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

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

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 54,112 in 25,381 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 4,000 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Nonoichi is in central Ishikawa Prefecture, sandwiched between the geographically much larger cities of

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central 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 . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...

and Hakusan. The city is located on flatlands on the fertile floodplain of the Tedori River

Neighbouring municipalities

*Ishikawa Prefecture ** Hakusan **

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nonoichi has grown rapidly over the past 50 years.

Climate

Nonoichi 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 cold ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by mild summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nonoichi is 14.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2,542 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.0 °C.

History

The area around Nonoichi was 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 ...

. The area became part Kaga Domain 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 ...

, and nonoichi was a post station on the Hokuriku kaidō highway. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the area was organised into Ishikawa District, Ishikawa. The village of Nonoichi was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on July 1, 1924. A referendum to merge with the city of Kanazawa was rejected in 1937. On April 1, 1955, Nonoichi expanded by annexing the neighbouring village of Tomioka. Nonoichi was elevated to city status on November 11, 2011. Ishikawa District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

Government

Nonoichi 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 15 members.

Economy

Nonoichi is primarily 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 the city of Kanazawa. Local industries include agriculture and

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

Education

College and university

Ishikawa Prefectural University is a public university in the city of Nonoichi, Ishikawa, Nonoichi in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1971 as an agricultural junior college, and it was chartered as a university in 2005. External links O ...

Kanazawa Institute of Technology is an institution of higher learning in Nonoichi, Ishikawa, Nonoichi City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often called KIT, or for short. It is known for its unique educational policy that attaches importance to initiative of students. One ...

International College of Technology, Kanazawa

Primary and secondary education

Nonoichi has five public elementary schools and two middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school.

Transportation

Railway

Effective 16 March 2024,

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

no longer operates in Nonoichi as its operations on the

Hokuriku Main Line The Hokuriku Main Line () is a railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with Tsuruga Station in Tsuruga, Fukui. The line formerly extended as far as Naoetsu Station in ...

have since been transferred to the

IR Ishikawa Railway The is a Japanese Public-Private_Partnerships_In_Japan, third-sector railway company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Ishikawa Prefecture. The main line was separa ...

Hokuriku Railroad Ishikawa Line * - -

Highway

: : :

Sister cities

* Gisborne

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, since 1990 *

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

, China, friendship city

Local attractions

* Okyōzuka Site, a Jomon period archaeological site and National Historic Site * Suematsu temple ruins, a National Historic Site

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Ishikawa Prefecture