is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 4,968 in 2097 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 21 persons per km² The total area of the town is .

Geography

Takko occupies the far southeast corner of Aomori Prefecture, south of the

Hakkōda Mountains The are an active volcanic complex in south-central Aomori Prefecture, Japan, in Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Often called or simply , the mountains are collectively listed as one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. Its highest peak, M ...

. Much of the town is mountainous with peaks ranging from 700 to 1000 meters. The mountainous area is home to many indigenous plant and animal species. Wildlife includes Japanese macaque monkeys, '' kamoshika,'' '' tanuki,'' and

Asian black bear The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It is distributed from southeast ...

s. The residential area is mainly along the river basins such as the Kumabara River, the Ayome River, and the Okawa River, which flow from east to west through the town.

Neighbouring municipalities

* Sannohe District ** Sannohe

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 estimated 915,691 as of 1 August 2023 and its geographi ...

* Kazuno

Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...

* Hachimantai * Ninohe

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 cold ...

characterized by cool, short summers and long, cold winters with extremely heavy snowfall (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfa''). The average annual temperature in Takko is 8.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1375 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around -3.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Takko peaked at around the year 1960 and has declined steadily over the past 60 years. It is now less than it was a century ago.

History

The area around Takko has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and numerous

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

remains have been discovered. The town name is derived from an Ainu word “tapkop”, meaning “small hill”. During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the area was controlled by the

Nambu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai Pr ...

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū ...

and later by Hachinohe Domain. During 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

establishment of the modern municipalities system on 1 April 1889, Takko Village was created as a separate village from former Kamigō Village. It was elevated to town status on November 10, 1928. On March 1, 1955, Kamigō Village merged back with Takko Town.

Government

Takko 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

town council of ten members. Takko is part of Sannohe District which contributes three members to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Aomori 2nd district Aomori 2nd district (青森県第2区, ''Aomori-ken dai-niku'' or simply 青森2区, ''Aomori-niku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is located ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

The economy of Takko is heavily dependent on agriculture and forestry. The main crop is

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, of which Takko is Japan's largest producer. In fact garlic is such an integral part of Takko's economy that they invented a garlic flavored cola known as Taccola.

Education

Takko has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education. High school (1) * Takko Senior High School (Prefectural) Middle school (1) * Takko Junior High School Elementary schools (3) * Takko Elementary School * Shimizugashira Elementary School * Kamigō Elementary School Kindergarten (1) * Takko Kindergarten Nursery schools (2) * Takko Hoikuen * Kamigo Hoikuen

Transportation

Railway

*The town has no passenger railway service. The nearest train station is Sannohe Station on the Aoimori Railway Aoimori Railway Line.

Highway

International relations

* –

Gilroy, California Gilroy is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. It had a population of 59,520 as of the 2020 census. Gilroy's origins lie in the village of San Ysidro, which developed in the early 19th ...

, United States, sister city since April 18, 1988 * –

Monticelli d'Ongina Monticelli d'Onina ( ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Piacenza in the Italy, Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about east of Piacenza. Monticelli d'Onina borders the following municipalitie ...

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

– sister city since September 11, 1992 * -

Seosan Seosan (; ) is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, with a population of roughly 175,000 according to the 2017 census. Located at the northwestern end of South Chungcheong Province, it is bounded by Dangjin, Naepo New Town, Yesan- ...

South Chungcheong Province South Chungcheong Province (), informally called Chungnam, is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, province of South Korea in the Hoseo region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. South Chungcheong borders the provinces of Gyeonggi to ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, friendship city since June 22, 2012

Noted people from Takko

*Sampachi Kawa – manga artist

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Aomori Prefecture