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 western

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. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed 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 ...

for the 100,000 '' koku''

Hirosaki Domain Hirosaki Castle, the seat of the Hirosaki Domain , also known as , was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period JapanRavina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 It is located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honsh� ...

ruled by 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, ...

. The city is currently a regional commercial center, and the largest producer of

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

s in Japan. The city government has been promoting the slogans "Apple Colored Town Hirosaki" and "Castle and Cherry Blossom and Apple Town" to promote the city image. The town is also noted for many western-style buildings dating from 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 ...

Geography

Hirosaki is located in western Aomori Prefecture, at the southern end of the Tsugaru plains of the

Tsugaru Peninsula The is a peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, at the northern end of Honshū island, Japan. The peninsula projects north into the Tsugaru Strait separating Honshū from Hokkaidō. The western coast is on the Sea of Japan, while on its eastern coast ...

, southeast of Mount Iwaki and bordering on Akita Prefecture. The eastern and southern flanks of Mount Iwaki and its peak are within the city's borders. The Iwaki River flows from the west to the northeast through the city.

Neighboring municipalities

* Ajigasawa * Fujisaki * Hirakawa * Inakadate * Itayanagi * Nishimeya * Ōwani *

Tsugaru Tsugaru (津軽) may refer to: * Tsugaru, Aomori, a city of Aomori Prefecture, Japan * Tsugaru Peninsula * Tsugaru Strait, between Honshū and Hokkaidō ** Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry, a ferry crossing this strait * Tsugaru-jamisen, a traditional style of ...

* Tsuruta Akita Prefecture *

Ōdate is a city in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 71,558 in 31,634 households, and a population density of 82 persons per km2 (212 persons per square mile). The total area of the city is . Geography Ōdate is loca ...

Climate

Hirosaki 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 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'') characterized by warm short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hirosaki is 10.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1357 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hirosaki peaked at around the year 2000 and has declined since then.

City emblem

Hirosaki uses a Buddhist ''manji'' as its official emblem. This came from the flag emblem of

, the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

'' of

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 ...

History

Many human-shaped clay figures have been unearthed around the region which date as far back as 12,000 years. More of these figures date from the Jomon and

Yayoi The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...

period. The area around Hirosaki formed part of the domains 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 ...

;

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 ...

awarded it to the

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai P ...

in the early

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 ...

after the defeat of the Northern Fujiwara (1189). During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

a local retainer of the Nambu,

Ōura Tamenobu was a Sengoku period Japanese ''daimyō'', and the first daimyō of Hirosaki Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. He was born as Ōura Tamenobu, and was a hereditary retainer of the Nanbu clan; however, he later rebelled against the Nanbu and ...

, declared his independence (1571) and seized local castles. He pledged fealty to

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

at the Battle of Odawara in 1590, and was confirmed in his holdings with revenues of 45,000 ''koku''. He also changed his name to "Tsugaru". After siding with

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

at the Battle of Sekigahara, he was re-confirmed in his holdings with a nominal '' kokudaka'' of 47,000 '' koku'' and he began construction of a castle in Takaoka (present-day Hirosaki). This marked the start of

under 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 ...

. His successor,

Tsugaru Nobuhira was the second ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Etchū-no-kami,'' and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biography Tsugaru ...

, completed the castle in 1611, but its massive 5-story ''

tenshu is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle complexes. They are easily identifiable as the highest tower within the castle. Common translations of ''tenshu'' include keep, main keep, or ''donjon''. ''Tenshu'' are characterized as ty ...

'' was lost to lightning in 1627. The domain's ''kokudaka'' increased to 100,000 ''koku'' in 1628. The Tsugaru clan sided with the

Satchō Alliance The , or was a powerful military alliance between the feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. History The name ''Satchō'' () is ...

in the Boshin War of 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 ...

, and was rewarded by the new

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 ...

with an additional 10,000 ''koku''. However, with the abolition of the han system on August 29, 1871, Hirosaki Domain was abolished, and replaced by Hirosaki Prefecture. The prefecture was renamed Aomori Prefecture in October of the same year, and the prefectural capital was relocated to the more centrally located Aomori. Chōyō Elementary School was established on October 1, 1873. Apple

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

was introduced to Hirosaki from 1877 and the 59th National Bank, the predecessor of

Aomori Bank The is a Japanese regional bank headquartered in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū. The Aomori Bank provides financial services for individual and corporate customers, including deposits, loans, securities tradi ...

opened in March 1878. Hirosaki was proclaimed a city on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system and was thus one of the first 30 cities in Japan. It was also the third largest city in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku reta ...

