270px, Lake Shimiko 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

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 ...

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 29,201, 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 120 persons per km². and a

of 25 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kitaakita is located in the mountains of north-central Akita Prefecture, about 80 kilometers northeast of the prefectural capital of Akita city. It accounts for about 10% of the total area of Akita Prefecture. The city is bordered by 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 ...

on the east. The main urban area is centered around the Takanosu Basin in the middle reaches of the Yoneshiro River, and river basins such as the Ani River and the Koani River, which are tributaries of the Yoneshiro River. The Yoneshiro River originates from the

, which form the border of the city to the east and south. Much of the city is forest and parts of the city are within the borders of the Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Due to its inland location, the city is noted for its heavy snowfall in winter.

Neighboring municipalities

Akita Prefecture * Akita * Fujisato * Kamikoani * Kazuno * Noshiro * Ōdate * Semboku

Climate

Kitaakita 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'') 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 Kitaakita is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kitaakita has been decreasing rapidly over the past 60 years.

History

The area of present-day Kitaakita 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 ...

. 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 ...

, the area came under the control of 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 ...

, who ruled the northern third of the province from Kubota Domain. After the start of the

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 area became part of Kitaakita District, Akita Prefecture in 1878 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The city of Kitaakita was established on March 22, 2005, from the merger of the towns of Aikawa, Ani, Moriyoshi and Takanosu (all from Kitaakita District).

Government

Kitaakita 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 18 members. The city contributes two members to the Akita Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Akita District 2 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 Kitaakita is based on agriculture, forestry, manufacturing of clothing and electronic components, and seasonal tourism.

Education

Akita University is a Japanese national university in Akita, Akita, Akita City, Japan. Established in 1949, it comprises four graduate schools and four undergraduate faculties. History Akita University was established in 1949 by the merger of Akita Normal Scho ...

– Kitaakita branch campus *Kitaakita has seven public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the city government and one public high school operated by the Akita Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Airport

* Odate-Noshiro Airport

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 ...

** – – * Akita Nairiku Jūkan Railway – Akita Nairiku Line ** – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Highway

* * * * *

Local attractions

* Isedōtai Ruins – a

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

archaeological site and National Historic Monument * Yasu Falls – one of the Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls Yasu Falls U 202010.jpg, Yasu Falls File:Tsuzureko odaiko 2019715.jpg, Tsuzureko Traditional Drum Festival held on every July 15 File:Great Drum Museum 2017.jpg, Tsuzureko Traditional Drum Museum

Sister cities

Fengcheng, Liaoning Fengcheng () is a city in the southeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Administratively, it is a county-level city under the administration of Dandong, the downtown of which lies southeast of the city. Formally known as the Fengcheng M ...

, China, friendship city since September 11, 1997

Noted people from Kitaakita

* Kinya Abe, fencer * Takekaze Akira, sumo wrestler * Norihito Kobayashi, Olympic ski jumper * Yūsuke Minato, Olympic ski jumper * Satoshi Nakajima, baseball player * Tamezō Narita, musician * Fuyuko Suzuki, Olympic Biathlon athlete * Yuki Suzuki, volleyball player * Daito Takahashi, Olympic ski jumper * Kieko Watanabe, novelist

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Akita Prefecture