Hachinohe, Aomori
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is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
located in
Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...
, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city has a total area of .


History

The area around Hachinohe has been occupied since prehistoric times, and was a major population center for the Emishi people. Numerous Jōmon period remains have been discovered within the borders of Hachinohe. The area was nominally under control of the Northern Fujiwara in the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...
, and became part of the holdings granted to the Nanbu clan after the defeat of the North Fujiwara by
Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...
in the
Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
. The Nanbu established numerous horse ranches, accompanied by numbered fortified settlements. During the
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...
, it was initially part of
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, ...
, but in 1664 the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
authorized the creation of a separate 20,000 '' koku''
Hachinohe Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan It is located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honshū. The domain was centered at Hachinohe Castle, located in the center of what is now the city of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture. History O ...
for a junior line of the Nanbu clan. The town prospered as a
castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, a ...
centered on
Hachinohe Castle was a Japanese castle that formed the administrative center of Hachinohe Domain, a feudal domain of the Nambu clan, located in the center of what is now the city of Hachinohe is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city ha ...
, and served as a small commercial centre and port for the fishing grounds off southeastern
Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...
. Today, the port still serves the fishing industry and a number of international cargo vessels. 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
, Hachinohe Domain was abolished, and replaced by Hachinohe Prefecture, which was subsequently merged into
Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...
. Initially, there was a debate as to whether the capital of newly formed Aomori Prefecture should be at Hachinohe or Hirosaki; however, due to strong rivalry between the former Nanbu domain and former Tsugaru Domain, the
Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...
decided to build a new town called Aomori in a central location, and to designate it as the capital of the prefecture. Per the
Meiji period The is 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 colonization ...
establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the town of Hachinohe was created within Sannohe District. In 1901, it merged with neighboring Chōja, and on May 1, 1929, with neighboring Konakano, Minato and Same villages to form the city of Hachinohe. The city further expanded by annexing the village of Shimonaganawashiro in 1942, Korekawa in 1954, Ichikawa, Kaminaganawashiro, Tachi and Toyosaki in 1955 and Odate in 1958. On March 31, 2005, the village of Nangō (from Sannohe District) was also merged into Hachinohe. During the American occupation of Japan following
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
base, Camp Haugen, was located in Hachinohe, and was the home of the Seventh Division. An
Armed Forces Radio Service The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which ...
radio station was located on the base; it was known as AFRS Hachinohe. In 1950, after the
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
n invasion of
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, troops from Camp Haugen left for Korea. AFRS Hachinohe altered its broadcasts to include coverage of South Korea so Americans could benefit from its news and entertainment programs. With the final withdrawal of American forces from Hachinohe in 1956, the base was turned over to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and was officially re-designated JGSDF Camp Hachinohe. In March 2011, the city was one of those hit by the 2011 Japanese tsunami. The tsunami tossed many huge fishing boats ashore and heavily damaged the port area. About 100 homes were destroyed. Divers from the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
ship ''Safeguard'' joined with Japanese workers to help clear the port to facilitate the delivery of relief supplies via the city. On January 1, 2017, Hachinohe was given core city status, with increased local autonomy.


Geography

Hachinohe is located in the flatlands on the southeast coast of Aomori Prefecture, facing the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
. Both the
Oirase River The is a river located in eastern Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. __NOTOC__ The Oirase River is the only river that drains Lake Towada, a large caldera lake that lies on the border of Aomori and Akita Prefectures. The ...
and the
Mabechi River 270px, Ogami Rock overlooking the Basenkyō ravine in Iwate The is a river located in northern Iwate Prefecture and eastern Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū in Japan. Overview The Mabechi River is long and has a wat ...
flow through Hachinohe. A portion of the coastal areas of the city were within the borders of the Tanesashi Kaigan Hashikamidake Prefectural Natural Park, which was incorporated into the Sanriku Fukkō National Park in 2013.


Climate

Hachinohe 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 freezing ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Dfa''), with warm summers and cold and snowy winters. Summers are considerably milder than in other parts of
Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island se ...
because the city is very close to the open sea, while winters if distinctly cold are much less snowy than in
Aomori city is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...
or
Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...
or
Wakkanai ' meaning "cold water river" is a city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. It contains Japan's northernmost point, Cape Sōya, from which the Russian island of Sakhalin can be seen. As of 1 ...
, although snowfall is higher than in
Kushiro is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. Geography Mountains * Mount Oakan * Mount Meakan * Mount Akan ...
. The average annual temperature in Hachinohe is 9.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1165 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.9 °C.


Neighbouring municipalities

Aomori Prefecture * Sannohe District ** Hashikami ** Gonohe ** Nanbu * Kamikita District ** Oirase Iwate Prefecture * Karumai


Demographics

Per Japanese census data:


Government

Hachinohe 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, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
city legislature of 32 members. Hachinohe contributes eight members to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Aomori 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.


Economy

Hachinohe is the largest city in eastern Aomori Prefecture, and serves as the regional industrial and commercial center.
Commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...
still plays a major role in the local economy, with Hachinohe port having one of the largest volumes of landed fish in Japan. However, since its designation as a new industrial city in 1964, Hachinohe has developed a large coastal industrial belt with a diverse range of chemical, steel, cement and fertilizer products. Major industrial parks include the Hachinohe High Tech Park and Hachinohe North-Interchange Industrial Complex. The Hachinohe Thermal Power Station, an LNG-fired power plant operated by Tohoku Electric is located in the city. Hachinohe Port is a major international port for northern Japan.


