Ube, Yamaguchi
Ube
宇部市 | |
---|---|
Camphor laurel |
Ube (宇部市, Ube-shi) is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 May 2023[update], the city had an estimated population of 159,256 in 80,010 households and a population density of 560 persons per km2.[2] The total area of the city is 286.65 square kilometres (110.68 sq mi).
Geography
Ube is located on the Seto Inland Sea in southwestern Yamaguchi Prefecture. The city limits are the lower reaches of the Koto River system and the upper reaches of the Ariho River system, which flows through the central and western part of the prefecture from north to south. The urban area spreads out on the plains on both sides of the Koto River mouth and on the flat land along the coast, forming a densely populated area. Most of the flat land in the south was reclaimed by seabed coalfields, and the place names such as 'Unoshima' and 'Hamacho' are remnants of this. A gentle mountainous area spreads from the central part to the northern part of the city, and in recent years development has been promoted with the construction of industrial parks and new residential areas. In addition, the Konan area in the western part of the city is mostly reclaimed land for the purpose of rice cultivation. The area used to be a rural area with extensive paddy fields, but the area is increasingly urbanized with condominium developments.
Neighbouring municipalities
Yamaguchi Prefecture
Climate
Ube has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with very warm summers and cool winters. The average annual temperature in Ube is 16.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1732 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 27.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.2 °C.[3]
Climate data for Ube (2002−2020 normals, extremes 2002−present) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 16.6 (61.9) |
18.7 (65.7) |
23.3 (73.9) |
26.6 (79.9) |
30.3 (86.5) |
32.1 (89.8) |
35.2 (95.4) |
37.0 (98.6) |
35.5 (95.9) |
30.2 (86.4) |
26.0 (78.8) |
22.8 (73.0) |
37.0 (98.6) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) |
10.2 (50.4) |
13.3 (55.9) |
17.8 (64.0) |
22.3 (72.1) |
25.2 (77.4) |
28.9 (84.0) |
30.8 (87.4) |
27.7 (81.9) |
22.9 (73.2) |
17.3 (63.1) |
11.7 (53.1) |
19.8 (67.6) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.8 (42.4) |
6.5 (43.7) |
9.3 (48.7) |
13.8 (56.8) |
18.4 (65.1) |
22.0 (71.6) |
25.8 (78.4) |
27.5 (81.5) |
24.2 (75.6) |
18.9 (66.0) |
13.4 (56.1) |
8.1 (46.6) |
16.1 (61.0) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.0 (35.6) |
2.6 (36.7) |
5.1 (41.2) |
9.8 (49.6) |
14.7 (58.5) |
19.3 (66.7) |
23.6 (74.5) |
24.9 (76.8) |
21.1 (70.0) |
15.0 (59.0) |
9.2 (48.6) |
4.1 (39.4) |
12.6 (54.7) |
Record low °C (°F) | −6.1 (21.0) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
2.1 (35.8) |
5.5 (41.9) |
11.6 (52.9) |
17.5 (63.5) |
18.5 (65.3) |
12.9 (55.2) |
4.4 (39.9) |
0.8 (33.4) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 56.2 (2.21) |
65.7 (2.59) |
106.0 (4.17) |
129.0 (5.08) |
162.7 (6.41) |
242.5 (9.55) |
291.1 (11.46) |
131.3 (5.17) |
133.5 (5.26) |
77.9 (3.07) |
74.4 (2.93) |
57.0 (2.24) |
1,527.2 (60.13) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 8.6 | 8.9 | 10.1 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 11.7 | 10.3 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 5.7 | 7.9 | 8.6 | 105.8 |
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency[4][5] |
Demographics
Per Japanese census data,[6] the population of Ube is as follows:
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1940 | 145,151 | — |
1950 | 161,472 | +11.2% |
1960 | 178,151 | +10.3% |
1970 | 161,241 | −9.5% |
1980 | 176,620 | +9.5% |
1990 | 182,526 | +3.3% |
2000 | 182,031 | −0.3% |
2010 | 173,678 | −4.6% |
History
Ube is part of ancient Nagato Province. The Kotozaki Hachiman-gu shrine dates from the Heian period and the local Koto clan, a branch of the Mononobe clan dominated the area into the Kamakura period. The area became part of the holdings of the Ōuchi clan in the Muromachi period and subsequently part of Chōshū Domain under the Mōri clan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The village of Ube (宇部村) was established within Asa District, Yamaguchi with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Ube was elevated directly to city status on November 1, 1921 in a rare direct elevation from village to city.
