the

Edo River The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It splits from the Tone River at the northernmost tip of Noda City in the Sekiyado district, crosses through Nagareyama and Matsudo, and empties into Tokyo Bay at Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. The E ...

to the west, and the Tone Canal to the south.

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

is on the opposite bank across the Tone River, and

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

is on the opposite bank across the Edo River.

Neighboring municipalities

*Chiba Prefecture **

Kashiwa is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 435,578 in 199,926 households and a population density of 3800 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The name of the city is w ...

Nagareyama Nagareyama City Hall is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 211,620 in 89,751 households and a population density of 6,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Nagareyama is ...

** Bandō **

Jōsō is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,314 in 21,168 households and a population density of 480 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 38.8%. The total area of t ...

Goka 260px, Nakanoshima Park is a town located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 8,162 in 2987 households and a population density of 353 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 34.7%. ...

** Moriya **

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

** Kasukabe ** Matsubushi ** Satte ** Sugito **

Yoshikawa is a Cities of Japan, city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 73,262 in 31,031 households and a population density of 2300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Located in far so ...

Climate

Noda 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 summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Noda is 14.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1351 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Isumi population statistics
/ref> the population of Noda has recently plateaued after a long period of growth.

History

The area around Noda has been inhabited since prehistory, and archaeologists have found ancient

shell midden A midden is an old landfill, dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bone, bones, feces, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, Lithic flake, lithics (especially debitage), and other Artifact (archaeology), ...

s in the area. During the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, the area was controlled by

Kamakura Gongorō Kagemasa Kamakura Gongorō Kagemasa (鎌倉権五郎景政) (born 1069) was a samurai descended from the Taira clan, who fought for the Minamoto clan in the Gosannen War of Japan's Heian period. He is famous for having continued to fight after losing an ey ...

, and a succession of minor warlords during the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. 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 ...

, Noda developed as a river port,

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

on the pilgrimage road to Nikko, and a center for the production of

. Neighboring Sekiyado was controlled by the

Later Hōjō clan The was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region. Their last name was simply , but were called "Later Hōjō" to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan who h ...

during the Sengoku period, and developed as a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

under

Sekiyado Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Shimōsa Province (the northern portion of Chiba Prefecture and southern portion of Ibaraki Prefecture in modern-day, Japan). It was centered on Sekiyad ...

, a feudal han 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

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 ...

, Noda and Sekiyado towns were created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. Noda was elevated to city status on May 3, 1950. Noda is where the

Fukuda Village Incident The was a mass murder committed as part of the larger Kantō Massacre in (now in Noda), Chiba Prefecture, Empire of Japan on September 6, 1923. Nine ethnic Japanese people, including women and children, were killed on suspicion that they were e ...

took place in September, 1923, after the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

. On June 6, 2003, the town of Sekiyado (from Higashikatsushika District) was merged into Noda.

Government

Noda 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 council of 28 members. Noda contributes two members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Chiba 7th 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

Noda is a regional commercial center and, due to its proximity, 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 nearby Chiba and Tokyo, with 13% of the population commuting daily to Tokyo per the 2010 census. Noda has a mixed economy, with

Kikkoman is a Japanese food manufacturer. Its main products and services include soy sauce, food seasoning and flavoring, mirin, , and sake, juice and other beverages, pharmaceuticals, and restaurant management services. As of 2002, the company was the ...

soy sauce being the most prominent employer. The city has several industrial parks. There is some residual agriculture, primarily of ''

edamame is an East Asian dish prepared with immature soybeans in their pods, which are boiled or steamed, and may be served with salt or other condiments. The dish has become popular across the world because it is rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, and i ...

'', for which Noda was historically famous.

Education

Tokyo University of Science , formerly "Science University of Tokyo" or TUS, informally or simply is a private research university located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. History Tokyo University of Science was founded in 1881 as The Tokyo Academy of Physics by 21 graduate ...

– Noda Campus * Chiba University of Commerce * Noda has 20 public elementary schools and 11 public middle schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped. There are also one private middle school and two private high schools.

Transportation

Railway

Tōbu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and '' keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second lon ...

Tōbu Noda Line is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second longes ...

* - - - - -

Highways

Local attractions

Kantarō Suzuki Baron was a Japanese politician and admiral who served as prime minister of Japan from 7 April to 17 August 1945, during World War II. He was prime minister at the time of Japan's surrender on 15 August. Born in Osaka, Suzuki graduated from th ...

Memorial Museum * Sakuragi Jinja *

Sekiyado Castle is a Japanese castle located in Noda, northwestern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Sekiyado Castle was home to the Kuse clan, ''daimyō'' of Sekiyado Domain. History Sekiyado is located at the confluence of the Tone R ...

Sister cities

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is a town located in the Bay of Plenty Region, Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and northeast of Rotorua. The town is situated at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. The Whakatāne Dis ...

Bay of Plenty Region The Bay of Plenty Region is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region in the North Island of New Zealand. Also called just the Bay of Plenty (BOP), it is situated around the Bay of Plenty, marine bight of that same name. The bay was name ...

, New Zealand, since November 16, 1997.

Notable people from Noda

Kyōko Aizome is a Japanese erotic actress, singer, writer, and audiovisual, AV and film director. She has been called "the first Hardcore pornography, hard-core porn actress in Japan". Life and career Early life Kyōko Aizome was born in Noda, Chiba, Noda, ...

, AV actress and movie director * Dabo, Japanese rap musician *

Masaaki Hatsumi , formerly Yoshiaki Hatsumi, is the founder of the Bujinkan Organization and is the former Togakure-ryū soke ( grandmaster). He no longer teaches, but currently resides in Noda, Chiba, Japan. Early life Masaaki Hatsumi was born in Noda, Ch ...

, martial arts instructor *

Kiyoshi Kimura Kiyoshi Kimura's life-sized statue in front of his restaurant Osaka.html" ;"title="Sushi Zanmai, this one in Osaka">Sushi Zanmai, this one in Osaka's Dotonbori Kiyoshi Kimura (; born 19 April 1952) is known as the "Tuna King" of Japan. Kimura ...

, Tuna King and head of Kiyomura Corporation *

Mai Oshima is a singer and a former member of the Japanese all-girl pop group AKB48. Biography In December 2005, Oshima became one of the 24 inaugural members of AKB48's Team A. Over the course of her career, she participated in most of AKB48's A-side sing ...

, idol singer * Takahiro Oshima, professional soccer player * Katsumasa Uchida, actor

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture