Hiraka, Aomori

was 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 Minamitsugaru District in central

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 ...

. Hiraka was founded on March 1, 1955 through the merger of the towns of Taikoji and Kashiwagi with the villages of Takedate, Ozaki and Machiya. On January 1, 2006, Hiraka, along with the town of Onoe, and the village of Ikarigaseki (all from Minamitsugaru District), was

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 ...

to create the new city of Hirakawa, and thus no longer exists as an independent municipality. An inland village, Hiraka had an agriculture-based economy and was noted for its production of apples. At the time of its merger, Hiraka 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 22,053 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 99.5 persons per km². The total area was 221.61 km². Hiraka was served by

Japan National Route 102 is a national highway in the Japanese prefecture of Aomori. Route 102 stretches from National Route 7 in Hirosaki east to National Routes 4 and 45 in Towada. Route description The highway crosses the central part Aomori Prefecture, linkin ...

and

Japan National Route 454 is a national highway of Japan that traverses southern Aomori Prefecture and briefly crosses into the northeastern edge of Akita before returning in to Aomori. It connects Hachinohe in eastern Aomori to Ōwani in the western part of the pref ...

highways, as well as by four stations on the

Kōnan Railway Kōnan Line The is a railway route operated by the Japanese private railway operator Kōnan Railway in Aomori Prefecture, from Hirosaki Station in Hirosaki to Kuroishi Station in Kuroishi. Station list * Tamboāto Station is open from April to November ...

. Dissolved municipalities of Aomori Prefecture Hirakawa, Aomori {{aomori-geo-stub