, officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital

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 ...

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 ...

, 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 (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

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 of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of . Aomori is one of Japan's 62 core cities and the core of the

Aomori metropolitan area The , also known as the is a metropolitan region in the Japanese prefecture of Aomori that includes the city of Aomori and its surrounding satellites, Hiranai, Imabetsu, Sotogahama, and Yomogita. The metropolitan area is defined as the Aomori ...

Etymology

Rhinoceros auklet (ウトウ) The original name of the Aomori was Utō, named for the , a seabird that is closely related to the

puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

. In 1626 the name was changed to , but this was not fully embraced until 1783.

History

''Aomori'' literally means blue forest, although it could possibly be translated as "

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

forest". The name is generally considered to refer to a small forest on a hill which existed near the town. This forest was often used by fishermen as a landmark. A different theory suggests the name might have been derived from the

Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu (), is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isola ...

. The area has been settled extensively since prehistoric times, and numerous

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 ...

sites have been found by archaeologists, the most famous being the

Sannai-Maruyama Site The is an archaeological site and museum located in the Maruyama and Yasuta neighborhoods to the southwest of central Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, containing the ruins of a very large Jōmon period settlement. The ruins of a s ...

located just southwest of the city center dating to 5500–4000 BC, and the

Komakino Site The is an archaeological site located in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan containing the ruins of a late Jōmon period (approx. 2000–1500 BC) settlement. The remains were designated a National His ...

slightly farther south dating to around 4000 BC. The large scale of these settlements revolutionized theories on Jōmon period civilization. During 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, the area was part of the holdings of the

Northern Fujiwara The Northern Fujiwara (奥州藤原氏 ''Ōshū Fujiwara-shi'') were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region (the northeast of Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century as their own realm.

clan, but remained inhabited by the

Emishi The were a group of people who lived in parts of northern Honshū in present-day Japan, especially in the Tōhoku region. The first mention of the Emishi in literature that can be corroborated with outside sources dates to the 5th century AD, ...

people well into the historic period. After the fall of the Northern Fujiwara in the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, the territory was part of the domain assigned to the

Nambu 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 Pr ...

, and into the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, it came under the control of the rival

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, ...

, whose main castle was located in Namioka. After the start of 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 ...

, what would become the core of present-day Aomori was a minor port settlement in 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 ...

called . The town was rebuilt in 1626 under orders of the ''

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 ...

'', Tsugaru Nobuhira and renamed "Aomori", but this name did not come into common use until after 1783; however, the historical accuracy of this claim is debated since there is no written material from the time to definitively connect Utō to Aomori. Some evidence even claims that Aomori and Utō co-existed in different parts of the city in its current state. It was not until 1909 that a local scholar claimed that the village of Utō became Aomori. 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 ...

, the feudal domains were abolished and replaced with

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

, of which a total of six were initially created in the territory of modern Aomori Prefecture. These were merged into the short-lived Hirosaki Prefecture in July 1871. However, due to the historic enmity between the former Tsugaru territories in the west and the former Nambu territories in the east, the prefectural capital was relocated from

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 ...

to the more centrally-located Aomori immediately after the merger and the prefecture was renamed Aomori Prefecture on 23 September 1871. However, the municipality of Aomori was not given town status within Higashitsugaru District until 1 April 1889, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. It was later designated as a city on 1 April 1898. The Hokkaidō Colonization Office began operations of a ferry service from Aomori to

Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...

in Hokkaido from 1872. In September 1891, Aomori was connected with Tokyo by rail with the opening of the

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line () is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Uts ...

. The

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 ...

running along the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

coast opened in December 1894. The development of modern Aomori was primarily due to its prefectural capital status and the singular importance as the terminus of these rail lines and the

Seikan Ferry The is a privately owned ferry service crossing the Tsugaru Strait, which separates the Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Honshu. The company, , was founded in 1973 and runs between the cities of Aomori on the northern tip of Honshu and Hakodate ...

