Murakami

Murakami is the northernmost and easternmost city of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It is located on the coast of the Sea of Japan, bordered by Yamagata Prefecture to the north and east, and it is the largest city in Niigata by area. The area was part of ancient Echigo Province, and Murakami developed as a port and a castle town for the Murakami Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period; even today the downtown area shows the influence of its past as a residence of samurai and merchants. The town of Murakami was established in 1889 and the city on 31 March 1954, and on 1 April 2008 the towns of Arakawa and Sanpoku and the villages of Asahi and Kamihayashi were merged into it. The climate is humid subtropical, with warm wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The estimated population was 58,300 and the area was 1,174.26 square kilometres, giving a low density of about 50 persons per square kilometre.