Yamagata prefecture

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is located in the Tohoku region on Honshu island, Japan. Its capital is Yamagata.

Contents

History

Yamagata, with Akita Prefecture, composed Dewa Province until the Meiji Restoration.

Geography

Yamagata Prefecture is located in the southwest corner of Tohoku, facing the Sea of Japan. It borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture on the south, Miyagi Prefecture on the east, and Akita Prefecture on the north. All of these boundaries are marked by mountains, with most of the population residing in a limited central plain.

Cities

13 cities are located on Yamagata Prefecture.

Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district.

ǂScheduled to dissolve after the mergers.

Mergers

Merger: Shonai Town (1 July 2005)

The towns of Amarume and Tachikawa from Higashitagawa District merged to form the new town of Shonai.

Merger: Southern Shonai #1 (1 October 2005)

The city of Tsuruoka, the towns of Fujishima, Haguro and Kushibiki and the village of Asahi (all from Higashitagawa District) and the town of Atsumi from Nishitagawa District merged to form the new city of Tsuruoka. Nishitagawa District was dissolved as a result.

[The Merger Council of Southern Shonai (in Japanese)]

Merger: Northern Shonai (1 November 2005)

The city of Sakata and the towns of Hirata, Matsuyama and Yawata from Akumi District merged to form the new city of Sakata.

[The Merger Council of Northern Shonai (in Japanese)]

Future mergers

Merger: Southern Shonai #2 (8 February 2008)

The city of Tsuruoka is scheduled to merge with the town of Mikawa.

Economy

Agriculture - Fruit

Persimmons in October, Yamagata Prefecture.

Yamagata Prefecture is the largest producer of cherries and pears in Japan. A large quantity of other kinds of fruits such as grapes, apples, peaches, melons, persimmons and watermelons are also produced here.

Demographics

As of October 2004, Yamagata Prefecture had a population of 1,223,000 [link]. This represented a 5.3% decrease on the previous year, giving Yamagata the equal-fourth highest depopulation rate in Japan [link]. This figure consists of a 2.2% natural decrease in the population, and a net 3.1% emigration to other prefectures, again one of the highest rates in Japan.

The prefecture also has one of the oldest populations in Japan. As of 2004, 12.8% of the population was aged between 65 and 74, and 12.1% was over 75 (the fourth and third highest in Japan, respectively) [link]. Over 40% of households in Yamagata contain one or more relatives aged 65 or over (one of the three highest in Japan) [link].

Culture

Yamagata Prefecture has a number of annual festivals and events.

The largest is the hanagasa matsuri (花笠祭り) which takes place in Yamagata City on the first weekend in August, when thousands of people perform the hanagasa dance in the city centre and attracts up to 300,000 spectators. Yamagata City is the home of the bi-annual Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in October.

In February, a snow lantern festival is held in Yonezawa at the Uesugi Shrine. Hundreds of candle-lit lanterns light pathways dug into the snow around the shrine. Yonezawa is also the site of the Uesugi Festival (上杉祭り, uesugi matsuri) in mid-spring. The festival's highlight is a re-enactment of the 'Battle of Kawanakajima' on the banks of the Matsukawa River.

Yamagata Prefecture is also known for its local dialect Yamagata-ben, sometimes thought of as backward sounding and the butt of jokes in other parts of Japan.

Transportation

Airports

Yamagata Airport(Tokyo,Osaka,Nagoya,Sapporo byJALGroup)
Shonai Airport(Tokyo,Osaka,Sapporo byANAGroup)

Railways(
Yamagata Shinkansen
Senzan Line
Aterazawa Line
Yonesaka Line
Rikuu West Line
Rikuu East Line
Flower Nagai Line
Oou Main Line
Uetsu Main Line

Tourism

Yamedera, Yamagata Prefecture.

The temple of Yamadera, carved into the mountainside near Yamagata City, is a major attraction.

The Dewa Sanzan are three holy mountains that form a traditional pilgrimage for followers of the Shugendo branch of Shinto. The famous Gojudo (five-story pagoda) is on one of these mountains, Haguro-san.

Mount Zao is a famous winter ski resort, also known for its snow monsters (frozen snow covered trees) in the winter, and the Okama crater lake, also known as the Goshiki Numa (Five Color Swamp) because its colour changes according to the weather.

Media

News Paper

Yamagata Shimbun

TV & Radio

YBC TV and Radio (NNN, JRN, and NRN)
YTS TV(ANN)
TUY TV(JNN)
SAY TV(FNN)
Boy-FM(Japan FM Network)

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[Special]

[Official Yamagata Prefecture homepage]
[Climate in Yamagata City] in English
#redirect [[Template:Wikitravel]]

Coordinates: [38°26′N 140°8′E]

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