Education


Colleges and universities

* Hachinohe Gakuin University *
Hachinohe Institute of Technology is a private university located in the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture ...
* Hachinohe Gakuin Junior College


Primary and secondary education

Hachinohe has 43 public elementary schools and 24 public junior high schools operated by the city government, and one private middle school. The city has eight public high schools operated by the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education, and one public high school operated by the national government. There are also eight private high schools. The city also has three special education schools.


Transportation


Railway

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) -
Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main ...
* East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Hachinohe Line * - - - , - - - - - -
Aoimori Railway Company The is a public-private transport company that operates the Aoimori Railway Line in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Its headquarters are located in the city of Aomori. The government of Aomori Prefecture and the city of Aomori are the primary shareh ...
-
Aoimori Railway Line The is a regional rail line in Aomori Prefecture, Japan that is operated by the Aoimori Railway Company. It connects the terminal station of the Iwate Galaxy Railway Line, Metoki Station, in the town of Sannohe to Aomori Station, the termi ...
* - - Hachinohe Rinkai Railway (freight only)


Highway

* * * * * * *


Seaports

* Port of Hachinohe


Local attractions


Traditional handicrafts

* ''Yawata-uma'', a wooden horse with gold saddle markings and a decorative plume attached to its head. The Hachinohe area has been known since the Kamakura period for its breed of
war horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...
s. Also, farming horses have supported the lives of the commoners and have often been used as the theme for dances and folk tales. The art of ''Yawata-uma'' figurines is a regional art form and popular souvenir.


Local sights

*
Kabushima is a small island located in Hachinohe, Aomori, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. Part of the Tanesashi Coast, it was incorporated into the Sanriku Fukkō National Park from May 2013. Geography The island has a length of and a width of ...
is an island offshore Hachinohe which also serves as a habitat for forty thousand black-tailed gulls, or ''umineko''. It is a national
Natural Monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, na ...
. It also has a shinto shrine. *
Tanesashi Coast The is section of the coastline on the Pacific Ocean, located in the southern portion of the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It is extends for from the island of Kabushima south towards the city of ...
a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty. * Kushihiki Hachimangū * Yomasari Dam


Local festivals

*Emburi is a citywide
festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...
which is also celebrated in nearby towns. The object of the festival is to pray for a bountiful harvest in the coming year. It originated as a dance with an agricultural tool (the ''eburi''; ''enburi'' is a local pronunciation), which was used to teach people how to cultivate the land. Nowadays it is a parade of 15-20 people, with 3-5 dancers and a singer accompanied by wooden flutes, drums and bells. The festival takes place February 17–20, and marks the official end of the long, harsh winter. * Hachinohe Sansha Taisai is another citywide festival and is considered to be the main festival of the town. It is also billed as "Japan's Biggest Float Festival". ''Sansha'' means "three shrines" and ''Taisai'' means "festival": It is held by three Shinto shrines: Ogami Jinja, Shinra Jinja, and Shinmei-gu. Floats proceed through the main streets of the city, accompanied by people with drums, flutes and loud calls. 27 different floats are used, and they are proudly constructed and flourished by the members of various organizations, such as schools and the city hall. The floats are also accompanied by men in
samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
costumes on horseback, and tiger dancers. On the second and third days of the festival, a traditional game of a sport similar to polo is held at the stables of Shinra Shrine. This sport (加賀美流騎馬打毬 ''Kaga Biryū Kiba Dakyū'') is officially an "intangible cultural asset" of Aomori Prefecture. Sansha Taisai takes place from July 31 to August 4 every year.


National Historic Sites

* Chōshichiyachi Shell Mound, Jōmon period ruins *
Korekawa Site The is an archaeological site in the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan containing the ruins of a middle to late Jōmon period (3000-1000 BC) settlement. The remains were designated a National Historic ...
, Jōmon period ruins * Tangotai Kofun cluster, Kofun period tumuli *
Ne Castle is a Muromachi period Motte-and-bailey-style Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of far northern Japan. It has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site ...
, Muromachi period castle ruins


Other

*The sound of the ''umi-neko'' at Hachinohe was selected by the Ministry of the Environment as one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan.


Sports

* Vanraure Hachinohe,
J-League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...
soccer team *
Tohoku Free Blades The are an Asia League Ice Hockey team based in Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan. Community contributions The team has a number of community programs it runs under the mantra of "Team Social Responsibility". The team engages in youth oriented activitie ...
, Asia League Ice Hockey team


Sister city relations

* Federal Way, Washington, United States * Lanzhou, Gansu, China since April 1998


Notable people from Hachinohe

* Saeko Chiba, voice actress * Miki Furukawa, musician, and former bass guitarist and singer for the Japanese rock band
Supercar A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...
* Kengo Hanazawa, manga artist * Chiharu Icho, freestyle wrestler * Kaori Icho, freestyle wrestler * Masako Katsuki, voice actress *
Hitomi Obara is a female wrestler from Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan. She is Captain in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. On 8 August 2012, Obara won the women's 48kg freestyle wrestling gold in her first Olympic Games at London's Excel Ar ...
, freestyle wrestler *
Tadamori Oshima Tadamori is a Japanese surname and masculine given name. Kanji Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system durin ...
, politician *
Marimo Ragawa is a Japanese manga artist. She began submitting manga to comic magazines when she was only 12 years old, in the sixth grade of elementary school. She continued to send her manga to the same magazine for four years, but failed to receive a pos ...
, manga artist


Other

There is a
main-belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
asteroid named
Hachinohe is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city ...
.


References


External links


Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Aomori Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan