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 106,244 in 39,320 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 180 people per km². The total area of the city is .

History

The area of present-day Sakata was the location of the

provincial capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...

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 ...

, although the precise location has yet to be discovered by archaeologists. A port at the mouth of the Mogami River is known to have existed since the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. Although silting rendered it less important in the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

, the area developed as a major center for the coastal trade 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 ...

. By the early

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 Honma clan, a local merchant clan, dominated trade and emerged as the largest landholder in Japan. Traces of their powerful influence on Sakata City can still be seen across the city. This includes the Honma Museum and The Honma Gardens located in the downtown area. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system after the start of the Meiji period, the area was organized as Sakata Town under Akumi District, Yamagata Prefecture in 1878. Approximately 80% of the town was destroyed by the 1894 Shōnai earthquake and subsequent fires. The modern city of Sakata was founded on April 1, 1933.

World War II

The city largely escaped damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, save for a lone air raid on its port district on August 10, 1945, which left 30 people dead or missing. On September 20, 1944, over 200 British prisoners of war transfer to the newly created POW camp, known officially as Sakata Branch Camp (Sendai 9-B). The British would later be joined by American, Dutch and Australian POW's. The camp was liberated in September 1945. The camp was originally established as Tokyo 22B, jurisdictional transferred to

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

on April 14, 1945. The camp roster included: * 15 Americans, no deaths * 248 British, 13 deceased * 5 Dutch, no deaths * 26 Australians, 5 deceased Most of the POW's were transferred from camps in the

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

area and many had survived the sinking of the steamships and . The men were used as forced labor at the Port of Sakata and some worked for NITTSU, also known as Nippon Express, still operating in Japan today.

After World War II

On October 29, 1976, Sakata suffered from a major fire which gutted 22.5 hectares of its city center, destroying 1,774 buildings and injuring 964 people (and one fatality). On November 1, 2005, the towns of Hirata,

Matsuyama file:Matsuyama city office Ehime prefecture Japan.jpg, 270px, Matsuyama City Hall file:Ehimekencho-20040417.JPG, 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan ...

, and

Yawata is a city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. the city has an estimated population of 70,433 and a population density of 2,893 persons per km². The total area is 24.35 km². The city was founded on November 1, 1977 and currently has a ...

(all from Akumi District) were merged into Sakata.

Geography

Sakata is located in the coastal plains of the northwest corner of Yamagata Prefecture, bordered by 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 ...

to the west, and by

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

to the north. 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 city, which has Mount Chōkai on its northern border. The inhabited island of Tobishima, approximately off the coast of the mainland, is within the administrative borders of the city. The island, as well as part of the mainland portion of the city, is within the borders of the Chōkai Quasi-National Park

Neighboring municipalities

*Akita Prefecture **

Yurihonjō is a city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 76,077 in 30,639 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Yurihonjō is located in southwest corner of Akita Pr ...

** Nikaho *Yamagata Prefecture **

Tsuruoka is a city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 125,389 in 49,024 households, and a population density of 95.74 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Tsuruoka is the biggest city in Tōhoku region ...

Yuza is a town located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 13,615 in 4956 households, and a population density of 65 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Yuza is located in the extreme no ...

** Shōnai ** Mikawa **

Mamurogawa 270px, Pond in Nonomura neighborhood of Mamurogawa with Mount Chōkai in the distance is a town located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the town has an estimated population of 6,792 in 2560 households, and a population density of 18 persons per ...

** Sakegawa ** Tozawa

Climate

Sakata 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 Sakata is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

According to Japanese census data, the population of Sakata has declined in recent decades.

Government

Higashine has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 28 members. The city contributes five members to the Yamagata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Yamagata District 3 of the lower house 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 Sakata is based on light manufacturing,

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, 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 ...

. The

Sakata Kyodo Thermal Power Station The is a coal-fired thermal power station operated by the Sakai Joint Power Co., Ltd in the city of Sakata, Yamagata, Japan. The facility is located on the Sea of Japan coast of Honshu. The Sakata Joint Power Co., Ltd is a joint venture between ...

is a fossil-fueled power station operated by a joint venture of Tohoku Electric and Sumitomo Aluminum in the city. Major employers include Maeta Seikan, which makes concrete products and has played a major role in supporting reconstruction after the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, Kao, a chemical and cosmetics company and the electronics company,

Seiko Epson Seiko Epson Corporation, or simply known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, ...

. Seiko Epson uses the local Shonai Airport for weekly employee charter flights to and from

Matsumoto, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Matsumoto is designated as a core city since 1 April 2021. , the city had a population of 239,466 in 105,207 households and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city ...

since 1997.