, which officially opened in 1908. The 8th Division of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

were stationed in Aomori from 1896. In the winter of 1902, 199 of 210 soldiers on a military cold-weather readiness exercise perished while attempting to cross the Hakkōda Mountains from Aomori to Towada in what was later called the Hakkōda Mountains incident. Much of the town burned down in a large fire on 3 May 1910. The port facilities were expanded in 1924, and the city received its first

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

services in 1926.

Japan Air Transport was the national airline of the Empire of Japan from 1928 to 1938. History Commercial aviation began in Japan with the privately held Japan Air Transport Institute, which pioneered passenger service between Sakai, Osaka and Tokushima, Tokushim ...

began scheduled air services from 1937. Towards the final stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, on the night of 28–29 July 1945, Aomori was subject to an air raid as part of the

strategic bombing Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign. The 28–29 July bombing claimed 1,767 lives and destroyed 88% of the city. In the post-war period, Aomori was rebuilt as the local political and commercial center. The

Tsugaru Line The is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connected Aomori Station, Aomori and Minmaya Station, Minmaya stations on the Tsugaru Peninsula in western Aomori Prefecture; the section between Kanita Station, Kanita ...

railway opened between Aomori Station and Kanita Station in 1951. Aomori Airport was opened in 1964 in nearby Namioka. The city was connected to Tokyo by highway in 1979 with the opening of 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 ...

. Construction began on a new airport within the city of Aomori in 1982. Aomori's landmark pyramidal

Aomori Prefecture Tourist Center The is a skyscraper located in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, 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 ...

opened in 1986. The new airport was completed on 19 July 1987. On 1 October 2002, Aomori was proclaimed a

core city In urban planning, a historic core city or central city is the municipality with the largest 1940 population in the present metropolitan area (metropolitan statistical area). This term was retired by the US census bureau and replaced by the term ...

, granting it an increased level of local autonomy. On 1 April 2005, Aomori absorbed the town of Namioka to create the new and expanded city of Aomori; but lost a portion of Namioka to the town of Fujisaki (from Minamitsugaru District) on 1 September 2007.

Geography

Aomori is located in central Aomori Prefecture, the northernmost prefecture of

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

. It is located in the northeastern part of the Tsugaru region, which refers to the western half of the prefecture, and is centered on Aomori Plain, facing Aomori Bay, a branch bay of

Mutsu Bay is a bay located within Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It has an east-west distance of approximately and a north-south distance of approximately at its eastern end, with a total area of approximately . Na ...

, to the north, and the Hakkōda and Higashidake Mountains, which are the northern end of 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 ...

to the south to the east. Among other smaller rivers, the city has two large rivers flowing through it, the Komagome River and its tributary, the Arakawa River. Parts of the city in the southeast are within the borders of

Towada-Hachimantai National Park Towada-Hachimantai National Park is a national park comprising two separate areas of Aomori, Iwate, and Akita Prefectures, Japan. The Towada-Hakkōda area encompasses Lake Towada, Mount Hakkōda, and most of the chimantai area includes Mount ...

and is a tourist destination throughout the four seasons. In the northeast is

Asamushi-Natsudomari Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park on the north coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan, overlooking Mutsu Bay. Established in 1953, the park spans the borders of the municipalities of Aomori and Hiranai. It encompasses Asamushi Onsen and the coastline of ...

. There are many

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

in the city, including

Sukayu Onsen is an ''onsen'' (hot spring) in the Hakkōda Mountains in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture in Japan. It is known for its "Sen-nin-buro" or "Bath of a thousand bathers", a large mixed gender public bath. Climate Sukayu Onsen is the snowies ...

at the foot of Mt. Hakkōda and

Asamushi Onsen is the site of a hot spring, on the eastern edge of the city of Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It was developed as the downtown beside the onsen town and is sometimes known as "Atami in Tohoku" after the famous Atami Onsen in Shizuoka, centr ...

on the coast.

Surrounding municipalities

* Fujisaki *

Goshogawara file:Goshogawara city center area Aerial photograph.1975.jpg, Aerial View of Goshogawara city center is a Cities of Japan, city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 51,578 in 25,615 households, and a popul ...

