Shinjō, Yamagata
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Ruins of Shinjō Castle 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 ...
in
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 ...
. , 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 34,937, 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 160 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 223.08 km2.


Geography

Shinjō is located in a mountain basin in northeast Yamagata Prefecture, north of Yamagata City. The Mogami River runs through the southwestern portion of city and the Masugata River flows through the city center. To the east of the city center is the Kamuro Mountain Range.


Neighboring municipalities

*Akita Prefecture ** Yuzawa *Yamagata Prefecture ** Funagata ** Kaneyama ** Mamurogawa ** Mogami ** Okura ** Sakegawa ** Tozawa


Climate

Shinjō 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 Shinjō is . The average annual rainfall is with December 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,Shinjō population statistics
/ref> the population of Shinjō has declined in recent decades.


History

The rivers and deciduous forests around Shinjo have provided sufficient game and edible plants for human habitation since prehistoric times. Fragments of pottery and flints from the Jomon period (12,000 BC – 400 BC) continue to be found on building sites. Two notable earthenware Jomon figures that are Nationally Designated Cultural Properties were found near Shinjo. One is a 4,500 year-old clay figure of a woman (45 cm) referred to as the Venus of the Jomon period (縄文時代の女神), excavated in Funagata Town. The other is the approximately 3,000 year-old Keppatsu Dogou 結髪土偶 (23.4 cm) found in Kamebuchi, Mamurogawa. During the Yayoi period (400 BC – 300 AD) rice cultivation spread to the area now called Yamagata. In 712, when Nara became the capital of Japan, the Dewa district was separated from Echigo Province to establish the Dewa Province. Later, the districts of Mogami (present day Mogami and Murayama) and the Okitama district of Mutsu Province were incorporated into Dewa Province. Dewa Province had roughly the same borders as present-day Yamagata Prefecture, plus much of present-day Akita Prefecture, and Kinowanosaku Castle in Sakata City is believed to have been the center of the Dewa Province government. Several important temples in Yamagata were founded during this period, including religious centers established by mountain ascetics on the three sacred mountains known as the Dewa Sanzan. From the Asuka period (538–710) through the Heian period (794–1192), Yamagata had been shifting towards inclusion in the centralized government located in Kyoto and Nara. However, near the end of the Heian period, conflict arose and Yamagata was recognized as being under the rule of the Oshu Fujiwara Clan. Legends about the famous warrior, Minamoto Yoshitsune, have been passed down in the Shonai and Mogami regions of Yamagata ever since. At the start of the Kamakura period (1192–1333), the Oshu Fujiwara Clan were defeated by the Kanto Bushi warriors. This led to the Oe Clan (including the Sagae Clan and Nagai Clan) controlling the regions of Murayama and Okitama, and the Mutou Clan (including the Daihoji Clan) controlling the Shonai region. At the start of the Muromachi period (1338–1573), during the era of conflict between the Northern and Southern Imperial Courts, the Shiba Clan, based in what is now northern Miyagi Prefecture, ruled the Oshu region. In 1356, they dispatched Shiba Kaneyori to govern the Ushu area of Yamagata. The Shiba Clan established its base in Mogami (now Yamagata City). They changed the clan name from Shiba to Mogami and expanded control over the region. During the Warring States period (15th–17th centuries), Mogami Yoshiaki (最上義光) moved his forces northward and expanded the Mogami Clan's territory to include the Murayama, Mogami, and Shonai regions. The decisive battle of Sekigahara (1600) resulted in the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the final feudal regime to rule over Japan. Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, most of Yamagata was controlled by the great feudal lord Mogami Yoshiaki. The Mogami fief became the fifth largest in Japan, excluding lands held by the Tokugawa. Mogami Yoshiaki developed flood control of the Mogami River to allow for safer navigation and for irrigation to increase rice farming. He also reconstructed and expanded Yamagata Castle and the surrounding castle town. Mogami Yoshiaki died at Yamagata Castle in 1614. Internal struggles for control within the Tokugawa Shogunate resulted in the1622 seizure of most of the Mogami Clan territory. The Mogami family survived and still exists as a koke (高家).   The area formerly administered by the Mogami Clan was divided into regions directly ruled or controlled by feudal lords close to the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Sakai Clan was given control of the Shonai region, and the Tozawa Clan controlled the Shinjo region until the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868. Shipments of products, especially rice and Mogami safflower (used for the classic Japanese red dye), led to a flourishing trade along the Mogami River and Sakata became one of the most active ports along the Sea of Japan. Remarkably, the Honma family of Sakata, rich from the shipping business 北船, were for a time the biggest landowners in all Japan. In 1871, when clans were abolished and prefectures established, Yamagata was initially divided into seven separate areas (Yamagata, Yonezawa, Kaminoyama, Tendo, Shinjo, Oizumi and Matsumine). In 1876 these districts were finally merged to create Yamagata Prefecture. During the Edo period, present-day Shinjō was the center of the Shinjō Domain, a 65,000 koku Tokugawa feudal domain controlled by the Tozawa Clan (1622–1871) who built Shinjō Castle. Part of the stone wall and the moat are all that remain of the castle that was completely destroyed in the Battle of Shinjō during the Boshin War for the Meiji restoration. From 1878, the area was administered as Shinjō Town within the Mogami District of Yamagata Prefecture and prospered as a center for horse farms providing mounts for Imperial Japanese Army cavalry regiments. Shinjo was not bombed during World War II except for a single air raid that killed six people. Shinjō became a city on April 1, 1946, merging with the neighboring villages of Hagino on April 1, 1955, and Yamuki on September 30, 1956. Shinjo Station first opened in 1903 with the extension of the (奥羽本線, Ōu-honsen) rail line from Yamagata City. Shinjo is the terminus for the Tohoku Shinkansen and a transportation hub with four railway lines.


Economy

The economy of Shinjō is based on light manufacturing, agriculture and wood products.


Government

Shinjō 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 Yamagata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Yamagata 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 ...
.


Education

Shinjō has six public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government and three public high schools operated by the Yamagata Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.


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 ...
Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yamagata ...
*
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 ...
* –
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 ...
Rikuu East Line * –
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 ...
Rikuu West Line * – –


Highways

* – Shinjō Interchange * * *


Local attractions


Shinjō Matsuri

One of the premier festivals of Yamagata Prefecture, Shinjō Matsuri (or Shinjō Festival) is a summer-time celebration held annually from August 24–26. Held since 1755, the festival was established by the local ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
'' (feudal lord) to lift the spirits of the common people after a particularly bad harvest. The current incarnation of the festival includes traditional dancing, a reenactment of the first "''Daimyō'' Parade", traditional festival vending stalls, and the ''Yattai'' Parade, in which each neighborhood in the city constructs large, vivid scenes from Japanese/local history, folklore, and/or fairy tales on wide floats. These are then pulled throughout the city by children both at day and at night for the three days of the festival. A traditional '' hayashi band'' of ''
taiko are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...
'' drums, cymbals, ''
shamisen The , also known as or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually b ...
'', and Japanese flute follow behind. The hands, feet, and faces of the figures on the floats are based on traditional Noh design. The floats are judged and the three winners displayed in Shinjō Station, and the Shinjō History Center. The rest are dismantled. In 2017, the Shinjō Matsuri was added to the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.


Notable people from Shinjō

*
Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by the publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several different manga series in different Literary ge ...
, Manga artist


References


External links


Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinjo, Yamagata Cities in Yamagata Prefecture