Niigata city is the capital of Niigata Prefecture. It is the largest
Japanese city along the coast of the Sea of Japan and has a population
of about 530,000. Niigata lies on almost the same latitudinal coordinates
as San Francisco, Tiensin and Lisbon, and is located approximately 300km
northwest of Tokyo, which can be reached in 1 hour and 40 minutes by the
Joetsu Shinkansen bullet train or in about 3 hours and 30 minutes by car
on the Kan-etsu Expressway.
Niigata was a prosperous port city during the Edo period because of it
lays on a key point along trade routes in the Sea of Japan. In 1858, when
the Japan-U.S.A. Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed, Niigata was
designated as one of five ports in Japan to conduct trade with the outside
world. Niigata's international port was subsequently opened in 1868. In
1889, Niigata was formally incorporated as a city, making Niigata a city
with a history of more than 100 years.
Niigata's economy is supported by a high proportion of tertiary industries
(commerce and service) and a large petrochemical industry which utilizes
Niigata's convenient port access. Agricultural production occurs mainly
in the suburbs. Although rice is the major crop, watermelons, Japanese
radishes, and flowers are also popular items of cultivation. Niigata has
rich coastal fisheries and much effort is made to maximize the harvests
of mackerel, horse mackerel, and sagittated calamary (squid).
The Joetsu Shinkansen bullet train and the Kan-etsu, Hokuriku and Joban
Expressways makes up a high-speed transportation system. In addition,
there are regular international flights from Niigata to Khabarovsk, Vladivostok,
Irkustsk, Seoul, Shanghai, Xi'an, Harbin, Guam and Honolulu. The port
of Niigata offers a regular container service to Nakhoda, and there are
regular passenger services to such places as Busan, Dalien and Shanghai.
International exchanges with neighboring countries such as Russia, South
Korea and China are constantly expanding. Niigata is a city committed
to continue developing still more.
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