is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

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 ...

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 city 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 25,076, 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 29 persons per km² in 10,531 households. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Hachimantai is located in the

Ōu Mountains The are a mountain range in the Tōhoku region of Honshū, Japan. It is the longest range in Japan and stretches south from the Natsudomari Peninsula of Aomori Prefecture to the Nasu volcanoes at the northern boundary of the Kantō region. T ...

of far northwest Iwate Prefecture, bordered by

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 ...

to the north and

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 ...

to the west. The headwaters of the Yoneshiro River are in Hachimanai. Part of Mount Hachimantai and Mount Iwate are within its borders. Parts of the city are within the borders of the Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Mount Iwate, the highest mountain in Iwate Prefecture, is on the border of Hachimantai with Shizukuishi and Takizawa.

Neighboring municipalities

Akita Prefecture * Kazuno * Semboku Aomori Prefecture *

Takko is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 4,968 in 2097 households and a population density of 21 persons per km2 The total area of the town is . Geography Takko occupies ...

Iwate Prefecture * Ichinohe * Iwate *

Morioka is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 August 2023, the city had an estimated population of 283,981 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of t ...

* Ninohe * Shizukuishi * Takizawa

Climate

Hachimantai 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 cold ...

(

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 same as much of

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

to the north, characterized by warm to hot summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hachimantai is 9.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1387 mm with September as the wettest month and February as the driest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around -3.4 °C. ;Notes:

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hachimantai peaked at around the year 1960 and has declined steadily over the past 60 years.

History

The area of present-day Hachimantai was part of ancient Mutsu Province. The area was dominated by the

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese clan, 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 Ge ...

from the early

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

. 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 ...

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the area was under

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 was divided between Ninohe District in the north and Iwate District in the south. In the early

Meiji period The was 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 colonizatio ...

, the village of Arasawa was created within Ninohe District on April 1, 1889, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. Arasawa merged with neighboring Tayama Village on September 30, 1956, to form the town of Ashiro. Ashiro was transferred to Iwate District on April 1, 2002. Likewise, on April 1, 1889, the villages of Tairadate, Obun, Dendo and Terada were established within Kita-Iwate District. Kita-Iwate was merged with Minami-Iwate in 1896. The four villages merged on September 30, 1956, for form the town of Nishine. The city of Hachimantai was established on September 1, 2005, from the merger of the towns of Ashiro and Nishine, and the village of Matsuo.

Government

Hachimantai 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 ...

city legislature of 22 members. Hachimantai, together with the towns of Iwate and Kuzumaki contribute two seats to the Iwate Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Iwate 2nd district 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 local economy is based on agriculture, forestry and seasonal tourism.

Education

Hachimantai has ten public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company 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 ...

(JR East) - Hanawa Line * - - - - - - - - - - -

Highway

* – Nishine IC, Iwatesan SA, Matsuo-Hachimantai IC, Maemoriyama PA, Ajiro JCT, Ajiro IC, Tayama PA * – Ajiro JCT * – Nishine roadside station

Sister cities

* Miyako, Iwate – from October 1, 1986 * Nago, Okinawa – from January 28, 1988 * Altenmarkt,

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, friendship city from November 13, 1994, with former Matsuo Village

Local attractions

Appi Kogen Ski Resort , branded APPI, is one of the largest ski resorts in Japan, adjacent to the Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Operated by Iwate Hotel & Resort, the resort is most famous for its ski slopes, but it also has a guest ranch, golf courses, ten ...

* Fudō Falls, One of Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls * Hachimantai hot spring resorts * Matsukawa Geothermal Power Plant, the first commercial geothermal plant in Japan *Matsukawa Gorge * Matsuo mine, an abandoned mine * Mount Hachimantai *Nanbu Fuji Golf Course * Towada-Hachimantai National Park *Yakehashiri Lava Flow

Notable people from Hachimantai

* Junshirō Kobayashi, ski jumper * Ryōyū Kobayashi, ski jumper * Reiichi Mikata, nordic combined skier * Hideji Oda, manga artist * Hanahikari Setsuo, sumo wrestler

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Iwate Prefecture