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

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

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 55,151 in 27684 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 890 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Nōgata is located in the northern part of Fukuoka Prefecture, at the northern tip of the Chikuhō region. It is located approximately 30 km southwest of the center of Kitakyūshū City and approximately 50 km northeast of Fukuoka City. The center of the city is a plain, located almost in the center of the Chikuhō Plain, and the Onga River, which combines the Hikoyama River and the Inunaki River, flows through it. The urban area is centered on the area sandwiched between the Onga River and the

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Chikuhō Main Line The is a railway line in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Wakamatsu Station in Kitakyushu with Haruda Station in Chikushino, Fukuoka, Chikushino. Between Orio Station and Haruda Station, as ...

(Fukuhoku Yutaka Line). The eastern and western regions are residential areas, the southern area is an industrial area, and the northern area is a rural area. In the eastern part of the city, the Fukuchi Mountains run north-south, and have an average elevation of 600 meters, including Mt. Takatori and Mt. Shakudake, centered on the main peak, Mt. Fukuchi (900.8 meters).

Neighboring municipalities

Fukuoka Prefecture * Fukuchi * Iizuka * Kitakyūshū * Kotake * Kurate * Miyawaka

Climate

Nōgata 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 Nōgata is 15.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1560 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nōgata is as shown below

History

The area of Nōgata was part of ancient

Chikuzen Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of north and western Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikuzen bordered on Hizen to the east, and Buzen east, and Bungo to the southeast. Its abbreviated form name was (a ...

. The oldest recorded meteorite fall occurred at Nōgata on May 19 in the year of 861. ( :ja:直方隕石) In the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

, a settlement developed around the

Shingon is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asian Buddhism. It is a form of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism and is sometimes called "Tōmitsu" (東密 lit. "Esoteric uddhismof Tō- ...

temple of Toren-ji. The temple was destroyed in the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

and was replaced by a castle occupied by Prince Kaneyoshi during the wars of the

Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...

. 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 ...

, it was part of the holdings of Fukuoka Domain under the Kuroda clan. From 1675 to 1677 and again from 1688 to 1720, it was the site of Nōgata Domain, a sub-domain of Fukuoka Domain. Although the domain was subsumed back into Fukuoka Domain due to lack of succession, the merchants of Nōgata succeeded in re-routing the Nagasaki ''

kaidō were roads in Japan dating from the Edo period. They played important roles in transportation like the Appian Way of ancient Roman roads. Major examples include the Edo Five Routes, all of which started at Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Minor exam ...

'' highway through what is now the city center. 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 villages of Fukuchi, Shimosakai, Tonno, Niiri, and Ueki were established on May 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern municipalities system. Ueki was raised to town status on March 14, 1900. On November 1, 1926, Fukuchi, Shimosakai, Tonno, and Shiniri merged to form the town of Nōgata. Nōgata was raised to city status on January 1, 1931, and absorbed the town of Ueki on March 31, 1955.

Government

Nōgata 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 19 members. Nōgata contributes one member to the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Fukuoka 8th 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

During 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 ...

, Nōgata, along with the other municipalities of the Chikuhō area, developed with the Kitakyushu industrial zone through

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

, and is still considered part of to the Greater Kitakyushu Metropolitan Area. However, as the demand for coal decreased due to the energy revolution, the coal mines that had sponsored prosperity have all closed, leading to depopulation. The economic activity of the town is now a mixture of commerce and light manufacturing. Due to its proximity to Kitakyūshū, it is increasing becoming a

commuter town 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 ...

Education

Nōgata has eleven public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by the city government and three public high schools operated by the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school and the prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railways

: - - - Chikutetsu logo

Chikuhō Electric Railroad Line The is a railway line in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, connecting Kurosaki-Ekimae in Kitakyushu with Chikuhō-Nōgata Station in Nōgata, operated by . The line does not have an official name. The company and the line is also called . The company ...

: - - Heisei Chikuhō Railway - Ita Line : - - <'> - -

Highways

* *

Local attractions

Nōgata Coal Memorial Museum

Nōgata's Coal Memorial Museum provides visitors with the history of coal mines in the area. Its exhibits include a steam locomotive, the machines for digging and extracting coal, coal miners' clothes, and other memorabilia. Closed Mondays. It is next to Taga Park.

Ongagawa Riverside Park

In spring, it features blooms of yellow flowers, and in April, a colorful

Tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...

Festival is held. About 200,000 people visit the festival for the period. The park is also a site where a fireworks show is held each year.

Noted people from Nōgata

Kaiō Hiroyuki Kaiō Hiroyuki (born 24 July 1972 as Hiroyuki Koga) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Nōgata, Fukuoka, Japan. He made his debut in 1988, reaching the top ''makuuchi'' division in 1993. He held the second highest rank of ''Makuuchi#Ōz ...

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler * Kenji Yonekura, professional boxer

References

External links

*
Nogata coal memorial museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nogata, Fukuoka Cities in Fukuoka Prefecture