after Sendai and

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . G ...

at the time. The

Ōu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Fukushima Station through Akita Station to Aomori Station. Since the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen on July 1, 1992, the Fukushima–Yama ...

connected Hirosaki with Aomori on December 1, 1894. Hirosaki became the home garrison town for the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

IJA 8th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. It was formed 1 October 1898 in Hirosaki, Aomori, as one of the six new reserve divisions created after the First Sino-Japanese War and was annihilated in the Philippines during the P ...

from October, 1898. The division was prominently active in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

. Hirosaki City Hospital was established in 1901, and Hirosaki City Library in 1906. The first telephone service in the city stated from 1909. The first Cherry Blossom Festival was held in 1918. In 1927, the

Kōnan Railway Konan may refer to: * Conan (disambiguation), a name spelt "Konan" in the Breton language * ''Kɔnan'', a male given name in a number of Akan cultures, chiefly the Baoulé people, for whom it is typically given to any male born on a Wednesday (''m ...

connected Hirosaki with Onoe.

Hirosaki University is a Japanese national university in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1949, it comprises five faculties: Faculty of the Humanities, Faculty of Education History, Hirosaki University Medical School History, Faculty of Science ...

was established in 1949. On March 1, 1955, Hirosaki expanded through annexation of neighboring villages of Shimizu, Wattoku, Toyoda, Horikoshi, Chitose, Fujishiro, Niina, Funazawa, Takasugi, Susono and Higashimeya. Nishimeya became an enclave. The city further expanded on September 1, 1957, through annexation of neighboring Ishikawa Village. The first Chrysanthemum and Maple Festival took place in 1964, and the first Hirosaki Castle Snow Lantern Festival in 1977. In 1979, the city was connected to the

Tōhoku Expressway The is a south-north national expressway, and the longest expressway in Japan at . Its southern terminus is in Kawaguchi, Saitama in the Greater Tokyo Area, at the Tokyo Gaikan Expressway and Kawaguchi Route near Araijuku Station, and its no ...

by a spur road named "Apple Road". On November 15, 2006, old Hirosaki city, the town of Iwaki, and the village of Sōma were merged into an expanded city of Hirosaki.

Government

Hirosaki 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 28 members. The city, together with the neighbouring village of Nishimeya, contributes six members to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Aomori 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Hirosaki is the regional commercial center for southwest Aomori Prefecture. The main agricultural crops include apples and rice, with Hirosaki accounting for 20% of the total production of apples in Japan.

Education

Colleges and universities

** Hirosaki Gakuin University ** Hirosaki University of Health and Welfare ** Hirosaki University of Heath and Welfare Junior College **

School of Allied Medical Sciences, Hirosaki University The was a national junior college in Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan. History * 1951 The predecessor of the school for nursing was founded. * 1957 The predecessor of the school for midwifery was founded. * 1967 The predecessor of the school for medi ...

* Tohoku Women's College **

Tohoku Women's Junior College is a private junior college in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 1950, and is now attached to Tohoku Women's College is a private women's college in the city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of ...

Primary and secondary education

Hirosaki has 36 public elementary schools and 15 public junior high schools operated by the city government. There is one national public elementary school and public junior high school, and one private combined elementary/junior high school and one private junior high school. The city also has five public high schools operated by the Aomori prefectural Board of Education and four private high schools. Public high schools *Hirosaki High School *Hirosaki Chūō High School *Hirosaki Minami High School *Hirosaki Vocational High School *Hirosaki Technical High School Private high schools *Tōōgijuku High School *Hirosaki Gakuin Seiai Middle and High School *Shibata Girls' High School *Hirosaki Higashi High School

Other schools

Hirosaki has four special education schools for the handicapped, three of which are operated by Aomori Prefecture, and one by the national government.

Transportation

Railways

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) -

* , ,

Kōnan Railway Company - Kōnan Line * Hirosaki, , , , Konan Testudo logo

Kōnan Railway Company - Ōwani Line *, , ,, , , , , , ,

Highways

* * * * *

Sports

Sports teams

Blancdieu Hirosaki FC is a association football, football club team based in Hirosaki, Aomori. They currently play in Tohoku Soccer League, which part of Japanese Regional Leagues. It was founded in 2012 and aims to be a future J. League member. History Founded in ...

, football team

Culture

* ''Tsugaru-jamisen'', a virtuosic style of ''

Tsugaru-jamisen or refers to both the Japanese genre of music originating from Tsugaru Peninsula in present-day Aomori Prefecture and the instrument it is performed with. It is performed throughout Japan, though associations with the Tsugaru remain strong ...