* Hirakawa *

Hiranai () is a town located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan and a part of the Aomori metropolitan area. , the town had an estimated population of 9,750 in 4,736 households, and a population density of 45 persons per km2. It is the most heavily populate ...

* Itayanagi * Kuroishi *

Shichinohe is a town located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,609 in 6841 households and a population density of 43 persons per km2, in 6,797 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Shichinohe is in c ...

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 ...

* Yomogita

Climate

Like most of the Tōhoku region, Aomori has a humid temperate climate with warm summers, and cold, though not extreme, winters. 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'') closely bordering the

Humid Subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') using the isotherm with both January and February monthly averages being too cold to be of the latter, characterized by warm, short summers and long, cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Aomori is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . Aomori and the surrounding areas are known for having the heaviest snowfall in the world. In February 1945, the city recorded a maximum snow cover of , but the record low of was recorded 14 years earlier. In contrast,

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

's heaviest snowfall which occurred in 1939 was , and

Wakkanai file:Wakkanai city office.JPG, 290px, Wakkanai City Hall file:Wakkanai shore.jpg, 290px, Shore of Wakkanai is a Cities of Japan, city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Wakkanai is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. Situated approx ...

which is located further north has recorded similar maxima. The particularly heavy snow is caused by several winds that collide around the city and make the air rise and cool, resulting in quick, thick cloud formation followed by intense

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

. In summer, a cool wind called "Yamase" often blows from the east, which sometimes results in abnormally cool weather and poor harvests. Additionally, thick fogs from the

Oyashio Current The , also known as the Okhotsk Current or Kurile Current, is a cold subarctic ocean current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise in the western North Pacific Ocean. The waters of the Oyashio Current originate in the Arctic Ocean ...

are often observed in mountainous areas in the summer. Due to this fog, flights to Aomori Airport are often cancelled.

Demographics

A person living in or from Aomori is referred to as an Aomorian. Per Japanese census data, the population of Aomori has remained relatively steady over the past 40 years.

Government

Aomori 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 35 members. The city also contributes 10 members of the 48 member Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city falls within the Aomori 1st district, a single-member constituency of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the national

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 ...

, which also includes the city of Mutsu, the Higashitsugaru District, the Shimokita District, and the northern half of the Kamikita District.

Economy

Aomori serves as the regional commercial center for central Aomori Prefecture. Agriculture and

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

form only 4% of the city economy, with

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

forming 16.2% and the

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

forming 78.2%.

Education

Aomori is the only prefectural capital in Japan which has no

national university A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highe ...

, instead, nearby Hirosaki became the site for the prefecture's highest educational facility. The city has 45 public elementary schools and 19 public junior high schools operated by the city government, as well as two private junior high schools. The city has 10 public high schools operated by the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education and three private high schools. The prefecture also operates eight special education schools for the handicapped.

Universities and colleges

Aomori Public University is a public university in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, 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 Ja ...

* Aomori University of Health and Welfare *

Aomori University is a private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government gra ...

Aomori Chuo Gakuin University is a private university in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1946 as a junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training ...

* Aomori Akenohoshi Junior College *

Aomori Chuo Junior College is a private junior college located in the city of Aomori, Japan. Originally a women's college, it became coeducational in April 1974. Departments * Department of Food Nutrition * Department of Early Education * Department Nursing * Departmen ...

High schools

* Aomori Prefectural Aomori High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Chūō High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Higashi High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Kita High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Hokuto High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Kōgyō High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Minami High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Nishi High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Shōgyō High School *Aomori Prefectural Aomori Toyama High School *Aomori Akenohoshi High School *Aomori Yamada High School *Tōō Gakuen High School

Junior high schools

*Aburakawa Junior High School *Arakawa Junior High School *Asamushi Junior High School *Furukawa Junior High School *Higashi Junior High School *Kita Junior High School *Koda Junior High School *Minami junior High School *Namioka Junior High School *Namiuchi Junior High School *Nishi Junior High School *Okidate Junior High School *Sannai Junior High School *Shinjo Junior High School *Takada Junior High School *Toyama Junior High School *Tsukuda Junior High School *Tsukurimichi Junior High School *Tsutsui Junior High School *Uramachi Junior High School *Yokouchi Junior High School

