Suzaka, Nagano Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Suzaka (須坂市, Suzaka-shi) is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 March 2019, the city had an estimated population density of 334 persons per km². The total area of the city is 149.6 square km (57.8 sq mi).

Geography Suzaka is located in northern Nagano Prefecture on the alluvial fan where the Matsukawa River joins the Chikuma River.

Surrounding municipalities Nagano Prefecture ◦ Ueda ◦ Nagano ◦ Obuse ◦ Takayama; Gunma Prefecture ◦ Tsumagoi.

Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Suzaka has remained relatively stable over the past 40 years.

History Suzaka is located in former Shinano Province and was a castle town for Suzaka Domain under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. In the post-Meiji restoration cadastral reform of April 1,1 1889, the modern town of Suzaka was established. Suzuka annexed the village of Hitaki on December 1, 1936 and the villages of Hino and Toyosu on February 11, 1954. Suzaka was elevated to city status on April 1, 1954. On January 1, 1955, Suzaka annexed the neighbouring villages of Inoue and Takahe, followed by the village of Azuma on April 30, 1971.

Government Suzaka has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 20 members.

Economy The city was noted in the Meiji period for its silk industry. After World War II, an electronics industry was established. Fujitsu Corporation has a plant in Suzaka. The city is also noted for apples and grapes, and the Prefectural Agricultural Research Station is located in Suzaka.

Education Suzaka has eleven public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Nagano Prefectural Board of Education.

Transport: Rail • Nagano Electric Railway ◦ Murayama - Hino - Suzaka - Kitasuzaka

Transport: Road • Jōshin-etsu Expressway • National Route 403 • National Route 406.

Local attractions • Garyu Park, one of Japan's Top 100 Sakura Spots • Yonako Falls, one of Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls • Suzaka Municipal Zoo.