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is a prefecture of
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 n ...
located in the
Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku reta ...
of
Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...
. 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,
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 no ...
to the east, Fukushima Prefecture to the south, and Niigata Prefecture to the southwest. Yamagata is the capital and largest city of Yamagata Prefecture, with other major cities including Tsuruoka, Sakata, and Yonezawa. Yamagata Prefecture is located on Japan's western
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, i ...
coast and its borders with neighboring prefectures are formed by various mountain ranges, with 17% of its total land area being designated as Natural Parks. Yamagata Prefecture formed the southern half of the historic Dewa Province with Akita Prefecture and is home to the
Three Mountains of Dewa The refer to the three sacred mountains of Mount Haguro, Mount Gassan and Mount Yudono, which are clustered together in the ancient province of Dewa (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture). Holy to the Japanese Shinto religion and especially the moun ...
, which includes the Haguro Five-story Pagoda, a recognised
National Treasure of Japan Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science ...
.


History

The aboriginal people once inhabited the area now known as Yamagata. Yamagata and Akita Prefecture were known as Dewa Province until the
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 ...
. During the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...
(794–1185), the family ruled the area. Yamagata City flourished 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 character ...
(1603–1867) due to its status as a castle town and post station, famous for'' beni'' (red safflower dye used in the production of handspun silk). In 1689, the famous
haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a '' kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a '' kigo'', or ...
poet,
Matsuo Bashō born then was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest ma ...
visited Yamagata during his five-month trip to the northern regions of Japan.


Geography

Yamagata Prefecture is located in the southwest corner of Tōhoku, facing 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, i ...
. It borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture on the south,
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 no ...
on the east, and Akita Prefecture on the north. All of these boundaries are marked by mountains, with most of the population residing in a limited central plain. As of 31 March 2020, 17 percent of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the
Bandai-Asahi National Park is a national park in the Tōhoku region, Honshū, Japan. The park site straddles over Fukushima Prefecture, Yamagata Prefecture, and Niigata Prefecture. The park was designated as a national park on September 5, 1950. The park encompasses 186, ...
; Chōkai, Kurikoma, and Zaō Quasi-National Parks; and Goshōzan, Kabusan, Kennan, Mogamigawa, Shōnai Kaihin, and Tendō Kōgen Prefectural Natural Parks.


Cities

Thirteen cities are located in Yamagata Prefecture:


Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...
:


Mergers


Climate

The climate of Yamagata Prefecture is characterized by long, hot, and humid summers and long, snowy winters. Both spring and autumn are short, the former often cold, the latter often warm, but both quite dry and sunny. Yamagata Prefecture, along with northern parts of Miyagi and Iwate are the transition areas from
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(
Koppen Koppen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dan Koppen (born 1979), American football offensive lineman * Erwin Koppen (1929–1990), German literary scholar * Luise Koppen (1855–1922), German author * Wladimir Köppen (1846� ...
''Cfa''/''Cwa'') to humid continental within the Japan mainland. Winter temperatures rarely fall below in populated areas; they frequently rise above in July and August. Precipitation falls all year round and the remnants of one or perhaps two
typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
s usually pass through between August and October. The winters see heavy snowfall especially at higher elevations, though the Japan Sea coast ( Sakata) is milder and has more rain. Snowfall for Shinjō is typical of populated mountainous areas, snowfall for Yamagata City typical of the valleys. The central mountains around
Gassan is a 1979 Japanese film directed by Tetsutaro Murano. It was Japan's submission to the 52nd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. Cast * Hisashi Igawa as Iwazo * Yūko Katagiri ...
may see as much as of snow in a season with depths up to at higher elevations.


Economy


Fruit

Yamagata Prefecture is the largest producer of cherries and pears in Japan. A large quantity of other kinds of fruits such as grapes, apples, peaches, melons, persimmons and watermelons are also produced.


Demographics

As of October 2020, Yamagata Prefecture had a population of 1,068,027. As of October 2019, 33.4% of the population was over 65 with 15.5% aged between 65 and 74 and 17.9% over 75. This is an increase of 8.5% over census data from 2004 where 12.8% of the population was aged between 65 and 74, and 12.1% was over 75. Yamagata prefecture experienced its greatest growth period following the end of World War II, but then quickly began to slow down and eventually decline steadily. Today, the population is nearly the same as it was in 1930.


Culture


Festivals and events

Yamagata Prefecture has a number of annual festivals and events. The largest is the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival (花笠祭り) which takes place in Yamagata City on the first weekend in August, when thousands of people perform the hanagasa dance in the city centre and attracts up to 300,000 spectators. Yamagata City is the home of the bi-annual Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in October. In February, a snow lantern festival is held in Yonezawa at the Uesugi Shrine. Hundreds of candle-lit lanterns light pathways dug into the snow around the shrine. Yonezawa is also the site of the ''Uesugi Festival'' (上杉祭り, ''uesugi matsuri'') in mid-spring. The festival's highlight is a re-enactment of the Battle of Kawanakajima on the banks of the Matsukawa River. In September, Yamagata Prefecture is famous for its imoni, a taro-root stew popular in Northern Japan during the autumn. Imonikai, taro-root soup parties, are very popular during this season, and many tourists come to Yamagata Prefecture specifically for its particular style of imoni.


