was 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 Higashiokitama District,

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

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 ...

. As of 1967, 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 12,860 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 313 persons per km². The total area was 41.10 km². On April 1, 1967, Akayu was merged into the expanded city of Nan'yō and thus no longer exists as an independent

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

History

The village of Akayu was established on April 1, 1889, with the establishment of the municipalities system. It was raised to town status on December 12, 1895. On June 10, 1955, the village of Nakagawa was annexed by Akayu. On March 21, 1957, the Nakayama neighborhood of Akayu was annexed by the neighboring city of

Kaminoyama 250px, Hayama neighborhood in Kaminoyama is a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 29,617 in 11278 households, and a population density of 120 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . G ...

. On April 1, 1967, the town of Akayu merged with the town of Miyauchi and the village of Wagō to form the city of Nan'yō.

Isabella Bird

English travel writer

Isabella Bird Isabella Lucy Bishop (; 15 October 1831 – 7 October 1904) was an English explorer, writer, photographer and naturalist. Alongside fellow Englishwoman Fanny Jane Butler, she founded the John Bishop Memorial Hospital in Srinagar in modern-da ...

visited Akayu on her travels in Japan in 1878. In ''Unbeaten Tracks in Japan'' she wrote of Akayu:

the frequented watering-place of Akayu in the north, is a perfect garden of Eden, 'tilled with a pencil instead of a plough,' growing in rich profusion rice, cotton, maize, tobacco, hemp, indigo, beans, egg-plants, walnuts, melons, cucumbers, persimmons, apricots, pomegranates; a smiling and plenteous land, an Asiatic Arcadia, prosperous and independent, all its bounteous acres belonging to those who cultivate them, who live under their vines, figs, and pomegranates, free from oppression--a remarkable spectacle under an Asiatic despotism.

Local attractions

Akayu is most famous for '' Akayu Onsen'' (赤湯温泉), a series of ''

ryokan A is a type of traditional Japanese inn that typically features ''tatami''-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear nemaki and talk with the owner. Ryokan have existed since the eighth century A.D. du ...

'' famed for their natural hot-springs which are believed to have medicinal properties. The town's name, which is literally translated as "red hot water", derives from a story in 1093. It is said that the feudal chief of Mutsu Province,

Minamoto no Yoshitsuna Minamoto no Yoshitsuna (源義綱) ({{circa 1042 – 1134), also called Kamo Jirō (鴨次郎), was a samurai of the Minamoto clan. He was son of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi and brother of Minamoto no Yoshiie and brother of Minamoto no Yoshimitsu. He ...

took a wounded soldier to a hot spring bath. His blood immediately turned the water red and the wound closed. is regarded as one of the top 100 cherry blossom viewing sites in Japan, and in 2000, an estimated 25,000 people came to the town in April to enjoy ''

hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always mean those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around the s ...

'' ("flower viewing") parties. The district also has an internationally recognised hang-gliding venue, the ''Sky Park'', which hosted the Third Women's Hang Gliding Championships in 1993. Akayu's most famous ex-resident is

Toyotarō Yūki was a central banker in the Empire of Japan, serving as the 15th Governor of the Bank of Japan and twice as a cabinet minister. Biography Yūki was born in the onsen resort of Akayu in what is now part of Nan'yō, Yamagata Prefecture,Bank o ...

, a former governor of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...

, and the town has a museum devoted to his life.

Transportation

Highway

Japan National Route 13 is a highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-ac ...

Japan National Route 113 is a highway in Japan on the island of Honshū which runs from Niigata City in Niigata Prefecture to Sōma in Fukushima Prefecture. Route data *Length: 232.7 km (145 mi) *Origin: Chuo-ku, Niigata (originates at junction with Route ...

Rail

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

–

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

** –

External links

Akayu Onsen website
{{in lang, ja Dissolved municipalities of Yamagata Prefecture Hot springs of Yamagata Prefecture Tourist attractions in Yamagata Prefecture Nan'yō, Yamagata