From April to August 1945, 254 people were killed, 557 were injured, and 68 were missing due to eight
Previously a coal mining town, the city has developed an effective policy to improve its environment. In particular it has combated the problem of air pollution and its success in doing so saw it being recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme as among UNEP's Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1997.[7]
On November 1, 2004, the town of Kusunoki (from Asa District) was merged into Ube. This brought the city to its current extent, together with previous municipal mergers (Fujiyama in 1931, Kōnan in 1941, NishKiwa in 1943, Great Shōwa mergers/1954: Kotō, Futamatase, Ono, Higashi-Kiwa).
Government
Ube has a
Economy
Uve has a heavily industrialized economy centered on heavy industry and chemicals.
Education
Universities
- Yamaguchi University (national)
- School of Medicine
- Faculty of Engineering
- Ube Frontier University (private)
Primary and secondary schools
Ube has 24 public elementary school and 12 public junior high schools operated by the city government, and five public high schools operated by the Yamaguchi Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private junior high school and four private high schools. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.
The city formerly had a
Transportation
Airport
- Yamaguchi-Ube Airport
Railway
JR West (JR West) - San'yō Main Line
- Kiwa - Maruo - Tokonami - Tokiwa - Kusae - Ubemisaki - Higashi-Shinkawa - Kotoshiba - Ube-Shinkawa - Inō - Iwahana - Ube
JR West (JR West) - Onoda Line
Highways
- San'yō Expressway
- Chugoku Expressway
- National Route 2
- National Route 190
- National Route 490
- National Route 437
Sister city relations[9]
- - Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, since November 21, 1980
- - Weihai, Shandong, China, friendship city since May 18, 1992
- - Castellón de la Plana, Spain, since April 4, 2019
Local attractions
Ube publicizes itself as "a city of greenery, flowers, and sculptures". Tokiwa Park is the centerpiece of this marketing, as it covers a large area near the center of the city and houses a large number of modern, mostly domestic sculptures on the shores of Lake Tokiwa. The sculptures can be found around the city. A sculpture competition is held biennially to provide new additions.
A well-known attraction of the park was a
There is a coal mining museum with a view over the city and airport.
Festivals
Ube holds two
Notable people from Ube
- Masaki Kito, attorney at law
- Naoto Kan, former prime minister of Japan
- Tadashi Yanai, founder and president of Uniqlo
- Kazuo Hara, documentary film director
- Hideaki Anno, animator and film director
- Yoji Yamada, film director
- Aimi Kobayashi, pianist
- Shunsuke Kiyokiba, pop singer (formerly vocalist of Exile)
- Satomi', pop singer
- Sayumi Michishige, pop singer (former Morning Musume member)
- Tomomi Nishimura, actress
- Kishō Taniyama, voice actor
- Hitomi Harada, voice actress and singer
- Norihiro Akimura, baseball player
- Makiko Horai, volleyball player
- Sotaro Yasunaga, soccer player
- Daisuke Tomita, soccer player
- Yuji Nakagawa, soccer player
- Ryota Takasugi, soccer player
- Ayase, musician (Yoasobi)
References
- Asahi Shimbun, November 23, 2020: 宇部市長選、衆院山口3区くら替え狙う林氏側近が初当選, retrieved April 24, 2021.
- ^ "Ube City official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
- ^ Ube climate data
- ^ 観測史上1~10位の値(年間を通じての値). JMA. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ 気象庁 / 平年値(年・月ごとの値). JMA. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ Ube population statistics
- ^ "Ube city of Japan receives UN environment award". GRID Arendal. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ^ "ウリハッキョ一覧" (Archive). Chongryon. November 6, 2005. Retrieved on October 15, 2015.
- ^ "姉妹都市・友好都市". city.ube.yamaguchi.jp (in Japanese). Ube. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Geographic data related to Ube, Yamaguchi at OpenStreetMap