is the name of an area in central Niigata Prefecture

Niigata Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...

. The word chūetsu is an abbreviation for central Echigo Province

Echigo Province

was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It was sometimes called , with Echizen and Etchū Provinces. Today the area is part of Niigata Prefecture, which also includes the island which was the old Sado Province. This province was the northernmost part of the...

.

It is an important rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

-growing region. Koshihikari

Koshihikari

Koshihikari is a popular variety of rice cultivated in Japan as well as Australia and the United States.Koshihikari was first created in 1956, by combining 2 different strains of Nourin No.1 and Nourin No.22 at the Fukui Prefectural Agricultural Research Facility. It has become very popular now in...

 which had been grown in this region is highly prized in Japan.

In common with much of Hokuriku region

Hokuriku region

The is located in the northwestern part of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It lies along the Sea of Japan within the Chūbu region. It is almost equivalent to Koshi Province and Hokurikudō area in pre-modern Japan....

, the region experiences heavy snow

Snow

Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...

fall during winter, and many ski resorts dot the mountainous areas.

The main cities in the region include Nagaoka

Nagaoka, Niigata

is a city located in the central part of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It is the second largest city in the prefecture, behind the capital city of Niigata...

 and Uonuma

Uonuma, Niigata

is a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It has an area of 946.93 km² and a population of 41,894 .It is famous for its rice – the koshihikari rice grown in Uonuma is the most sought-after and most expensive rice in Japan...

The October 23 2004 Chūetsu earthquake

2004 Chuetsu earthquake

The occurred at 5:56 p.m. on Saturday, October 23, 2004 . The Japan Meteorological Agency has named it the Heisei 16 Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake or The Mid Niigata Prefecture Earthquake of 2004...

, centred on Ojiya

Ojiya, Niigata

is a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.As of July 16, 2003, the city has an estimated population of 40,342. The total area is 155.12 km².-History:*The city was founded on March 10, 1954....

, killed 67 people in the region. The magnitude 6.8 quake caused the first ever derailment of a shinkansen

Shinkansen

The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...

.