Nagaoka, Niigata

Nagaoka is a city in the center of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, in the Chuetsu region, and it is the second largest city in the prefecture after the capital city of Niigata. It is about 80 minutes from Tokyo on the Joetsu Shinkansen and is considered a strategic traffic point in the region, with the Shinano River flowing through it. Nagaoka was an inland city until 1 January 2006, when it merged with four municipalities, two of which touch the Sea of Japan, and at 891.06 square kilometres it is far larger than most Japanese cities of its population. The towns of Nagaoka and Nagaoka-honmachi were established in 1889, merged with neighboring settlements in 1901, and the town was raised to city status on 1 April 1906.