Art

Beginning in 2003, Yamagata city officials with the aid of Tōhoku University of Art and Design began a three-year project in which the Buddhist art of the city's temples would be catalogued and compared to a set of guidelines in order to identify "cultural assets". One hundred and ninety temples have had their works of art examined and several significant examples of Buddhist sculpture have been discovered. At Heisenji Temple, in the Hirashimizu district, a particularly rare statue, a seated Vairocana Buddha made from zelkova wood, was found. Other significant works include sculptures from the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...
(794–1185) and
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 b ...
(1192–1333). The Yamagata Museum of Art, located in Yamagata City, was opened in 1964 through the efforts of a foundation led by Yoshio Hattori, the president of Yamagata Shimbun and Yamagata Broadcasting Co, Ltd. The permanent collection consists of three types of art: Japanese and Asian, regional, and French. Special exhibitions are held periodically.


Language

Yamagata Prefecture is known for its local dialect Yamagata-ben, sometimes thought of as backward sounding in other parts of Japan. The 2004 movie '' Swing Girls'' (スウィングガールズ), co-written and directed by Shinobu Yaguchi, is set in Yamagata and makes use of Yamagata-ben for comedic purposes.


Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Yamagata. Football * Montedio Yamagata Volleyball *
Pioneer Red Wings Pioneer Red Wings was a women's volleyball team based in Tendo, Yamagata, Tendo city, Yamagata, Japan. It played in V.League (Japan), V.Premier League. The club was founded in 1979. The owner of the team is Tohoku Pioneer (company), Pioneer Hist ...
( Tendō) Basketball *
Passlab Yamagata Wyverns The Passlab Yamagata Wyverns is a professional basketball team that competes in the second division of the Japanese B.League. TGI D-Rise served as a development team of the Link Tochigi Brex. TGI stands for Tochigi, Gunma and Ibaraki, three nor ...


Transportation


Airports

* Yamagata Airport (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo by Japan Airlines) * Shonai Airport (Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo by
All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had m ...
)


Railways

*
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 Yam ...
* Senzan Line *
Aterazawa Line The is a railway line in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kita-Yamagata Station in Yamagata with Aterazawa Station in Ōe. All trains run through to and from Yamagata Station. Station ...
* Yonesaka Line *
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 th ...
*
Rikuu East Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kogota Station in Misato, Miyagi Prefecture to Shinjō Station in Shinjō, Yamagata Prefecture, acting as a connector between the Tōhoku Mai ...
*
Flower Nagai Line The is a Japanese railway line in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. It connects Akayu Station in Nanyō to Arato Station in Shirataka. The Flower Nagai Line is the only line operated by the third sector , which took over the former JR East line i ...
* Ōu Main Line *
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 ...


Tourism

The temple of Yama-dera, carved into the mountainside near the city of Yamagata, is a major attraction. The Dewa Sanzan are three holy mountains that form a traditional pilgrimage for followers of the
Shugendō is a highly syncretic religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from local ...
branch of Shintō. The famous Gojudo (five-story pagoda) is at the base of
Mount Haguro is one of the Three Mountains of Dewa in the city of Tsuruoka, the ancient province of Dewa (a domain consisting of modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture), Japan. As the lowest of the three mountains, standing at , it is the only ...
, the lowest of the three mountains. Mount Zaō is a famous winter ski resort, also known for its ''snow monsters'' (frozen snow-covered trees) in the winter, and the ''Okama crater lake'', also known as the ''Goshiki Numa'' (Five Color Lake) because its colour changes according to the weather. Ginzan Onsen (銀山温泉) is a Silver Mountain hot spring town located in the mountains of Obanazawa City, Yamagata Prefecture. The area originally developed around a silver mine. However, these days it is better known as one of
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 n ...
’s prettiest
onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...
towns with historic ryokan alongside river. File:220430 Bunshokan Yamagata Yamagata pref Japan01s3.jpg, Former Yamagata Prefectural Office File:Yamadera 2004-11.JPG, Yamadera niōmon File:Hagurosan Gojunto 2006-A.jpg, Mount Haguro, The Gojuto Pagoda File:Ginzan Onsen 2019 no.3.png, Ginzan Onsen Spa File:220430 ZaoOnsen Yamagata Yamagata pref Japan02s3.jpg, Zaō Onsen Ski Resort


Media


Newspapers

*Yamagata Shimbu

*Yonezawa Shimbun *Shonai Nippo *Okitama Time


TV and radio

* Yamagata Broadcasting Company Limited, YBC TV and Radio ( NNN, JRN, and NRN) * YTS TV (
ANN Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...
) *TUY TV ( JNN) *SAY TV ( FNN) *Rhythm Station (
JFN is a commercial radio network in Japan. It was founded in 1981. TOKYO FM is the main station of the network. Japan FM Network stations Special station Originally in JFN, but now independent FM Fuji was a member from 1988 to 199 ...
)


Film

*Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival


Notes


References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
.
OCLC 58053128


External links


Yamagata Prefecture Official Website
{{Authority control Tōhoku region Prefectures of Japan