'' playing. * Hirosaki Neputa Festival, held during the first week of August and is one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan by the Ministry of the Environment *Cherry Blossom Festival held in the park surrounding Hirosaki Castle. About 2,600 Sakura (Japanese cherry) blossom during the Japanese Golden Week vacation period. *Maple and Chrysanthemum Festival held in October. Celebration for the passing summer and upcoming winter season.

Local attractions

* Hirosaki Castle *

Hirosaki Tōshō-gū was a Shinto shrine located in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. History The Hirosaki Tōshō-gū was founded by the 2nd ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain, Tsugaru Nobumasa, to worship the deified Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1617. It was the first Tōsh� ...

* Nakamachi Samurai Houses * Chosho-ji * Saishō-in *

Fujita Memorial Japanese Garden Fujita (written: , or ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese handball player *, Japanese long-distance runner * Aya Fujita (born 1987), Japanese shogi player * Emi Fujita (born 1963), Japanese singer *, Japan ...

Iwaki Kōgen Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park in southwest Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1958, the park lies wholly within the municipality of Hirosaki is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estim ...

* Ōmori Katsuyama Site, National Historic Site *

Zuiraku-en is a Japanese dry landscape garden and nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty in the city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The gardens are a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty. Overview This garden was laid out in the ...

, National Place of Scenic Beauty

Noted people from Hirosaki

* Hisashi Tonomura, musician *

Iwakiyama Ryūta Iwakiyama Ryūta (born March 2, 1976 as Ryūta Tsushima in Aomori Prefecture, Japan), is a former sumo wrestler. A former amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 2000 and reached the top division at the end of 2002. The highest rank he re ...

, sumo wrestler * Yōjirō Ishizaka, writer *

Norio Kudo is a professional Go player. Biography Kudo turned professional in 1955 and was promoted to 9 dan in 1976. Although he did not win many tournaments, he was known for teaching Go to many people, even if they were just starting to learn, or we ...

, professional go player * Mitsuyo Maeda, judo wrestler *

Juji Nakada was a Japanese holiness evangelist, known as "the Dwight Moody of Japan" (Stark 28-29), who was the first bishop of the Japan Holiness Church and one of the co-founders of the Oriental Missionary Society (now One Mission Society). Biography ...

, evangelist *

Yoshitomo Nara is a Japanese artist. He lives and works in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. His art work has been housed at the MoMA and the Los Angeles Coun ...

, modern artist *

Takanohana Kenshi Takanohana Kenshi 貴ノ花健士 (born Hanada Mitsuru; February 19, 1950 – May 30, 2005) was a sumo wrestler from Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan. His highest rank was '' ōzeki'', which he held for fifty tournaments. As an active '' rikishi'' he was ...

, sumo wrestler *

Shūji Terayama was a Japanese avant-garde poet, dramatist, writer, film director, and photographer. His works range from radio drama, experimental television, underground (''Angura'') theatre, countercultural essays, to Japanese New Wave and "expanded" cinema ...

, modern artist *

Wakanohana Kanji I was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 45th ''yokozuna''. He was a popular wrestler and was nicknamed the due to his great fighting spirit and endurance. Wakanohana's younger brother (by twenty-two years) was the late f ...

, sumo wrestler * Takahiro Shimoyama, basketball player *

Wakanosato Shinobu Wakanosato Shinobu (born Shinobu Kogawa; July 10, 1976) is a retired sumo wrestler from Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan. He made his debut in the top division in 1998, and his highest rank was ''sekiwake''. He holds the record for the most consecutive tour ...

, sumo wrestler *

Hirofumi Arai is a third-generation Zainichi Korean former actor. Career Arai made his screen debut in Isao Yukisada's '' Go'' in 2001 when he was 22 years old. His next film role was the emotionally disturbed senior high school student Aoki in Toshiaki Toy ...

Zainichi Korean comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...

actor (Real Name: ''Park Kyung-sik'',

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...

: 박경식) * Shunsuke Kikuchi, musician *

Masakatsu Funaki is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF ...

, actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler * Ningen Isu 人間椅子(バンド), music band *

Tomoko Aran Tomoko (ともこ, トモコ) is a female Japanese given name. Like many Japanese names, Tomoko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: * 友子 - "friendly child" * 知子 - "knowing child" * 智子 - "wise child" * 朋� ...

, pop singer and lyricist *

Grant Bogdanove Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States *Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, Ca ...

, jujitsu wrestler

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Aomori Prefecture 2006 establishments in Japan