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 Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city has 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 26,930 in 12,880 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

of 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Oga is located on the

Oga Peninsula The Oga Peninsula (男鹿半島 ''Oga-hantō'') is a rugged peninsula which projects west into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Akita in northern Honshū, the main island of Japan. Politically it coincides with the city of Oga. At the base ...

in northwestern Akita 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, i ...

to the north, west and south. Much of the city is within the boundaries of the

Oga Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park on the Oga Peninsula, in Akita Prefecture, in far northwestern Japan. The park is wholly within the city of Oga. It is rated a protected landscape (Category V) according to the IUCN. The area was designated a quasi-nat ...

Neighboring municipalities

* Akita Prefecture ** Ōgata ** Mitane **

Katagami is a city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,858 in 13,897 households, and a population density of 330 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Katagami is located in the coastal ...

Climate

Different from the rest of the prefecture, the climate is an isolated

humid subtropical 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° ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfa'') by direct influence (due to being a peninsula) of the

Tsushima Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the K ...

, being the most northern city of the Asian continent with this categorization according to the 0 °C isotherm. Or the southern edge of the hot-summer humid continental (''Dfa'') by the normal of the

Japan Meteorological Agency The , abbreviated JMA, is an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It is charged with gathering and providing results for the public in Japan that are obtained from data based on daily scientific observation an ...

. Winters are mild and summers although the climatic type are warm but not hot. The extremes range from -14 to 35 °C, a relatively low thermal amplitude to a place at 39 °N and to the east near large land masses.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Oga population statistics
/ref> the population of Oga peaked in the 1950s and has been in decline since then.

History

The area of present-day Oga 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 per ...

, dominated by the

Satake clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. Its first power base was in Hitachi Province. The clan was subdued by Minamoto no Yoritomo in the late 12th century, but later entered Yoritomo's service as vassals ...

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 characte ...

, who ruled

Kubota Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kubota Castle in what is now the city of Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governed for the whole of its his ...

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 ...

. The village of Funagawa was established with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889 and became the town of Funagawaminato on October 24, 1894. The city of Oga was created on March 31, 1954, by the merger of the town of Funagawaminato with the four neighboring villages of Wakimoto, Iriai, Ogatanaka and Toga. On March 22, 2005, the town of Wakami was merged into Oga.

Government

Oga 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 multi ...

city legislature of 18 members. The city contributes one member to the Akita Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Akita District 2 of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The economy of Oga is based on

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 ...

, tourism and agriculture.

Education

Oga has six public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government and two public high schools operated by the Akita Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company -

Oga Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Oiwake Station in Akita, Akita Prefecture to Oga Station in Oga, Akita Prefecture. It is nicknamed the . Stations Rolling stock *KiHa 40 se ...

* - - -

Highway

Bus

* Akita Chūō Kōtsū

Seaports

Port of Funagawa The is a seaport on the Sea of Japan coast of Akita Prefecture, in the city of Oga, Akita, Oga in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū, Japan. It is classified as a by the Japanese government. The port has a total land area of 253.4 hectares. ...

Local attractions

* Namahage Museum *

Oga Aquarium Gao , officially Akita Prefectural Oga Aquarium, is an aquarium located along Oga Peninsula coast, Oga, Akita, Oga, Akita Prefecture, Japan. GAO stands for Globe, Aqua and Ocean, and sounds like an Oga-native Namahage shout. Overview Overlooking th ...

* Nyūdōzaki Lighthouse – one of the "50 Lighthouses of Japan" * Godzilla Rock * Wakimoto Castle, National Historic Site * Oga Onsen * Oga Athletic Stadium

Culture

Oga is famous for its Namahage Festival, a traditional event held on New Year's Eve in which groups of men dressed as ogre-like deities called "

Namahage The are demonlike beings portrayed by men wearing hefty '' oni'' (ogre) masks and traditional straw capes ('' mino'') during a New Year's ritual, in local northern Japanese folklore of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture. General descri ...

" with masks and straw raincoats visit houses at night.

Sister city relations

Livingston, California Livingston is a city in Merced County, California, United States. Livingston is located west-northwest of Atwater, at an elevation of 131 feet (40 m). According to the 2020 census, the city population was 14,172, up from 13,058 in 2010. Living ...

, USA since August 18, 1984

Noted people from Oga

* Kenya Kodama, footballer *

Kazuo Nakamura (basketball) is a former professional basketball head coach for Hamamatsu, Akita and Niigata and a former college basketball head coach for Akita Keizaihoka University in Japan. Nakamura always said to players, "Play basketball with all your heart." He admi ...

, basketball coach * Shokichi Natsui, judoka *

Shōji Nishimura was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Biography Nishimura was from Akita prefecture in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan. He was a graduate of the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911, ranking ...

, admiral *

Hiromitsu Ochiai Hiromitsu Ochiai (落合博満 ''Ochiai Hiromitsu'', born December 9, 1953) is a Japanese professional baseball manager and former player. He is former manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He is considered to ...

, baseball player and manager *

Yoshihito Yoshida (born 18 February 1969 in Ogachi, Akita) is a former rugby union footballer who played for Japan. He played as a wing. Career His first match for Japan was during a test against Oxford University at Tokyo, on October 1, 1990. He played 1991 Rugb ...

, rugby union footballer * Yu Yoshimoto, basketball player

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Akita Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan