is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town has an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 6,792 in 2560 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 18 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Mamurogawa is located in the northern portion of the Shinjō Basin in north-central Yamagata Prefecture. The basin is surrounded on all sides by low mountains, with 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 northeast and the

Dewa Mountains Dewa Mountains () is a mountain range that runs north and south on the west side of the Tohoku region of Japan. The mountain range spans Aomori, Akita, and Yamagata prefectures. The Dewa Mountains are split into several sub-ranges by the Yones ...

running from the west to the north. The area is known for its heavy snowfalls in winter.

Neighboring municipalities

Akita Prefecture *

Yurihonjō is a Cities of Japan, city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 72,550 in 30,750 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Yurihonjō is located in southwest ...

* Yuzawa Yamagata Prefecture * Kaneyama * Sakata * Sakegawa * Shinjō

Climate

Mamurogawa has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Mamurogawa is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Mamurogawa population statistics
/ref> the population of Mamurogawa peaked in the 1950s and has declined by more than half since then. It is now less than it was a century ago.

History

The area of present-day Mamurogawa was part of ancient

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

and the location of Sakenobe Castle in 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 ...

. After the start of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, the area became part of Mogami District, Yamagata Prefecture. The village of Mamurogawa was established on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. During World War II, an airbase for training pilots was established by 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 ...

. The site is now a park, and part of the grounds of the local high school. Mamurogawa was elevated to town status on April 1, 1950. On August 1, 1954, it absorbed the neighboring villages of Araki and Nozoki.

Economy

The economy of Mamurogawa is based on agriculture and forestry. The main crops are rice and ''tara-no-me'', a spring herb.

Education

Mamurogawa has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Yamagata Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

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 ...

* - - -

Highway

* – Mamurogawa interchange * *

Local attractions

* Kabusan Prefectural Park * Tokasaka Dam

Notes

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Yamagata Prefecture Mamurogawa, Yamagata