Itoigawa
From WikiJET, the interactive website for the JET Programme
Itoigawa (糸魚川市; -shi) is located in rustic southern Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 31,153 and the population density of 66.76 persons per square kilometer. The total area is 466.62 km².
The city was founded on June 1, 1954. On April 1, 2005 it merged with the neighouring towns of Nou and Oumi (a.k.a. Omi-machi).
Historically Itoigawa lies at the end of the famous shio no michi (salt road) that supplied salt to ancient Edo (Tokyo) via Nagano. In 2011 the city will be a main stop on the new Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line, bringing Tokyo within approximately three hours travelling. Itoigawa is also famous for its jade which can be found on local beaches.
Itoigawa is also well known for its unique bugaku, a variety of traditional Japanese performance art. Itoigawa Bugaku can be seen at festivals taking place at Hakusan Shrine and Amatsu Shrine, and has been nationally designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Asset.
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Itoigawa, Niigata. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WikiJET, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
[edit] External links
- Itoigawa official website in Japanese
- My Mother is a Tractor - a book written by a former English teacher in the area