Transportation

Airport

* Aomori Airport - (established in 1964 with international flights from 1995) is about a 35-minute drive from the city center, with a bus service available. There are daily flights to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

and

. There are also international flights to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

. *

Odate–Noshiro Airport is an airport in Kitaakita, Akita Prefecture, Japan and is west of Ōdate, at above sea level. It is also informally known as Akita North Airport (あきた北空港 ''Akita Kita Kūkō''). History Efforts to build an airport in northern Aki ...

- is located quite far from the city centre as it was located in Northern Akita Prefecture. It is solely used by

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ANA operates services to both domestic and international destinations and is Japan's largest airline, ahead of its main rival flag carrier Japan Airlines. the airline has approximate ...

service to

as the airline did not served the Tokyo-Aomori route.

Railways

Aomori Station is a railway station in the city of Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The station has been operating since September 1891, though the most recent station building, which consists of three island platforms connected to the station building by a ...

has been the main station of the city since 1891. The two trunk lines of the Tōhoku region, the

(now the

Aoimori Railway The is a regional rail line in Aomori Prefecture, Japan that is operated by the Aoimori Railway Company. It connects Metoki Station, the terminal station of the Iwate Galaxy Railway Line, to Aomori Station, the terminus of several rail lines ...

) and the

, terminated at Aomori Station and continued to Hakodate by the

. In 1988, Seikan Tunnel replaced the ferry's role as the connector of Honshu and Hokkaido's rail networks, but the station still functioned as the connecting point between main line trains and trains for the Aomori-Hakodate section. The

Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island, Honshu. Operated by the East Japan Railway Company, it links Tokyo in the south to Aomori in the north, with ...

opened in 2010 with a new terminal at

Shin-Aomori Station is a railway station in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Lines Shin-Aomori Station is the northern terminus of the Ōu Main Line ...

. The Shinkansen provides high-speed service between , , , and . –

* –

* - - - - - –

*Aomori - - - - - - *Aomori - - - - -

Highways

* – Namioka Interchange – Aomori Interchange * – Aomori Interchange –

Aomori-chūō Interchange The is a tolled single-point urban interchange along the Aomori Expressway in Aomori, Japan. It is the closest expressway interchange to the center of that city. The interchange is owned, tolled, and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. ...

– Aomori-higashi Interchange * * – Namioka Interchange * * **

Aomori Belt Highway The Aomori Belt Highway (青森環状道路 ''Aomori Kanjō-dōro'') is a major highway located entirely in the city of Aomori in northern Japan. Signed as National Route 7, it is a bypass that travels to the south of the central district of the ...

Aomori West Bypass The Aomori West Bypass (青森西バイパス Aomori Nishi Bypass) is a major highway located entirely in the city of Aomori, Aomori, Aomori in northern Japan. The highway main function is to link the western part of the city to its center. Signed ...

* (unsigned) * * * *

Seaports

* Port of Aomori – The

and Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry operates ferries to

. It takes about four hours to go by ferry from Aomori to Hakodate. From 1908 to 1988 the ferry served as the primary transport between the island of

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

and the northern island of Hokkaido. In March 1988, the Seikan Tunnel opened up, traveling under the

Tsugaru Strait The is a strait between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan connecting the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean. It was named after the western part of Aomori Prefecture. The Seikan Tunnel passes under it at its narrowest point 12.1 miles ...

, this quickly replaced the slow-moving ferry as the primary transportation between the two islands.

Sports

Aomori has hosted several international

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

events, two in 2003 (including the

Asian Winter Games The Asian Winter Games (AWG) is an international multi-sport event held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) featuring winter events. The Japanese Olympic Committee first suggested creating a winter version of the ...

), and the local women's " Team Aomori" was selected to represent Japan at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy
/sup> and at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. From 17 to 25 March 2007, Aomori hosted the World Women's Curling Championships
/sup>.

