Ube (宇部市, Ube-shi) is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 May 2023^[update], the city had an estimated population of 159,256 in 80,010 households and a population density of 560 persons per km².^[2] The total area of the city is 286.65 square kilometres (110.68 sq mi).

Quick Facts 宇部市, Country ...

Ube 宇部市
City
Ube City Hall
Flag Emblem
Interactive map outlining Ube
Location of Ube in Yamaguchi Prefecture
Ube Location in Japan
Coordinates: 33°57′06″N 131°14′48″E
Country	Japan
Region	Chūgoku (San'yō)
Prefecture	Yamaguchi
Established	November 1, 1921 (1921-11-01) as Ube City April 1, 1889 (1889-04-01) as Ube Village in Asa District
Government
• Mayor	Keiji Shinozaki[1]
Area
• Total	286.65 km2 (110.68 sq mi)
Population  (May 31, 2023)
• Total	159,256
• Density	560/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address	1-7-1 Tokiwachō, Ube-shi, Yamaguchi-ken 755-8601
Climate	Cfa
Website	Official website (in Japanese)
Symbols
Flower	Scarlet sage and azalea
Tree	Camphor laurel

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Ube is located on the Seto Inland Sea in southwestern Yamaguchi Prefecture. The city limits are the lower reaches of the Koto River system and the upper reaches of the Ariho River system, which flows through the central and western part of the prefecture from north to south. The urban area spreads out on the plains on both sides of the Koto River mouth and on the flat land along the coast, forming a densely populated area. Most of the flat land in the south was reclaimed by seabed coalfields, and the place names such as 'Unoshima' and 'Hamacho' are remnants of this. A gentle mountainous area spreads from the central part to the northern part of the city, and in recent years development has been promoted with the construction of industrial parks and new residential areas. In addition, the Konan area in the western part of the city is mostly reclaimed land for the purpose of rice cultivation. The area used to be a rural area with extensive paddy fields, but the area is increasingly urbanized with condominium developments.

Per Japanese census data,^[6] the population of Ube is as follows:

Ube is part of ancient Nagato Province. The Kotozaki Hachiman-gu shrine dates from the Heian period and the local Koto clan, a branch of the Mononobe clan dominated the area into the Kamakura period. The area became part of the holdings of the Ōuchi clan in the Muromachi period and subsequently part of Chōshū Domain under the Mōri clan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The village of Ube (宇部村) was established within Asa District, Yamaguchi with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Ube was elevated directly to city status on November 1, 1921 in a rare direct elevation from village to city.

From April to August 1945, 254 people were killed, 557 were injured, and 68 were missing due to eight air raids during World War II. The scale of the air raid on July 2 was particularly large, and most of the central part of the city was destroyed by fire. In the air raid on July 29, three mock atomic bombs were dropped.

Previously a coal mining town, the city has developed an effective policy to improve its environment. In particular it has combated the problem of air pollution and its success in doing so saw it being recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme as among UNEP's Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1997.^[7]

On November 1, 2004, the town of Kusunoki (from Asa District) was merged into Ube. This brought the city to its current extent, together with previous municipal mergers (Fujiyama in 1931, Kōnan in 1941, NishKiwa in 1943, Great Shōwa mergers/1954: Kotō, Futamatase, Ono, Higashi-Kiwa).

Ube has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 28 members. Ube contributes five members to the Yamaguchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Yamaguchi 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Uve has a heavily industrialized economy centered on heavy industry and chemicals. Ube Industries is headquartered and has major plants in Ube. Also, petroleum refinery Solato, printer manufacturer Riso Kagaku, glass manufacturer Central Glass, semiconductor producer Renesas, pharmaceutical research and products company Kyowa Hakko Kirin, clinical laboratory research company Miraca Holdings are based in Ube.^{[citation needed]}

• - Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, since November 21, 1980
• - Weihai, Shandong, China, friendship city since May 18, 1992
• - Castellón de la Plana, Spain, since April 4, 2019

This section does not cite any sources. (November 2019)

Ube publicizes itself as "a city of greenery, flowers, and sculptures". Tokiwa Park is the centerpiece of this marketing, as it covers a large area near the center of the city and houses a large number of modern, mostly domestic sculptures on the shores of Lake Tokiwa. The sculptures can be found around the city. A sculpture competition is held biennially to provide new additions.

A well-known attraction of the park was a great white pelican called "Katta-kun", so named after his parents who were from Kolkata, India. Hatched in the park in 1985, he became famous as he began visiting schools in the vicinity. Katta-kun died in 2008, but there are a number of pelicans still residing in an enclosure there. In addition to the pelicans there were many mute swans and black swans residing there until 2011, when they were culled after an outbreak of H1N5 avian influenza. Two new mute swans were introduced in 2017.

There is a coal mining museum with a view over the city and airport.

• Masaki Kito, attorney at law
• Naoto Kan, former prime minister of Japan
• Tadashi Yanai, founder and president of Uniqlo
• Kazuo Hara, documentary film director
• Hideaki Anno, animator and film director
• Yoji Yamada, film director
• Aimi Kobayashi, pianist
• Shunsuke Kiyokiba, pop singer (formerly vocalist of Exile)
• Satomi', pop singer
• Sayumi Michishige, pop singer (former Morning Musume member)
• Tomomi Nishimura, actress
• Kishō Taniyama, voice actor
• Hitomi Harada, voice actress and singer
• Norihiro Akimura, baseball player
• Makiko Horai, volleyball player
• Sotaro Yasunaga, soccer player
• Daisuke Tomita, soccer player
• Yuji Nakagawa, soccer player
• Ryota Takasugi, soccer player
• Ayase, musician (Yoasobi)