is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...

, Japan. , the town had 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 7,903 in 3695 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

of 16 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Fukaura is in

Nishitsugaru District, Aomori is a rural district located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. As of September 2013, the district had an estimated population of 19,666 and an area of 831.85 km2. All of the city of Tsugaru was formerly part of Nishitsugaru District. In terms of ...

, and occupies the far southwestern coastline of Aomori Prefecture, facing the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

. The southwestern corner of the town is located within the borders of the

Shirakami-Sanchi 270px, Shirakami Mountains Relief Map (with UNESCO World Heritage Site) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū, Japan. This mountainous area includes the last virgin forest of Siebold's beech which once cove ...

, a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

, and some coastal areas of the town are within the

Tsugaru Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park in Aomori Prefecture in the far northern Tōhoku region of Honshū in Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. The park includes a number of discontinuous areas on Tsugaru Peninsula, ...

. The islets of Kyūroku-jima in the Sea of Japan are located within the boundaries of the town, giving it the westernmost point of Aomori Prefecture.

Neighbouring municipalities

*Aomori Prefecture ** Ajigasawa *Akita Prefecture ** Happō

Climate

The town has a cold

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 Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfb'') characterized by warm short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Fukaura is 7.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1604 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 20.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around -4.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Fukaura population statistics
/ref> the population of Fukaura peaked at around the year 1960 and has decreased by more than half over the past 60 years. It is now considerably less than it was a century ago.

History

The area around Fukaura was controlled by the

Tsugaru clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled the northwestern half of what is now Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The Tsugaru were ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain and its semi-subsidiary, ...

Hirosaki Domain Hirosaki Castle, the seat of the Hirosaki Domain , also known as , was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period JapanRavina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 It is located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honsh� ...

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 characte ...

. It became a village in the Nishitsugaru District with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, and was elevated to town status on April 1, 1926. On July 29, 1955, Fukura annexed the neighboring village of Otose. On March 31, 2005, it was merged with the neighboring village of Iwasaki.

Government

Fukaura has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

town legislature of 12 members. Nishitsugaru District contributes one member to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Aomori 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The economy of Fukaura is heavily dependent on

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

. There is also a small tourism industry centered on the Shirakami Sanchi UNESCO World Heritage area, particularly the Juniko Lakes on its periphery.

Education

Fukaura has three public elementary schools and three public junior high schools operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) -

Gonō Line The is a railway line in Japan linking Higashi-Noshiro Station in Akita Prefecture with Kawabe Station in Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of Honshu. The line stretches 147.2 km (91.5 mi) along the Sea of Japan coast ...

* , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Highway

Sister city relations

* -

Ranua Ranua is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Lapland, Finland, Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population dens ...

, Lapland,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Noted people from Fukaura

Aminishiki Ryūji Aminishiki Ryūji (born October 3, 1978, as Ryūji Suginomori) is a retired Japanese sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 1997 and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in 2000. He earned twelve special prizes and won eight ''kinbos ...

, sumo wrestler *

Asōfuji Seiya Asōfuji Seiya (born January 17, 1976, as Kiyotoshi Suginomori) is a retired sumo wrestler from Fukaura, Nishitsugaru, Aomori, Japan. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 13. He is the elder brother of Aminishiki. Career Asōfuji made his prof ...

, sumo wrestler * Kaihō Ryōji , sumo wrestler * Masatsukasa Kōshin, sumo wrestler

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Aomori Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan