270px, Hijiri onsen in Ōkura is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the north, ...

, Japan. As of January 2020, the village has an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 3044, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 14 persons per km². The total area is .

Geography

Ōkura is located in a mountainous north-central eastern Yamagata Prefecture, and includes

Mount Gassan is the highest of the Three Mountains of Dewa in the ancient province of Dewa (modern-day Yamagata prefecture). The Gassan Shrine stands at the mountain's summit, above sea level. It has a long hike from its trailhead and usually requires ...

within its borders. The

Mogami River The is a river in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Description and history It is 224 km long and has a watershed of 7,040 km2. It is regarded as one of the three most rapid rivers of Japan (along with the Fuji River and the Kuma River). ...

runs through the village. The area is known for extremely heavy snows in winter. Its highest accumulation of snow recorded is 414 cm, second place in Japan after

Sukayu Onsen is an ''onsen'' (hot spring) in the Hakkōda Mountains in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture in Japan. It is known for its "Sen-nin-buro" or "1,000-person bath", a large mixed gender public bath. Climate Sukayu Onsen is the snowiest inhabit ...

in Aomori. Snow typically starts in November, and starts piling up on the ground by early December. The snow will usually stop by early May, but will not completely melt until mid-June. Similar to Sukayu Onsen, snowfalls of 50 to 100 cm in a single day are not uncommon at all.

Neighboring municipalities

*Yamagata Prefecture ** Shinjō ** Murayama **

Sagae file:JIONJI Temple Hondou.jpg, Jion-in temple is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 40,131, and a population density of 289 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . G ...

** Funagata ** Tozawa ** Shōnai ** Nishikawa

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōkura peaked in the 1950s, and is now considerably less than what it was a century ago.

Climate

Ōkura has a

Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa'') with large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Ōkura is 9.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1795 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.7 °C. Ōkura climate data
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History

The area of present-day Ōkura was part of ancient

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early peri ...

. During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, the area was under the control of the

Mogami clan were Japanese ''daimyōs'', and were a branch of the Ashikaga family. In the Sengoku period, they were the Sengoku ''daimyōs'' who ruled Dewa Province which is now Yamagata Prefecture and part of Akita Prefecture. The Mogami clan is derived ...

. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, the village was a river port on the Mogami River and a post station on the pilgrimage route to

. After the start of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the area became part of Mogami District, Yamagata Prefecture. The village of Ōkura was established on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

Economy

The main industry is agriculture (tomato and buckwheat), ''

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

'' production, and seasonal tourism to its hot spring resorts. ''

Kokeshi , are simple wooden Japanese dolls with no arms or legs that have been crafted for more than 150 years as a toy for children. Originally from the northeastern region ( Tōhoku-chihō) of Japan, they are handmade from wood, having a simple trunk ...

'' dolls are a noted local handicraft.

Education

Ōkura has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.

Geography

Neighboring municipalities

Demographics

Climate

History

Economy

Education

Transportation

Railways

Highways

Local attractions

References

External links