Sports facilities

* Aomori City Baseball Stadium, otherwise known as Gappo Park Stadium * Aomori Stadium * Aomori Velodrome

Parks and recreation

Gappo Park is an urban park in the city of Aomori, Japan, located in the eastern part of the city. Major features of the park include a public beach on Aomori Bay, various decorative trees, and the Aomori City Baseball Stadium. Description The northern b ...

is Aomori's oldest public park and its most iconic green space. Located to the east of the center of the city, it contains a public beach,

water gardens Water garden or aquatic garden, is a term sometimes used for gardens, or parts of gardens, where any type of water feature (particularly garden ponds) is a principal or dominant element. The primary focus is on plants, but they will sometimes a ...

, various ornamental trees, and the Aomori City Baseball Stadium. Other parks in the city include the centrally-located Aoimori Park, Aoimori Central Park, and

Nogiwa Park is an urban park in the western part of the city of Aomori (city), Aomori, Japan. Major features of the park include a reservoir, various decorative trees, wetlands, several footbridges, and an observatory. Description Nogiwa Park is adjacent ...

Local attractions

A float from Aomori's Nebuta Festival The Memorial Statue of the Hakkoda Death March portrays Fusanosuke Gotō

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri The is a Japanese festivals, Japanese summer festival that takes place in Aomori (city), Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan in early August. The festival attracts the most tourists of any of the country's nebuta festivals, and is counted among the t ...

is a famous

festival A festival is an event 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, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

performed from 2–7 August annually and is listed as one of the

100 Soundscapes of Japan The are a number of noises selected by the Ministry of the Environment (Japan), Ministry of the Environment as particularly representative of the country. They were chosen in 1996, as part of government efforts to combat noise pollution and to prot ...

by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment. Besides this, major attractions of Aomori include ruins, museums, and mountains. The

Hakkōda Mountains The are an active volcanic complex in south-central Aomori Prefecture, Japan, in Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Often called or simply , the mountains are collectively listed as one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. Its highest peak, M ...

have good locations for trekking with hot spas (''

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

''), such as

. * Aomori Bay Bridge *

Aomori City Forestry Museum The is a natural history museum located in the city of Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The museum focuses primarily on the forest ecosystems of Aomori Prefecture and the history of the lumber industry in the prefecture, though other unrela ...

Aomori City History and Folk Arts Museum , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital 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 square kilometer spre ...

Aomori Museum of Art The is a museum in Aomori Prefecture, Aomori, Japan, opened in July 2006. It is located near Sannai-Maruyama Site, which the museum's design takes inspiration from in its partially-buried structure. The museum houses more than 120 works from draw ...

Aomori Prefectural Museum The is a museum located in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The museum has a collection of artifacts from the Jōmon Period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse h ...

* Asamushi Aquarium *

, a National Historic Site * Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum of Art *

Namioka Castle was a Muromachi period Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of far northern Japan. The ruins were designated a National Historic Site in 1940 by the Japanese government. Situation N ...

ruins, A National Historic Site * Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse *

Ōmori Katsuyama Site The is an archaeological site in the city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan that contains the ruins of a late Jōmon period settlement dating to approximately 2,0001,500 BC. The remains were designated a Nati ...

, a National Historic Site *

, a Special National Historic Site * Seiryū-ji * Shinmachi Street *

Takayashikidate Site The is an archaeological site containing the ruins of a fortified settlement dating to the Heian period in what is now the Namioka neighborhood of the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. The ruins were d ...

, a National Historic Site * Uramachi Shinmeigū

Sister cities

, Hokkaido – since 1989. Aomori and Hakodate share a "

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

" relationship referred to as the "Seikan Economic and Cultural Area". *

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( ) is a city with county rights in central Hungary. It is the List of cities and towns of Hungary, eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun County, Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the ca ...

Bács-Kiskun County Bács-Kiskun (, ) is a county (''vármegye'' in Hungarian) located in southern Hungary. It was created by the merger of the pre-World War II Bács-Bodrog and the southern parts of Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun counties. With an area of 8,445 km2, ...

