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 ...

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 993,848 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 30,328 in 10,331 households. and a population density of 230 persons per km². Its total area was .

Geography

Oyabe is in the Tonami flatlands of far western Toyama Prefecture, and is bordered by

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 ...

to the west. Much of the area is a

dispersed settlement A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a num ...

typical of this region of Japan. Oyabe 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 Oyabe is 14.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2454 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 2.7 °C.

Surrounding municipalities

*Ishikawa Prefecture **

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 ...

** Tsubata *Toyama Prefecture ** Nanto ** Takaoka **

Tonami is a Cities of Japan, city in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,659 in 16,739 households and a population density of 384 persons per km2. Its total area was . Geography Tonami is located in the Tonami plain ...

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Oyabe has declined in recent decades.

History

The area of present-day Oyabe was part of ancient

Etchū Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today Toyama Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Etchū bordered on Noto and Kaga Provinces to the west, Shinano and Hida Provinces to the south, Echigo Province to the east and the Sea o ...

and developed as a post station on the Hokuriku kaidō highway 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 town of Isurugi was created with the establishment of the municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to city status upon merging with the town of Tochu on August 1, 1962, and was renamed Oyabe.

Government

Oyabe 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 16 members.

Education

Oyabe has five public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by the town government, and three public high schools operated by the Toyama Prefectural Board of Education.Official home page address list of schools
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Transportation

Railway

* 22px

Ainokaze Toyama Railway The is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Toyama Prefecture when it was separated from the JR West network in Marc ...

Highway

Hokuriku Expressway The , (abbreviated as , is a 4-laned national Expressways of Japan, expressway in Japan. It is owned and managed by East Nippon Expressway Company and Central Nippon Expressway Company. Overview The first section was opened in 1972 by Japan ...

* * *

Local attractions

*Oyabe Yotaka - adapted from a traditional field festival, it is held on the nights of 10 and 11 June. The festival is 400 years old and has been passed down from generation to generation in 84 different locations in Oyabe. *Helicopter and Disaster Prevention Festival, held from 26–27 August *Calamus Festival (Flower Festival), held on 18 June *Mitsui Outlet Park, Hokuriku Oyabe

Notable people from Oyabe

Hiroshi Hase is a Japanese politician and semi-retired professional wrestler who is currently the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture. As a professional wrestler, Hase primarily worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and also for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJ ...

, Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology * Toshio Yamada, politician

External links

*
Official Oyabe Festival website

References

{{Toyama Cities in Toyama Prefecture