250px, Hayama neighborhood in Kaminoyama 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

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 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 29,617 in 11278 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 120 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kaminoyama is located in southeast Yamagata Prefecture, in the Murayama Basin, bordered by

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

to the east.

Mount Zaō The , commonly called Mount Zaō, are a complex cluster of stratovolcanoes on the border between Yamagata Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. The central volcano of the group includes several lava domes and a tuff cone, Goshiki-dake, which ...

is located within its borders.

Neighboring municipalities

*Yamagata Prefecture **

Yamagata, Yamagata is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Yamagata Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 248,772 in 103,165 households, and a population density of 650 persons per km2. The total a ...

** Nanyo, Yamagata **

Takahata, Yamagata 270px, Yamagata Takahata Winery is a town located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 23,367, in 7629 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography ...

Kawasaki, Miyagi 270px, Kawasaki town hall is a town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 8,637 and a population density of 32 persons per km2 in 3,391 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Kawasaki ...

Shichikashuku, Miyagi is a town located in Katta District, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 1,323, and a population density of 5.0 persons per km² in 626 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Shichikashuku is loc ...

Climate

Kaminoyama 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. This includes heavy amounts of snowfall from late November until early March. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Kaminoyama is 11.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1362 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.1 °C.

Demographics

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

History

The area of present-day Kaminoyama 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 ...

, and was a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

for Kaminoyama Domain under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

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 ...

. It was also a post station on the

Ushū Kaidō The was a subroute of the Ōshū Kaidō and the Sendaidō in Japan. It breaks off from the Sendaidō at Kōri-juku in the modern-day Koori in Fukushima Prefecture. It connects to Aburakawa-juku along Matsumaedō, the other subroute of the Ōshū ...

highway. 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 Minamimurayama District, Yamagata Prefecture. The town of Kaminoyama was established on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system, and was elevated to city status on October 1, 1954.

Government

Higashine 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 15 members. The city contributes one member to the Yamagata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Yamagata District 1 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 Kaminoyama is based on agriculture (horticulture), light manufacturing (electronics, automotive components, clothing, foodstuffs), forestry and tourism. This region is famous for its hot spring water and hot spring resorts near the former grounds of Kaminoyama Castle

Education

Kaminoyama has five public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the city government and one public high schools operated by the Yamagata Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped and two vocational training schools.

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 ...

Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yamaga ...

Ōu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Fukushima Station through Akita Station to Aomori Station. Since the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen on July 1, 1992, the Fukushima–Yamag ...

* - -

Highways

* – Yamagata-Kamiyama Interchange, Kaminoyama-Minami Interchange * *

Local attractions

Kaminoyama-jo mogi-tenshu Yamagata-ken 08481

* Kaminoyama Castle * Sky Tower 41 *Saito Mokichi Memorial Museum *Kaminoyama Onsen

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar '' Kreis''. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Da ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, Germany, since October 1, 1995.

Notable people from Kaminoyama

Masaru Akiba is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Akiba was born in Kaminoyama on February 19, 1984. He joined the J2 League club Montedio Yamagata from his youth team in 2002. He played many matches as defensive midfielder during the first ...

, professional soccer player *

Toshiaki Endo is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Kaminoyama, Yamagata and graduate of Chuo University (where he played Rugby), he was elected to t ...

, politician *

Takeshi Koike (born January 26, 1968) is a Japanese animator, illustrator and film director. Something of a protégée of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, he was also influenced by Yoshinori Kanada, Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, and Katsuhito Ishii. He went straight fr ...

, anime movie director, illustrator *

Mokichi Saitō was a Japanese poet of the Taishō period, a member of the Araragi school of tanka, and a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist Shigeta Saitō ( ''Japanese Wikipedia article'') is his first son, the novelist Morio Kita is his second son and the essa ...

, poet Official_Website

English_Information
{{Authority_control Kaminoyama,_Yamagata.html" ;"title="einrich, Amy Vladeck, 1983. ''Fragments of Rainbows: The Life and Poetry of Saitō Mokichi''. New York: Columbia University Press. , page 3

References

External links

Official Website

English Information
{{Authority control Kaminoyama, Yamagata"> Cities in Yamagata Prefecture