is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

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 village 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 7,824, 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 311 persons per km². The total area of the village was .

Geography

Yahiko is located in a coastal region of central Niigata Prefecture, but is not on the coast. Yahiko lies on the south side of Mount Yahiko. This mountain and nearby Mount Kakuda, stand alone 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 ...

coast not far from Niigata City. Yahiko has one of the oldest family owned hotels in Niigata prefecture called Yamamotokan.

Surrounding municipalities

** Nagaoka ** Niigata ** Tsubame

Climate

Yahiko has a Humid climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Yahiko is 13.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2081 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.3 °C.

Demographics

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

History

The area of present-day Yahiko 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 developed as a settlement around Yahiko-jinja, a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

which was established in the 8th century. The modern village was established within Nishikanbara District, Niigata on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the municipalities system. The present shrine was rebuilt in 1916. The earlier shrine buildings were destroyed by a 1912 fire which started in the village. Yahiko Village website
retrieved 2012-10-24. It is the only village left in its district after the two towns from the same district merged into the city of Tsubame on March 20, 2006.

Education

Yahiko has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the village government, but no public high 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 ...

- Yahiko Line * -

Ropeway

* Yahikoyama Ropeway

Highway

* Yahiko is not on any national expressway or highway

Sightseeing

Places

* Yahiko Shrine * Yahiko Onsen (hot spring) * Yahiko Velodrome * Yahikoyama Ropeway and Skyline

Events

* Chrysanthemum Festival (in November) Yahiko Shrine.jpg, Yahiko Shrine beneath Yahiko Mountain 雪舞う弥彦公園_(Snowy_Yahiko_Park)_07_Jan,_2012_-_panoramio.jpg, Yahiko Park in winter 新潟県道29号線2.JPG, Jinja-dori Street

References

External links

Official Website
Villages in Niigata Prefecture {{Niigata-geo-stub