Yahiko, Niigata

Yahiko

弥彦村
Yahiko 弥彦村
Village
	Huge Torii gate and Mount Yahiko, built in 1981
	Flag Seal
	Location of Yahiko in Niigata Prefecture
	Yahiko
	Coordinates: 37°41′28″N 138°51′19″E / 37.69111°N 138.85528°E
Country	Japan
Region	Chūbu (Kōshin'etsu) (Hokuriku)
Prefecture	Niigata
District	Nishikanbara
Area
• Total	25.17 km2 (9.72 sq mi)
Population (July 1, 2019)
• Total	7,824
• Density	310/km2 (810/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
Symbols
• Tree	Castanopsis
Phone number	0256-94-3131
Address	402 Yahagi, Yahiko-mura, Nishikambara-gun, Niigata-ken 959-0392
Website	Official website

Yahiko (弥彦村, Yahiko-mura) is a village located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 July 2019^[update], the village had an estimated population of 7,824, and a population density of 311 persons per km². The total area of the village was 25.17 square kilometres (9.72 sq mi).

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

Surrounding municipalities

Niigata Prefecture
- 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.^[1]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,^[2] the population of Yahiko has remained relatively steady over the past 50 years.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1970	7,398	—
1980	7,910	+6.9%
1990	8,171	+3.3%
2000	8,535	+4.5%
2010	8,582	+0.6%
2020	7,705	−10.2%

History

The area of present-day Yahiko was part of ancient Echigo Province, and developed as a settlement around Yahiko-jinja, a Shinto shrine 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.^[3] 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.