Jōetsu City is located in the southwestern part of Niigata Prefecture, within the Jōetsu region. It is a Tokurei City (Special Case City) and the third most populous city in the prefecture, after Niigata City and Nagaoka City. The Jōetsu metropolitan area, with Jōetsu City at its core, also ranks third in the prefecture in terms of population size. The city officially adopted municipal status in 1971 (Shōwa 46).
Jōetsu is famous for the “Takada Castle Site Park Cherry Blossoms,” counted among the Three Great Night Cherry Blossom Viewing Spots of Japan, attracting large numbers of visitors every spring. The city also preserves about 16 kilometers of Gangi-dōri covered walkways, reflecting the strong atmosphere of a traditional castle town. Jōetsu implements a local autonomy system, with certain districts retaining the “○○-ku” designation in addresses.
Historically, during the Ritsuryō period, the area served as the provincial capital of Echigo Province. In the Sengoku period, the Nagao clan, including Nagao Kagetora (later known as Uesugi Kenshin), used Kasugayama Castle as their base. During the Edo period, it became the castle town of Takada Domain, with Takada Castle serving as the domain’s administrative center.
The name “Jōetsu” originates from Niigata Prefecture’s traditional regional divisions—Echigo Province was divided from south to north into the Jōetsu, Chūetsu, and Kaetsu regions, based on their distance from Kyoto. When the city was newly established through a merger in 1971, Naoetsu (a major port and railway hub) and Takada (the administrative and educational center of the prefecture) each had historical significance and both sought inclusion in the city’s name. As a compromise, “Jōetsu,” meaning “center of the Jōetsu region,” was chosen.
During the Heisei-era municipal mergers, the city maintained its local autonomy system, allowing the names of former towns and villages to remain in use for addresses. It should be noted that in other contexts, the term “Jōetsu” can also refer to both Gunma Prefecture (former Kōzuke Province) and Niigata Prefecture (former Echigo Province), but the geographical scope differs in those cases.
