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 Akita,

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 5603 in 2465 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 330 persons per km². The total area is . It is the smallest municipality in Akita Prefecture in terms of surface area.

Geography

Hachirōgata is located in the coastal flatlands northeastern

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 ...

, bordered by the remnant of Lake

Hachirōgata is a lake in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan. Its formal name is , but it is also called . At 4 meters below sea level, Hachirōgata is the lowest natural point in Japan. Hachirōgata was the second-largest lake in Japan after Lake Biwa. ...

which lies in the west of the town. Lake Hachirōgata was the second largest lake in Japan until it was drained in a

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

project from 1957 to 1977.The town is about 30 kilometers north of the prefectural capital at Akita City.

Neighboring municipalities

Akita Prefecture * Gojōme * Ikawa * Mitane * Ōgata

Climate

Hachirōgata 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 ...

''Cfa'') with large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Hachirōgata is 11.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1612 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.0 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Hachirōgata population statistics
/ref> the population of Hachirōgata peaked at around the year 1950 and has been in steady decline since then.

History

The area of present-day Hachirōgata 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 clan, 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 serv ...

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 ...

, who ruled

Kubota Domain was a Han (Japan), 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, Akita, Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governe ...

under the

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 village of Omogata was established in 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system, the town of Hitoichi in 1925. The two merged in 1956 to form the town of Hachirōgata. Efforts to merge the town with neighboring Gojōme and Ikawa failed to pass a referendum in 2005.

Government

Hachirōgata 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 12 members. Hachirōgata, together with the other municipalities of Minamiakita District contributes one member to the Akita Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Akita 2nd district Akita 2nd district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It consists of the northern part of Akita Prefecture, including the cities of Katagami, Kazuno, Kitaakita, Noshiro ...

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 ...

. File:Seanery of Lake Hachirogata and Ogata Village from Oga City 20170624 (2).jpg, Panoramic view of Hachirōgata and Ōgata, from Oga File:Sunset scene from Mikurabana Park 20200531.jpg, A sunset view of Hachirōgata, from Mikurabana Park File:Hitoichi Bon-odori Festival 2017b.jpg, Hitoichi Bon dancing festival File:Tanbo art in Hachirogata Town 20180721.jpg, Tanbo art in Hachirogata

Economy

The economy of Hachirōgata is based on agriculture and commercial fishing.

Education

Hachirōgata has one public elementary schools and one public middle schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

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 ...

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 ...

Highway

* Akita Expressway *

Notable peoples

Chiharu Shida is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with the Saishunkan team. She is the bronze medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Shida was part of the Japan winning team in the 2020 Asia Team Championships. She reached a career high as world number ...

, Japanese national badminton player

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hachirogata, Akita Towns in Akita Prefecture