is 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 Kahoku District,

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 ...

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 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 37,694 in 13,873 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 430 persons per km². The total area of the town was .

Geography

Tsubata is located near the middle of Ishikawa Prefecture. It plays an important role as a crossroads between the Kaga region, the Noto region, and

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 ...

. To the east, valleys and dales branch out through the low hills, while a flat plain in width spreads out to the west. Natural features of Tsubata are Mount Sangoku, Kohokugata Lake and the Tsubata and Omi rivers. The town 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 Tsubata 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 .

Neighbouring municipalities

*Ishikawa Prefecture ** Hōdatsushimizu ** Kahoku **

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 ...

** Uchinada *

** Oyabe ** Takaoka

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Tsubata has recently plateaued after a long period of growth. Tsubata's total population increase and population growth rate were the highest in the prefecture as of the 2000 census, but growth has slowed since then.

History

The area around Tsubata was mostly part of ancient

Kaga Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its ...

, with a small region in its northeastern side as part of

Noto Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is today the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, including the Noto Peninsula (''Noto-hantō'') which is surrounded by the Sea of Japan. Noto bordered on Etchū Province, E ...

. The area became part of

Kaga Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1583 to 1871.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 ...

. Following 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 area was organised into Kahoku District, Ishikawa. The town of Tsubata founded on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The town merged with neighbouring villages of Nakajo, Kasatani, Inoue and Agata on March 31, 1954, and the village of Kaaidani on May 16, 1954, followed by the village of Kurikara on February 1, 1957.

Economy

Commerce and light manufacturing are important to the local economy.

Education

Tsubata has nine public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government. The town has two public high schools operated by the Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education. *High Schools **Ishikawa Prefectural Tsubata High School ** National Institute of Technology, Ishikawa college (NIT, Ishikawa College) *Junior High Schools **Tsubata Junior High School **Tsubata Minami Junior High School *Elementary school **Agata Elementary School **Chujo Elementary School **Haginodai Elementary School **Inoue Elementary School **Jonan Elementary School **Kariyasu Elementary School **Kasano Elementary School **Oshirodai Elementary School **Tsubata Elementary School

Transportation

Railway

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

Nanao Line The is a railway line in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and the Noto Railway. It runs between Tsubata Station in Tsubata, Ishikawa, Tsubata and Anamizu Station in Anamizu, Ishikawa, Anamizu. JR Wes ...

* - -

IR Ishikawa Railway Line * and Ainokaze Toyama Railway logo

Ainokaze Toyama Railway Line * Kurikara

Highway

* * *

Local attractions

* Kamo Site, a National Historic Site *Site of Tsubata Castle

Local events

*Makomo-nage（マコモ投げ), an annual event, where people throw bunches of long ''makomo'' leaves like javelins, trying to be the one who achieves the greatest distance.
Tsubata town: Makomo-nage event] The ''makomo'' is a relative of

wild rice Wild rice, also called manoomin, mnomen, psíŋ, Canada rice, Indian rice, or water oats, is any of four species of grasses that form the genus ''Zizania'', and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically and is sti ...

, though it's cultivated not for the grains, but for the base of the stalk, which has a mild flavor and a texture similar to bamboo shoots. ''Makomo'' is in season in October.

Town symbols

Tsubata has four town mascots: Yoshinaka-kun (よしなかくん), Tomoe-chan (ともえちゃん), Ka-kun (カーくん) and Mo-chan (モーちゃん). They are modeled after a possibly fictional battle that took place in the hills that lie between what are now Tsubata and Oyabe in Toyama. During the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

between the Genji and Heike clans in 12th century), Genji general

Kiso Yoshinaka , also known as , was a Japanese samurai lord mentioned in the epic poem ''The Tale of the Heike.'' A member of the Minamoto clan, he was a cousin and later rival of ''shogun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and th ...

is said to have defeated a large Heike army by driving bulls with flaming torches attached to their horns (カーくん and モーちゃん) into the enemy camp in the dead of night, causing the Heike to panic and flee. The battle is called the

Battle of Kurikara The , also known as the battle of Tonamiyama (砺波山), was a crucial engagement in Japan's Genpei War; in this battle the tide of the war turned in the favour of the Minamoto clan. "Yoshinaka won by a clever strategy; under cover of nightfal ...

Tomoe Gozen Tomoe Gozen (, ) was an onna-musha, a female samurai, mentioned in '' The Tale of the Heike.'' There is doubt as to whether she existed as she doesn't appear in any primary accounts of the Genpei war. She only appears in the epic "The tale of th ...

was one of Yoshinaka's wives and a female

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

. The town crest is a stylized rendition of the characters for “Tsuba” (written in katakana as ツバ). The shape of a flying bird signifies Tsubata's soaring industrial and cultural development, while the figure in the center, its feet firmly planted on the earth, represents stability. The circle represents harmony and peace. The town logo is warm and soft, expressing Tsubata's familiarity and friendliness. Overlaying the brightly shining sun, “1-2-3” (the English word “sun” sounds like the Japanese word for the number three, “san”) signifies Tsubata's progress. Beneath the words are three lines. The green like symbolizes the richness of the greenery that grows throughout Tsubata. The dark blue line represents Tsubata's bright blue sky, while the light blue line stands for the pure water that Tsubata's rich natural environment provides.

Notable People

* Ōnosato Daiki, a

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 *Masao Katsuzaki, former president of Katsuzakikan * Risako Kawai, a female wrestler, gold medalist at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

*Koji Nada, president of Nada Service

References

External links

*
Tsubata official website

{{Authority control Towns in Ishikawa Prefecture