Culture

Festivals

The Sakata Festival is a major historical festival held every year between May 19 and May 21. The first festival was held in 1609, during the Edo period, and was called the . However, after a large fire damaged much of Sakata in 1976, the festival became a memorial event and was renamed . There is a large parade in the central streets of the city, which features festival floats and dancers from schools, local companies, and community organizations. Huge are symbols of the festival. It is said that children chewed by the will become smart and healthy. About 350 stalls line the side of the main street selling snacks, drinks, and crafts. The celebration of the Sakata Festival was not interrupted by the eruption of Mount Chōkai in 1801, the 1894 Shōnai earthquake, the 1796 and 1976 Great Fires in Sakata, World War I, or World War II; however, it was interrupted in 2020 and 2021, due to prevention measures associated with the worldwide

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Films

Sakata was the shooting location for the following movies: * ''Okuribito'' (English title '' Departures''), 2008, winner of the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for best foreign film. Set in present time, a newly unemployed cellist takes a job preparing the dead for funerals. * ''

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

'', 2007, a film set in the 19th century, about a silkworm merchant and his love life, based on the novel by

Alessandro Baricco Alessandro Baricco (; born 25 January 1958) is an Italian writer, director and performer. His novels have been translated into a wide number of languages. Early life, family and education Baricco was born in Turin, Italy. He has earned degre ...

* ''

Oshin is a Japanese serialized morning television drama (''asadora''), which originally aired on NHK from 4 April 1983 to 31 March 1984; it is the 31st ''asadora'' overall to be produced. The 297 15-minute episodes follow the life of during the Mei ...

'', 2013, a film about the life of a young girl named Oshin who grew up in poverty in the Sakata region. The film was directed by Shin Togashi.

Local attractions

Art and historical museums

Domon Ken Photography Museum The was opened in 1983 in Sakata, Yamagata (Japan), the birthplace of the photographer Ken Domon. On the occasion of becoming the first honorary citizen of Sakata in 1974, Domon donated his entire collection of works to the town. This prompted t ...

– a museum dedicated to Ken Domon, one of the most famous photographers in Japanese history. This is also the only museum in the world that is dedicated to a single photographer. *

Homma Museum of Art opened in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, in 1947. Setting The residence was built in 1813 by the fourth head of the , Junji Homma, who was a noted collector of Japanese swords and chairman of the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai. The Ho ...

– the Honma Museum of Art is a converted old villa which once belonged to the Honma clan. The villa was used by the lords of the Sakai family in the

. Some of the fine arts items in the museum's collection were donated by other clans in Japan, other furniture and fixings belonged to the Honma clan. The museum has a garden from which Mount Chokai can be seen.
The Historic Residence
– this museum is a restored home of one of the most famous merchant families in Sakata City. During the 1800s, this city played a key role in domestic trade within Japan. The Residence is open for visitors to see how merchants conducted business and how the servants for this family supported them behind the scenes. *Sakata City Museum of Art – this museum contains a permanent collection which mainly focuses on the work of sculptor Takahashi Go and painter Saito Chozo. The museum is located 20 minutes from Sakata Station and has views of nearby Mount Chōkai. * – a Tea House complex located beside Sakata City Museum of Art. It was built in 1994 and has a traditional Japanese design. * – a traditional Japanese restaurant dating from the Edo period. The culture of dancing in Sakata is a result of the city's close trading relationship with Osaka and Kyoto. The building has been carefully renovated and contains many traditional features. It also features an art gallery with the personal collection of Hirata Bokujo, a large pork company that is based in Sakata City. *Sake Museum

Famous and historical sites

Sankyo Warehouse in Sakata, Yamagata, 16 June 2013, 02

*Sankyo Storehouse – this was built in 1893 to store rice. On the storehouse's southern side, there is a line of 41 ''

Zelkova ''Zelkova'' (from Georgian ''dzelkva'', 'stone pillar') is a genus of six species of deciduous trees in the elm family Ulmaceae, native to southern Europe, and southwest and eastern Asia. They vary in size from shrubs (''Z. sicula'') to large tr ...

'' trees, which were planted over 150 years ago to help keep the temperature of the storehouses low during the hot summer months. The modern day storehouse contains a small museum with information regarding the history and culture of Sakata, a restaurant and a souvenir shop which sells local foods and . *Hiyoriyama Park – a park located close to the city center which offers panoramic views of the Port of Sakata. There are over 400 cherry trees in the park and it is home to a cherry blossom festival in late April. *The Historical Honma Residence – a historic residence of a famous merchant clan. This home is located nearby the Historic Residence and has many rooms and displays. *The Kinowa Wall Site *The Historical Shirasaki Clinic

Shrines and temples

*Jofuku Temple *Kaikou-ji Temple –

Shingon Buddhism Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. K ...

temple located in the centre of Sakata near Hiyoriyama Park. The temple contains the remains of two priests who starved themselves to death through a process of self-mummification called . *Jichi-in Temple – a Buddhist temple at the heart of Sakata City located right next to Hiyoriyama Park and the historic entertainment district of this port city. This temple offers zazen meditation led by the head priest who can speak English.

Notable people

Teiji Honma is an ice hockey goaltender who represented Japan at the 1936 Winter Olympics, held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany. Biography Honma was 25 years old at the time he represented Japan, as a member of the Manchurian Medical University ...

