is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 east, ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. , the city 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 53,576 in 25,568 households, 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 130 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Goshogawara occupies two discontinuous areas on

Tsugaru Peninsula The is a peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, at the northern end of Honshū island, Japan. The peninsula projects north into the Tsugaru Strait separating Honshū from Hokkaidō. The western coast is on the Sea of Japan, while on its eastern coast ...

in western Aomori Prefecture. The

Iwaki River The is a river that crosses western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of . Under the Rivers Act of 1964 the Iwaki is designated as a Class 1 River and is managed by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, ...

flows through the city. The larger section is landlocked, and is in the middle of the peninsula. It contains the original town of Goshogawara, and is the population centre of the city. The smaller

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

to the north is on 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, it h ...

coast. Parts of the city are within the borders of 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, i ...

Neighbouring municipalities

Aomori Prefecture *

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...

Tsugaru Tsugaru (津軽) may refer to: * Tsugaru, Aomori, a city of Aomori Prefecture, Japan * Tsugaru Peninsula * Tsugaru Strait, between Honshū and Hokkaidō ** Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry, a ferry crossing this strait * Tsugaru-jamisen, a traditional style of ...

* Itayanagi * Tsuruta * Nakadomari *

Imabetsu is a town located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan and a part of the Aomori metropolitan area. , the town had an estimated population of 2,562 in 1414 households, and a population density of 20 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geogr ...

* Sotogahama * Yomogita

Climate

The city 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 ...

''Cfb'') characterized by warm short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Goshogawara is 10.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1281 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.5 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Goshogawara has declined over the past 40 years.

History

The area of Goshogawara was part of the holdings of 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, Ku ...

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 Honshū ...

in 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 ...

. With the post-

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the area became part of

Kitatsugaru District, Aomori is a Districts of Japan, rural district located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. As of September 2013, the district had an estimated population of 40,171 and an area of 304.54 km2. Much the city of Goshogawara, Aomori, Goshogawara and part of t ...

, and was divided into the villages of Goshogawara, Sakae, Miyoshi, Nakagawa, Nagahashi, Nanawa, Matsushima and Itayanagi on April 1, 1889. On July 1, 1898, Goshogawara was elevated to town status. On October 1, 1954. Goshogawara absorbed the villages of Sakae, Nakagawa, Nagahashi, Matsushima and Iizume to create the city of Goshogawara. On April 1, 1958, Goshogawara absorbed a portion of the town of Kizukuri. On March 28, 2005, the town of Kanagi, and the village of Shiura were

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

into Goshogawara.

Government

Goshogawara 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 multic ...

city legislature of 26 members. Goshogawara, together with the town of Nakadomari contribute three members to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Aomori 3rd district Aomori 3rd district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is located on the island of Honshu, in Aomori Prefecture, and includes the cities of Hirosaki, Goshogawara, and Ajigasawa. As ...

of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

The economy of Goshogawara is mixed. The city serves as a regional commercial center. Agricultural produce includes rice and apples, and

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 ...

includes

clams Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

. The Aomori Technopolis High-Tech Industrial Park is located in the city.

Education

Goshogawara has 11 public elementary schools and six public junior high schools operated by the city government. The city has schools and five public high schools operated by the Aomori prefectural Board of Education. The city also has two private high schools.

High schools

Prefectural *Goshogawara High School *Goshogawara Technical High School *Goshogawara Agriculture and Forestry High School *Kanagi High School Private *Goshogawara Daiichi High School *Goshogawara Commercial High School

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(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 ...

Tsugaru Railway The is a railway line in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, connecting in the city of Goshogawara and in the town of Nakadomari, in central-southern Tsugaru Peninsula. The line is the only railway line operated by the Tsugaru Railway Company, which ...

* - - - - - - - -

Highway

Tsugaru Expressway The is a two-lane national expressway in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The expressway connects the prefecture's capital, Aomori, and the Tōhoku Expressway to the municipalities of Goshogawara, Tsugaru and, Ajigasawa. It is owned and operated by ...

* *

Local attractions

* Tachineputa Museum - Goshogawara is famous for its Tachineputa Festival, held annually from August 4 to August 8. The ''tachineputa'' floats are much taller than their

counterparts Counterpart or Counterparts may refer to: Entertainment and literature * "Counterparts" (short story), by James Joyce * Counterparts, former name for the Reel Pride LGBT film festival * ''Counterparts'' (film), a 2007 German drama * ''Counterp ...

and

Hirosaki is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated population of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a castle town fo ...

, reaching heights of up to 23 meters. *

Osamu Dazai Memorial Museum The , also commonly referred to as , is a writer's home museum located in the Kanagi area of Goshogawara in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It is dedicated to the late author Osamu Dazai, who spent some of his early childhood in Kanagi, and houses ant ...

Lake Jūsan , also known locally as is a brackish-water Estuary#Lagoon-type or bar-built, lagoon-type estuary located in the city of Goshogawara in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It is the third-largest lake in Aomori Prefecture, after Lake Towada and Lake Ogawar ...

Ashino Chishōgun Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park on the Tsugaru Peninsula in northwest Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1958, the park spans the borders of the Municipalities of Japan, municipalities of Goshogawara, Aomori, Goshogawara and Nakadomari, Aomo ...

* Goshogawara Sue Pottery Kiln Site, a National Historic Site * Sannobō Site, a National Historic Site *

Tosaminato was a port settlement which existed from the Heian to the Muromachi period located in what is now part of the city of Goshogawara, Aomori in the Tōhoku region of Japan. Its ruins are now is an archaeological site which was designated a National ...

ruins, a National Historic Site

Noted people from Goshogawara

Osamu Dazai was a Japanese author. A number of his most popular works, such as '' The Setting Sun'' (''Shayō'') and ''No Longer Human'' (''Ningen Shikkaku''), are considered modern-day classics. His influences include Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Murasaki Shiki ...

, novelist *Bunji Tsushima, politician * Ikuzo Yoshi, ''Enka'' singer-songwriter * Shimizugawa Motokichi, sumo wrestler * Kashiwado Risuke, sumo wrestler * Kōji Hirayama, politician *

Daichi Shimoyama , nicknamed Chi, is a Japanese professional basketball player who plays for the Aomori Wat's of the B.League in Japan. He had been the team captain of the Aomori Wat's. College career He's got Tohoku College Basketball League 3-point leader awar ...

, basketball player

References

External links

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