140914 Ikarigaseki Onsen Hirakawa Aomori pref Japan01o

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

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 ...

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 30,086 in 14,181 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 89 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Hirakawa is located in the mountains and hills to the northwest of

Lake Towada is the largest Volcanic crater lake, crater lake in Honshū island, Japan. Located on the border between Aomori Prefecture, Aomori and Akita Prefecture, Akita prefectures, it lies 400 meters (1,800 ft) above sea level and is 327 m ...

. The

Iwaki River The is a river that crosses western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of . Under the Rivers Act of 1964 the Iwaki is designated as a Class 1 River and is managed by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, ...

flows through the city. Part of the city is within the borders of the Kuroishi Onsenkyō Prefectural Natural Park.

Neighbouring municipalities

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 ...

* Kosaka *

Ōdate is a city in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 67,865 in 31,433 households, and a population density of 75 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Ōdate is located in the mountains of norther ...

Aomori Prefecture *

Aomori , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...

Hirosaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 163,639 in 71,044 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a jōkamachi, ca ...

* Inakadate * Kuroishi * Owani *

Towada is a city in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 58,905 in 28031 households, and a population density of 81 persons per km2 The total area of the city is .Towada is home to the national and prefectural agencies t ...

Climate

The city has a cold

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 Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfa'') characterized by warm short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hirakawa is 8.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1413 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around -3.8 °C.

History

The area around Hirakawa was part of the

Hirosaki Domain file:Hirosakijo.jpg, Hirosaki Castle, the seat of the Hirosaki Domain , also known as , was a ''tozama'' Han (Japan), feudal domain of Edo period JapanRavina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 It is located in Muts ...

of the

Tsugaru clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled the northwestern half of what is now Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The Tsugaru were ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain and its semi-subsidiary, ...

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 ...

. After 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, it became part of

Minamitsugaru District, Aomori * Japan > Tōhoku region > Aomori Prefecture > Minamitsugaru District is a Districts of Japan, rural district located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. As of September 2013, the district had an estimated population of 33,815 and an area of 222.98 ...

. The village of Onoe was raised to town status on April 1, 1937. The city of Hirakawa was established on January 1, 2006, from the merger of the towns of Hiraka and Onoe, and the village of Ikarigaseki.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hirakawa has decreased steadily over the past 60 years.

Government

Hirakawa 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 16 members. The city elects two members to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Aomori 3rd district Aomori 3rd district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is located on the island of Honshu, in Aomori Prefecture, and includes the cities of Hirosaki, Goshogawara, and Ajigasawa. As ...

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 economy of Hirakawa is primarily agricultural, with rice and apples as the predominant crops. The city government is encouraging the development of highland vegetables and a local brand of beef.

Education

Hirakawa has nine public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Aomori 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) -

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 ...

* ,

Kōnan Railway Company The , also known as Konan Tetsudo, is a railway company that provides transportation services in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The company operates two regional railway lines: the Kōnan Line, which connects Hirosaki Station in the city of ...

Kōnan Railway Kōnan Line The is a railway route operated by the Japanese private railway operator Kōnan Railway in Aomori Prefecture, from Hirosaki Station in Hirosaki to Kuroishi Station in Kuroishi. Station list * Tamboāto Station is open from April to Novemb ...

* , , , ,

Highway

* : : : :

Local attractions

* Hisayoshi Dam *Ikarigaseki onsen * Kuroishi Onsenkyō Prefectural Natural Park *Nurukawa onsen *

Saruka Jinja , sometimes rendered Saruga, is a Shinto shrine in Hirakawa, Aomori, Hirakawa, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is said to have been founded in 807, when Sakanoue no Tamuramaro came north during the campaigns against the Ezo. The Honden, dat ...

Seibi-en is a Japanese landscape garden and nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty in the city of Hirakawa, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Overview The garden was laid out between 1902 and 1911 by the 24th generation head of the Seitō family, Seit ...

, National Place of Scenic Beauty *

Seitō Shoin Teien is a Japanese dry landscape garden and nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty in the city of Hirakawa, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Overview The garden was laid out in the Genroku era of the Edo period (1668-1703) at the residence of the ...

, National Place of Scenic Beauty

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Aomori Prefecture