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

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

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 95,706 in 36,201 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 222 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Sanjō is located in an inland region of north-central Niigata Prefecture. It is about 2 hours from

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

via the Jōetsu Shinkansen or 4 hours on the

Kan-Etsu Expressway The is a national expressways of Japan, expressway in Japan. It is owned and managed by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming is the ''kanji'' acronym of and the old comprising modern-day Niigata Prefecture. Officially, the Kan-Etsu consist ...

and

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 ...

. The

Shinano River The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing g ...

flows through the west of it from south to north and the Ikarashi-gawa River flows through the centre of the urbanised area.

Surrounding municipalities

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 ...

** Tadami *

** Aga ** Gosen ** Kamo ** Mitsuke ** Nagaoka ** Niigata ** Tsubame ** Uonuma

Climate

Sanjō has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sanjō is . The average annual rainfall is with September 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 Sanjō peaked at around 1985 and has declined steadily since.

History

The area of present-day Sanjō was part of ancient

Echigo Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...

. 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 area was part of Sanjō Domain, a feudal domain 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 ...

from 1598 to 1651. Afterwards, it was divided between Nagaoka Domain, Murakami Domain and ''

tenryō 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 war ...

'' territory administered directly by the shogunate. After the start of 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 was organised as part of Minamikanbara District, Niigata. The town of Sanjō was created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to city status on January 1, 1934. Heavy rain caused extensive flooding in 1961 and in 2004. On May 1, 2005, the town of Sakae, and the village of Shitada (both from Minamikanbara District) were merged into Sanjō.

Government

Sanjō 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 22 members. On November 8, 2020, attorney Ryo Takizawa was elected to become the next mayor of Sanjō.

Economy

Tsubamesanjo Regional Industries Promotion Center RESEARCH CORE

Sanjō is traditionally known for its iron crafts, notably knives and scissors. The following are headquartered in Sanjō. * Asano (manufacturer of commercial fishing equipment) * Marunao (manufacturer of chopsticks) * Snow Peak (manufacturer of high-end camping equipment) * Suwada (manufacturer of nail care instruments) It is also one of the municipalities where a local Factory Festival takes place once per year in October (Kouba no Saiten).

Education

Sanjō has 25 public elementary schools and nine public middle schools operated by the city government. There are four public high schools operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education, and the prefecture also operates one special education school.

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 ...

- Jōetsu Shinkansen *

Shin'etsu Main Line The is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . Since the opening and later extension of ...

* - - - -

Yahiko Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which connects Yahiko Station in the village of Yahiko and Higashi-Sanjō Station in the city of Sanjo, both in Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Jap ...

* - -

Highway

* 20px

– Sanjō IC * * * *

Sister cities

Vaughan, Ontario Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

, Canada, since October 18, 1993 *

Ezhou Ezhou ( zh, s= ) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hubei Province, China. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,079,353, of which 695,697 lived in the core Echeng District. The Ezhou - Huanggang built-up (''or metro'') area w ...

, China, since April 28, 1994

Notable people from Sanjō

Shohei Baba , best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...

(baseball player, professional wrestler) * Masayuki Kakefu (baseball player) * Chihiro Kaneko (baseball player) * Kumi Mizuno (motion picture actress) * Tetsuji Morohashi (lexicographer) Tetsuji Morohashi Museum
/ref>

References

External links

Official Website

Slow and Steady Shitada
official website for the Shitada area of Sanjo, featuring many outdoor destinations and activities {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanjo, Niigata Cities in Niigata Prefecture