, Hungary – since August 1994 *

Pyeongtaek Pyeongtaek (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Located in the southwestern part of the province, Pyeongtaek was founded as a union of two districts in 1940. It was elevated to city status in 1986 and is home to a South Korean naval b ...

Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous administrative divisions of South Korea, province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a list of provinc ...

, South Korea – since 1995 *

Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

, Liaoning, People's Republic of China – since December 2004 *

Hsinchu County Hsinchu is a County (Taiwan), county in Regions of Taiwan, north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka people, Hakka; with a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the county seat ...

, Taiwan – friendship city since October 2014

Notable people

Noriko Awaya was a Japanese female soprano chanteuse and popular music (''ryūkōka'') singer. She was dubbed the in Japan. Life and career Awaya was born as in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. She was the oldest daughter of a wealthy merchant, whose b ...

, singer *

Takaharu Furukawa is an archery athlete from Japan, competing in both individual and team archery events. He competed in the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2020 Summer Olympics. He was the 2006 All-Japan National Champion, Archery career Furukawa began his archery career ...

, archer * Takanori Hatakeyama, boxer * Yuji Hayami, science-fiction writer *

Shigeru Izumiya Shigeru Izumiya (泉谷しげる ''Izumiya Shigeru'', born May 11, 1948, in Aomori, raised in Meguro, Tokyo) is a Japanese poet, folk singer, actor, tarento. He established the record company For Life Records with Takuro Yoshida, Yosui Inoue, a ...

, entertainer * Yaho Kitabatake, children's fiction writer *

Ichirō Kojima was a renowned Japanese photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photo ...

, photographer *

Ibuki Kido is a Japanese voice actress from Aomori Prefecture who is affiliated with HoriPro International. She began her career after participating in a voice acting audition held by Horipro in 2011. She played her first main role as Akiko Himenokōji i ...

, voice actress *

Daimaou Kosaka , better known by his stage names and , is a Japanese comedian, television personality and entertainer. Kosaka insists that Pikotaro is another personality promoted by him, but they are considered the same person. He is currently signed with Av ...

, comedian *

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, Sports journalism, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed i ...

, baseball player * Keizo Miura, skier * Yuichiro Miura, skier * Shiko Munakata, woodblock artist *

Kodai Naraoka is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with NTT East. Born in Aomori, he started playing badminton at the age of 5 with the influence of his father. He won the silver medal at the 2023 World Championships. In his junior career, Naraoka ha ...

, badminton player *

Ren Narita Ren Narita (成田蓮 ''Narita Ren'', born November 29, 1997) is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of House of Torture and a former member of Bullet Club ...

, wrestler *

Hitoshi Saito was a Japanese judoka who won two consecutive gold medals at the Olympic games. Biography Saito began judo in junior high school, and in 1974, he was scouted to transfer to the Kokushikan Junior High School, located in Setagaya, Tokyo. He co ...

, judoka * Kyoichi Sawada, photographer *

Akimitsu Takagi was the pen-name of a popular Japanese crime fiction writer active during the Shōwa period of Japan. His real name was Takagi Seiichi. Biography Takagi was born in Aomori, Aomori, Aomori City in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan. He graduate ...

, crime fiction writer * Bushuyama Takashi, sumo wrestler * Kiyoshi Tanabe, professional boxer *

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

, modern artist *

Takanosato Toshihide , real name , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Namioka, Aomori. He was the sport's 59th ''yokozuna'' from 1983 to 1986 and won four top division tournament championships. After retirement he established Naruto stable which he ran f ...

, sumo wrestler *

Daigo Umehara is a Japanese esports player and author who competes competitively at Fighting game, fighting video games. He specializes in 2D arcade game, arcade fighting games, mainly those released by Capcom. Known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the West and ...

, fighting game player * Ryushi Yanagisawa, wrestler and mixed martial artist *

Akiko Yano is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer born in Tokyo and raised in Aomori and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s. She has been called "one of the major musical talents of the Japanese popular music world", and her vocals an ...

, singer-songwriter

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1898 establishments in Japan Aomori metropolitan area Cities in Aomori Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan