Aomori Prefecture

Aomori-ken ; 青森県
Basic data
Administrative headquarters :	Aomori
Region :	Tōhoku
Main island :	Honshu
Area :	9,645.64 km²
Water content:	1.2 %
Residents :	1,249,314 ; (June 1, 2019)
Population density :	130 inhabitants per km²
Counties :	8th
Municipalities :	40
ISO 3166-2 :	JP-02
Governor :	Shingo Mimura
Website:	www.pref.aomori.lg.jp
Symbols
Prefecture flag :
Prefecture tree :	Hiba tree of life
Prefecture flower :	Apple blossom
Vogel prefecture :	swan
Fish prefecture :	Paralichthys olivaceus
Prefecture song :	Aoi mori no message; ("message of the green forest")

The Aomori Prefecture ( Jap. 青森県 , Aomori-ken ) is a prefecture of Japan . It is located in the north of the Tōhoku region on the island of Honshū . The seat of the prefecture administration is the city of the same name Aomori .

geography

Aomori Prefecture is the northernmost of the main island of Honshu. Tsugaru Strait is located between Aomori and Hokkaidō Island . To the south, Aomori is bordered by Akita Prefecture and Iwate Prefecture .

outline
Tsugaru Peninsula
Shimokita Peninsula
Road signs in Aomori Prefecture

history

The region of today's Aomori Province was inhabited by the Emishi tribes in ancient times. It is unclear whether the direct ancestors of the Ainu were also native to this province or only later moved from further south to Hokkeido. The historical replica of an Emishi village, Sannai-Maruyama , is located in Aomori and operates as an open-air museum.

The prefecture in its present form has existed since 1871, when the out fiefs ( Han emerged) prefectures Tate, Hirosaki, Kuroishi, Tonami (a 1869 equipped offshoot of Aizu from former territories of the equally rebellious / shōgunatstreuen Morioka , of the newborn Aizu-heirs Matsudaira Kataharu was left), Shichinohe and Hachinohe were merged. In 1872 the former Tate prefecture, namely the districts of Nishi, Hiyama, Tsugaru and Fukushima of the province of Oshima , was separated again and transferred to the development authority ( Hokkaidō ). Since 1876, when the district Ninohe to the Iwate Prefecture has been transferred, the Aomori Prefecture includes its present area.

politics

Group strengths in the prefecture parliament
(as of May 16, 2019)

A total of 48 seats

LDP : 30
Minshu Rengō ( DVP & KDP ): 4
Seiwakai ( 青和会 ): 3
Kōmei ・ Kenseikai ( 公明・健政会 ; with Kōmeitō ): 3
KPY : 3
Kenmin shuyaku no kensei no kai: 2
Non-attached : 3

The new constituency of Aomori for the House of Representatives since 2017

Former National MP Shingo Mimura has been Governor of Aomori since 2003 . In the gubernatorial election in June 2019 , supported by LDP and Kōmeitō , he was re-elected for a fifth term by a three-quarters majority against the opposition-supported ( DVP , KDP , KPJ , SDP ) dentist Wakako Sahara. The voter turnout was 40.0%, the second lowest value of all time. In the 48-member prefectural parliament, the LDP defended its absolute majority in the uniform regional elections in April 2019 with 28 seats.

Aomori is traditionally a "conservative kingdom" (hoshu ōkoku) , an LDP stronghold. In the 2017 election to Shūgiin , the lower house of the national parliament , Aomori lost a seat and is now divided into three constituencies , the LDP defended all three. After the elections in 2010 and 2013, two Liberal Democrats also represented the prefecture in the national upper house ; but in the 2016 upper house election , Aomori narrowly went to the opposition. In particular, the directly elected Aomoris delegation to the national parliament (as of July 2019) consists of:

in the Shūgiin
- for the 1st constituency in the north of Aomori, which now includes the entire city of Aomori: Jun Tsushima (LDP, 3rd term), a member of the Tsushima writer-politician dynasty , who has represented the prefecture in parliament for decades,
- for the 2nd constituency with the city of Hachinohe: Tadamori Ōshima (LDP, 12th term of office), who previously represented the old constituency 3,
- for the 3rd constituency with the city of Hirosaki: Jirō Kimura (LDP, 1st term of office), the brother of Tarō Kimura , the last member of the old constituency 4,
in the Sangiin
- until 2022: Masayo Tanabu (DVP, 1st term, previously three in Shūgiin), the daughter of Masami Tanabu , and
- by 2025: Motome Takisawa (LDP, 2nd term).

traffic

The Seikan tunnel connects the main Japanese island of Honshū with the island of Hokkaidō . It has a length of 53.85 kilometers. Of these, 23.3 kilometers are under the sea. Tsugaru Strait is only 140 meters deep, but due to the risk of earthquakes, the tunnel is up to 240 meters below sea level. The tunnel was opened in March 1988 after 17 years of construction. At the same time, the rail ferries were abandoned across the stormy Tsugaru Strait. There are two submarine train stations in the Seikan Tunnel, which are among the deepest train stations in the world.

tourism

Sannai-Maruyama village (reconstructed)

Towada lake

Aomori is particularly known for its apple orchards.

Lake Towada , located in a caldera on the Towada volcano , is located between Akita and Aomori prefectures .