, ice hockey goaltender *

Ken Domon is one of the most renowned Japanese photographers of the 20th century. He is most celebrated as a photojournalist, though he may have been most prolific as a photographer of Buddhist temples and statuary. Biography Domon was born in Sakata, Y ...

, photographer * Kumiko Ikeda, long jumper *

Kinnosuke Ogura Kinnosuke Ogura (born Sakata, Yamagata, 1885 – 1962, ja, 小倉金之助) was a Japanese mathematician and historian of mathematics. He graduated in 1905 from Tokyo College of Science (now Tokyo Science University), and was a lecturer there f ...

, mathematician *

Shūmei Ōkawa was a Japanese nationalist and Pan-Asianist writer, known for his publications on Japanese history, philosophy of religion, Indian philosophy, and colonialism. Background Ōkawa was born in Sakata, Yamagata, Japan in 1886. He graduated from ...

, nationalist author and politician * Seiko Shimakage, volleyball player and golfer *

Homma Munehisa (also known as Sokyu Honma or Sokyu Homma and sometimes called the God of markets ; 1724–1803) was a rice merchant from Sakata, Japan who traded in the Dōjima Rice Exchange in Osaka during the Tokugawa Shogunate. He is sometimes considered to ...

, legendary 18th century rice trader *

Haruo Nakajima was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original ''Godzilla'' (1954) until ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in '' kaiju'' films, including ''Mothra ...

, Japanese actor, best known for portraying Godzilla from the 1950s through the early 1970s

Education

Universities

* Tohoku University of Community Service and Science

High schools

* Yamagata Prefectural Sakata Higashi High School *Tenshin Gakuen High School *Sakata Minami High School *Sakata Nishi High School *Sakata Koryo High School

Junior high schools

* Sakata First Junior High School * Sakata Second Junior High School * Sakata Third Junior High School * Sakata Fourth Junior High School * Sakata Fifth Junior High School * Sakata Sixth Junior High School * Sakata Tobishima Junior High School * Sakata Hirata Junior High School * Sakata Chokai Junior High School * Sakata Yawata Junior High School * Sakata Matsuyama Junior High School

Elementary schools

* Sakata Takusei Elementary School * Sakata Hamada Elementary School * Sakata Wakahama Elementary School * Sakata Fujimi Elementary School * Sakata Kijo Elementary School * Sakata Matsubara Elementary School * Sakata Konan Elementary School * Sakata Shoryo Elementary School * Sakata Izumi Elementary School * Sakata Tobishima Elementary School * Sakata Nishi Arase Elementary School * Sakata Niibori Elementary School * Sakata Hirono Elementary School * Sakata Hamanaka Elementary School * Sakata Kuromori Elementary School * Sakata Tozaka Elementary School * Sakata Miyanoura Elementary School * Sakata Higashi Hirata Elementary School * Sakata Naka Hirata Elementary School * Sakata Kita Hirata Elementary School * Sakata Chokai Elementary School * Sakata Minami Yuza Elementary School * Sakata Ichijyo Elementary School * Sakata Yawata Elementary School * Sakata Osawa Elementary School * Sakata Nikko Elementary School * Sakata Jimikoya Elementary School * Sakata Matsuyama Elementary School * Sakata Naigo Elementary School * Sakata Tazawa Elementary School * Sakata Minami Hirata Elementary School

Transportation

Airports

* Shonai Airport

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 ...

Uetsu Main Line The is a railway line in the Tohoku and Chubu regions of Japan. Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) system, it connects Niitsu Station in the city of Niigata and Akita Station in Akita. The name "Uetsu" refers to the ancient ...

* - - - - JR logo (east)

Rikuu West Line The is a railway line in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Shinjō Station to Amarume Station, and trains continue on to Sakata Station, even though it is not officially a part of the ...

Highway

* * : (Sakata, Sakata Minato, and Shōnai Airport interchanges) * * * * *

Seaports

* Port of Sakata

Health care

* Prefectural Nihonkai Hospital * Municipal Sakata Hospital * Municipal Yawata Hospital * Homma Hospital

Media

Cinemas

* Sakata Minato-za

Newspaper

Television

* NHK Sakata Broadcast Station * TV-U Yamagata Sakata Station * Sakata Cable Television Station

Radio

* Sakata FM Radio

Sister city relations

Tangshan Tangshan () is a coastal, industrial prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hebei province. It is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and the northeastern part of the North China Plain. It is located in the central area of the Boha ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

– since July 26, 1990 *

Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky ( rus, Железногорск-Илимский, p=ʐɪlʲɪznɐˈgorsk ɪˈlʲimskʲɪj) is a town and the administrative center of Nizhneilimsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located north of Irkutsk, the administ ...

Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Nizh ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

– since October 8, 1979 *

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

– since April 19, 2017

References

External links

English Information https://www.thehiddenjapan.com/sakata
Official Website

Sakata Sightseeing Guide
Japanese)
Sightseeing guide
English) {{Authority control Cities in Yamagata Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan