Kariwa (刈羽村, Kariwa-mura) is a village located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 July 2019[update], the village had an estimated population of 4,578 in 1613 households,[1] and a population density of 174 persons per km². The total area of the village was 26.27 square kilometres (10.14 sq mi).
Geography
Kariwa is located in central Niigata Prefecture, sandwiched between the cities of Nagaoka and Kashiwazaki, and consists of two discontinuous areas. Kariwa is located near the Sea of Japan but has no coastline. It takes over 3 hours to reach Tokyo by train (using local trains and Jōetsu Shinkansen from Nagaoka), or by car on the Kan-Etsu Expressway.
Per Japanese census data,[2] the population of Kariwa peaked at around the year 1990, and has declined steadily since.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1970
5,429
—
1980
5,346
−1.5%
1990
5,522
+3.3%
2000
5,028
−8.9%
2010
4,800
−4.5%
2020
4,380
−8.8%
History
The area of present-day Kariwa was part of ancient Echigo Province and was part of the tenryō holdings of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. The village of Kariwa was established within Kariwa District, Niigata with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On September 30, 1956 a part of the neighbouring village of Nakadori was absorbed into Kariwa. Likewise, on April 10, 1959 a part of neighbouring Futada village was absorbed into Kariwa
2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit off the coast of Kashiwazaki, killing 10 people, and injuring more than 1,200, causing massive power outages. Total over 340 houses were destroyed and thousands of people were forced to live at the shelters. The quake caused a fire at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in an electrical transformer, a leak of water from the spent fuel pool, and a host of other safety related events.[3][4][5]
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