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 77,382 in 29,406 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 697 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Tsubame is located in the coastal plains of central Niigata Prefecture, but does not have a coastline on the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. 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 city.

Surrounding municipalities

** Niigata ** Nagaoka ** Sanjō ** Yahiko

Climate

Tsubame has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Tsubame is 12.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2093 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.12 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Tsubame has remained relatively unchanged over the past 50 years.

History

The area of present-day Tsubame 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, ...

and has been settled since prehistoric times. 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 ...

, the town of Tsubame was part of the holdings of Murakami Domain and developed as a river port on the Shinano River. During the early

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 into Nishikanbara District, Niigata. The town of Tsubame was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to city status on March 31, 1954 by merging with the neighbouring villages of Koike, Konakagawa and Matsunaga. On March 20, 2006 Tsubame absorbed the towns of Bunsui and Yoshida (both from Nishikanbara District).

Government

Tsubame 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 24 members.

Economy

Tsubame was traditionally known for its copper ware and the production of '' kiseru'' (Japanese smoking pipes). In modern times, Tsubame is noted for its production of tableware and cutlery.

Education

Tsubame has 15 public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government. There are three 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 ...

Echigo Line The is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which connects the cities of Kashiwazaki and Niigata in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The line's name is taken from the name of the ancient Echigo Province, which correspond ...

* - - - -

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 ...

* () - - - - () Note: Although the nearest stop on the Jōetsu Shinkansen is called Tsubame-Sanjō Station, the station is physically located in the city of Sanjō and not in Tsubame.

Highway

* 20px

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

*Mount Kugami / Kokujo Temple

Sister cities

* Dundee, Michigan, United States. Dundee and Tsubame have an exchange program through their local middle schools *

Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, which has a pop ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, since January 11, 1996

Notable People from Tsubame

* Killer Khan (professional wrestler) * Kiriko Nananan (manga artist) *

Chinami Nishimura is a Japanese voice actress from Chiba Prefecture, and affiliated with 81 Produce. Her major roles include Fake Yuna and Miki Shiratori in '' Galaxy Fraulein Yuna'', Neko Musume in '' GeGeGe no Kitaro'', Junsa (Officer Jenny) in ''Pokémon ...

(politician)

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Niigata Prefecture