Mount Osorezan is located in Mutsu on the Shimokita Peninsula .

In the Hakkōda Mountains in Aomori you can go mountain hiking in summer and skiing in winter.

Communities

Since 2006 there are still 40 communities in Aomori: 10 [independent] cities (- shi ) , two of them in special forms for large cities, 22 [district] cities ( -machi / -chō ) and eight villages (- mura ) . After the introduction of today's community forms in 1889, there were initially over 170 communities, in 1953 before the great Shōwa territorial reform, more than 160.

Note: The Tsugaru and Kita districts that existed until then were divided into several districts in 1878/79. For the sake of readability, the prefixes [ Kita- : "North-", Minami- : "South-", Higashi- : "East-", Nishi- : "West-", Naka- : "Central / Central - ”, Kami- :“ Ober- ”, Shimo- :“ Unter- ”] here separated by a hyphen, the rest of the Romanization practice is inconsistent.

List of parishes in Aomori
local community	Type	Circle (- gun )	Area (October 1, 2015)	Population ( June 1, 2019)
Aomori (seat of the prefecture administration)	-shi (" core city ")	-	824.61 km²	276,567
Hirosaki	-shi	-	524.20 km²	170,766
Hachinohe	-shi (" core city ")	-	305.54 km²	223,666
Kuroishi	-shi	-	524.20 km²	32,376
Goshogawara	-shi	-	404.18 km²	51,908
Towada	-shi	-	725.65 km²	61,058
Misawa	-shi	-	119.87 km²	38,877
Mutsu	-shi	-	864.16 km²	54,721
Tsugaru	-shi	-	253.55 km²	31,089
Hirakawa	-shi	-	346.01 km²	30,822
Hiranai	-machi	Higashi-tsugaru	217.09 km²	10,337
Imabetsu	-machi	Higashi-tsugaru	125.27 km²	2444
Yomogita	-mura	Higashi-tsugaru	80.84 km²	2682
Sotogahama	-machi	Higashi-tsugaru	230.29 km²	5520
Ajigasawa	-machi	Nishi-tsugaru	343.08 km²	9156
Fukaura	-machi	Nishi-tsugaru	488.89 km²	7529
Nishi-Meya	-mura	Naka-tsugaru	246.02 km²	1360
Fujisaki	-machi	Minami tsugaru	37.29 km²	14,742
Ōwani	-machi	Minami tsugaru	163.43 km²	8832
Inakadate	-mura	Minami tsugaru	22.35 km²	7480
Itayanagi	-machi	Kita-tsugaru	41.88 km²	13,064
Tsuruta	-machi	Kita-tsugaru	46.43 km²	12,569
Nakadomari	-machi	Kita-tsugaru	216.32 km²	10,242
Noheji	-machi	Kami day care center	81.68 km²	12,728
Shichinohe	-machi	Kami day care center	337.23 km²	14,681
Rocunohe	-machi	Kami day care center	83.89 km²	10,517
Yokohama	-machi	Kami day care center	126.38 km²	4256
Tōhoku	-machi	Kami day care center	326.50 km²	16,943
Rokkasho	-mura	Kami day care center	252.68 km²	10,293
Oirase	-chō	Kami day care center	71.96 km²	24,240
Granny	-machi	Shimo day care center	52.10 km²	4794
Higashidōri	-mura	Shimo day care center	295.27 km²	6105
Kazamaura	-mura	Shimo day care center	69.55 km²	1747
Sai	-mura	Shimo day care center	135.04 km²	1900
Sannohe	-machi	Sannohe	151.79 km²	9192
Gonohe	-machi	Sannohe	177.67 km²	16,286
Takko	-machi	Sannohe	241.98 km²	5008
Nambu	-chō	Sannohe	153.12 km²	16,961
Hashikami	-chō	Sannohe	94.01 km²	13,476
Shingo	-mura	Sannohe	150.77 km²	2282
Sum of Aomori-ken	40 parishes	8 circles	9,645.59 km²	1,249,314

Web links

Commons : Aomori Prefecture - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ 崎谷満『DNA ・考古・言語の学際研究が示す新・日本列島史』（勉誠出版 2009 年） (in Japanese)

↑ 三内丸山遺跡調査概報. Retrieved November 30, 2019 .

↑ Aomori Prefectural Parliament : Members by political group , accessed on July 27, 2019.

↑ 青森県知事選 . In: NHK Senkyo Web. June 2, 2019, Retrieved June 3, 2019 (Japanese).

^ Pro-nuclear Mimura wins 5th term in Aomori gubernatorial election . In: The Mainichi . June 3, 2019, accessed June 3, 2019 .

↑ 統一地方選 2019 青森県議選各党議席 . In: NHK Senkyo Web. April 7, 2019, Retrieved September 3, 2019 (Japanese).

↑ Kokudo Chiriin : 平成 27 年全国都道府県市区町村別面積調 ( Memento of the original from March 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 14 f .: 青森県 ( Memento of the original dated February 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2 @1@ 2

40.733055555556 140.88305555556Coordinates: 40 ° 44 ' N , 140 ° 53' E

[1] 崎谷満『DNA ・考古・言語の学際研究が示す新・日本列島史』（勉誠出版 2009 年） (in Japanese)

[2] 三内丸山遺跡調査概報. Retrieved November 30, 2019 .