Jōetsu, Niigata

Jōetsu
上越市

View of Naoetsu area in Jōetsu

Flag

Seal

Location of Jōetsu in Niigata

Jōetsu

Japan

Government

• - Mayor

Hideyuki Murayama

Area

• Total

973.81 km² (375.99 sq mi)

Population (June 2016)

• Total

195,713

• Density

201/km² (520/sq mi)

Symbols

• Tree

• Flower

Phone number

025-526-5111

Address

1-1-3 Kida, Jōetsu-shi, Niigata-ken 943-8601

Website

Jōetsu (上越市, Jōetsu-shi^?) is a city located in southern Niigata Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. As of 1 June 2016^[update], the city has an estimated population of 195,713, with a population density of 201 persons per km². The total area was 973.81 square kilometres (375.99 sq mi).

The area of present-day Jōetsu was part of ancient Echigo Province, and the location of the Nara period kokufu of the province. During the Sengoku period, it was the center of the holdings of the Uesugi clan and notably Kasugayama Castle was a significant base for Uesugi Kenshin. The Uesugi were transferred by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the area was later part of Takada Domain under the Edo period Tokugawa Shogunate. After the Meiji restoration, the towns of Takada and Naoetsu were created with the establishment of the municipalities system. Takada was elevated to city status on September 1, 1911 and Naoetsu on June 1, 1954.

The city of Jōetsu was founded on April 29, 1971 by the merger of Takada and Naoetsu. On January 1, 2005, the town of Yasuzuka, the villages of Maki, Ōshima and Uragawara (all from Higashikubiki District); the towns of Itakura, Kakizaki, Ōgata and Yoshikawa, the villages of Kiyosato, Kubiki, Nakagou and Sanwa (all from Nakakubiki District); and the town of Nadachi (from Nishikubiki District) were merged into Jōetsu. Now Jōetsu has extended into the now-defunct Higashikubiki and Nishikubiki Districts.