Ojiya, Niigata

Ojiya (Japanese: 小千谷（おぢや）市;-shi) is a city in Niigata, Japan. As of July 16, 2003, 40,342 people lived in the city. Ojiya's total area is 155.12 km² (59.89 sq mi). The Lord Mayor of Ojiya is Yasuo Yatsui

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An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 struck Ojiya on October 23, 2004 at 17:56 local time. The earthquake killed 51 people. 4,795 people were injured. 16,910 buildings and houses were destroyed. The amount of damage was 3,000,000,000 Yen ($32.5M US).

Economy

Ojiya has many types of industries. Electronics companies Sanyo electric, and Panasonic are located in the city. It also has textile companies. The main agricultural crop in the city is rice. Ojiya is the largest miner of natural gas in Japan.

Events

There are several festivals each year in Ojiya.

• Events Ojiya festival (August 24 and 25)
• Katakai festival (September 9 and 10) - (The Katakai festival is known to set off the biggest fireworks display in the world)
• Balloon festival (February 25 and 26)