was a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Iwafune District,

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 ...

Population

As of 2005, the town 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 about 7,243 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 25.95 persons per km². The total area was 283.91 km².

History

Sanpoku was an isolated town in the northernmost part of Niigata Prefecture, connected by the Uetsu Line (

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 ...

) and National Route 7. Neighboring municipalities were

Tsuruoka is a Cities of Japan, city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 125,389 in 49,024 households, and a population density of 95.74 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Tsuruoka is the biggest city in ...

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

to the north, as well as Murakami and

Asahi Asahi (Japanese 朝日, 旭, or あさひ 'morning sun') may refer to: Places in Japan Cities * Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards * Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'') * Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'') Towns * Asahi, Aichi ...

in Niigata to the south. On April 1, 2008, Sanpoku, along with the town of Arakawa, and the villages of

and Kamihayashi (all from Iwafune District), was merged into the expanded city of Murakami.

Symbols

The official town tree was the ''Sugi'' and the official town flower was the Japanese Lily.

References

Dissolved municipalities of Niigata Prefecture Murakami, Niigata {{Niigata-geo-stub