Ube 宇部市 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ube City Hall | |
 Flag  Emblem | |
 Interactive map outlining Ube | |
 Location of Ube in Yamaguchi Prefecture | |
  Ube Location in Japan | |
| Coordinates:33°57′06″N131°14′48″E / 33.95167°N 131.24667°E /33.95167; 131.24667 | |
| Country | Japan |
| Region | Chūgoku (San'yō) |
| Prefecture | Yamaguchi |
| Established | November 1, 1921 (1921-11-01) as Ube City April 1, 1889 (1889-04-01) as Ube Village inAsa District |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Keiji Shinozaki[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 286.65 km2 (110.68 sq mi) |
| Population (May 31, 2023) | |
• Total | 159,256 |
| • Density | 555.58/km2 (1,438.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+09:00 (JST) |
| City hall address | 1-7-1 Tokiwachō, Ube-shi, Yamaguchi-ken 755-8601 |
| Climate | Cfa |
| Website | Official website(in Japanese) |
| Symbols | |
| Flower | Scarlet sage andazalea |
| Tree | Camphor laurel |
Ube (宇部市,Ube-shi) is acity located inYamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.
Ube is located on theSeto Inland Sea in southwestern Yamaguchi Prefecture. The total area of the city is 286.65 square kilometres (110.68 sq mi). 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 ofindustrial 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 extensivepaddy fields, but the area is increasingly urbanized with condominium developments.
Yamaguchi Prefecture
As of 31 May 2023[update], the city had an estimatedpopulation of 159,256 in 80,010 households and apopulation density of 560 persons per km2.[2]
Per Japanese census data,[3] the historical 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% |
Ube is part of ancientNagato Province. TheKotozaki Hachiman-gu shrine dates from theHeian period and the local Koto clan, a branch of theMononobe clan dominated the area into theKamakura period. The area became part of the holdings of theŌuchi clan in theMuromachi period and subsequently part ofChōshū Domain under theMōri clan under theEdo periodTokugawa shogunate. The village of Ube (宇部村) was established withinAsa 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 eightair raids duringWorld War II. The scale of the air raid on July 2 was particularly large, and most of the central part of the city was destroyed by fire. In the air raid on July 29, three mockatomic bombs were dropped.
Previously acoal mining town, the city has developed an effective policy to improve its environment. In particular it has combated the problem ofair pollution and its success in doing so saw it being recognised by theUnited Nations Environment Programme as among UNEP's Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1997.[4]
On November 1, 2004, the town ofKusunoki (fromAsa 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).
Ube has amayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and aunicameral city council of 28 members. Ube contributes five members to the Yamaguchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of theYamaguchi 3rd district of thelower house of theDiet of Japan.
Ube has a heavily industrialized economy centered on heavy industry and chemicals.Ube Industries is headquartered and has major plants in Ube. Also, petroleum refinery Solato, printer manufacturer Riso Kagaku, glass manufacturer Central Glass, semiconductor producer Renesas, pharmaceutical research and products companyKyowa Hakko Kirin, clinical laboratory research company Miraca Holdings are based in Ube.[citation needed]
Ube has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classificationCfa) 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.[5]
| 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) | 24.3 (75.7) | 26.6 (79.9) | 30.3 (86.5) | 32.1 (89.8) | 35.2 (95.4) | 37.0 (98.6) | 35.5 (95.9) | 31.0 (87.8) | 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) |
| Averageprecipitation 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[6][7] | |||||||||||||
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 aNorth Korean school, Ube Korean Elementary and Junior High School (宇部朝鮮初中級学校).[8]
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Ube publicizes itself as "a city of greenery, flowers, and sculptures".Tokiwa Park is the centerpiece of thismarketing, 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 agreat white pelican called "Katta-kun", so named after his parents who were fromKolkata, India. Hatched in the park in 1985, he became famous as he began visiting schools in the vicinity. Katta-kun died in 2008, but there are a number of pelicans still residing in an enclosure there. In addition to the pelicans there were manymute swans andblack swans residing there until 2011, when they were culled after an outbreak ofH1N5 avian influenza. Two new mute swans were introduced in 2017.
There is a coal mining museum with a view over the city and airport.
Ube holds twofestivals each year, one in May and the other in November featuring food stands and carnival games.
Geographic data related toUbe, Yamaguchi atOpenStreetMap| Core city |  | |
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