Kariwa
Geography. Kariwa is located in central Niigata Prefecture, sandwiched between the cities of Nagaoka and Kashiwazaki, and consists of two discontinuous areas. Kariwa is located near the Sea of Japan but has no coastline. It takes over 3 hours to reach Tokyo by train (using local trains and Jōetsu Shinkansen from Nagaoka), or by car on the Kan-Etsu Expressway. Demographics. Per Japanese census data, the population of Kariwa peaked at around the year 1990, and has declined steadily since. History. The area of present-day Kariwa was part of ancient Echigo Province and was part of the "tenryō