Aomori Prefecture

Potsherds from the Odai Yamamoto I site

The oldest evidence of pottery in Japan was found at the Odai Yamamoto I site in the town of Sotogahama in the northwestern part of the prefecture. The relics found there suggest that the Jōmon period began about 15,000 years ago.[3] By 7,000 BCE fishing cultures had developed along the shores of the prefecture which were three meters higher than the present day shoreline.[4] Around 3,900 BCE settlement at the Sannai-Maruyama Site in the present-day city of Aomori began.[5] The settlement shows evidence of the wide interaction between the site's inhabitants and people from across Jōmon period Japan, including Hokkaido and Kyushu.[3] The settlement of Sannai-Maruyama ended around 2300 BCE due to unknown reasons. Its abandonment was likely due to the population's subsistence economy being unable to result in sustained growth, with its end being spurred on by the reduced amount of natural resources during the neoglaciation.[6] The Jōmon period continued up to 300 BCE in present-day Aomori Prefecture at the Kamegaoka site in the city of Tsugaru where the Shakōki-dogū was found.[3]

During the Yayoi period, the area that would become Aomori Prefecture was impacted by the migration of settlers from continental Asia to a lesser extent than the rest of Japan to the south and west of the region. The region, known then as Michinoku, was inhabited by the Emishi. It is not clear if the Emishi were the descendants of the Jōmon people, a group of the Ainu people, or if both the Ainu and Emishi were descended from the Jōmon people. The northernmost tribe of the Emishi that inhabited what would become Aomori Prefecture was known as the Tsugaru.[7] Historic records mention a series of destructive eruptions in 917 from the volcano at Lake Towada. The eruptive activity peaked on 17 August.[8] Throughout the Heian period the Emishi were slowly subdued by the Imperial Court in Kyoto before being incorporated into Mutsu Province by the Northern Fujiwara around 1094.[9] The Northern Fujiwara set up the port settlement Tosaminato in present-day Goshogawara to develop trade between their lands, Kyoto, and continental Asia.[10] The Northern Fujiwara were deposed in 1189 by Minamoto no Yoritomo who would go on to establish the Kamakura shogunate.[11]

Minamoto no Yoritomo incorporated Mutsu Province into the holdings of the Kamakura shogunate.[12] Nanbu Mitsuyuki was awarded vast estates in Nukanobu District after he had joined Minamoto no Yoritomo at the Battle of Ishibashiyama and the conquest of the Northern Fujiwara. Nanbu Mitsuyuki built Shōjujidate Castle in what is now Nanbu, Aomori.[13] The eastern area of the current prefecture was dominated by horse ranches, and the Nanbu grew powerful and wealthy on the supply of warhorses. These horse ranches were fortified stockades, numbered one through nine (Ichinohe through Kunohe), and were awarded to the six sons of Nanbu Mitsuyuki, forming the six main branches of the Nanbu clan.[14][15] The northwestern part of the prefecture was awarded to the Andō clan for their role in driving the Northern Fujiwara out of Tosaminato. The port was expanded under the rule of the Andō clan. They traded heavily with the Ainu in Ezo. However, conflict would break out between the Ainu and the Andō clan in 1268 and again in the 1320s. The conflict was put down after the Nanbu intervened at the behest of the shogunate. The conflict weakened the Kamakura shogunate in its later years, while the Andō were split into northern (Andō) and southern (Akita) divisions.[16]

The remains of Horikoshi Castle

At the onset of the Ashikaga shogunate, the Nanbu and Andō continued to rule the area, with the Nanbu controlling the current prefecture's southeastern section and the Andō controlling the Shimokita and Tsugaru peninsulas. The Andō also were involved with controlling the fringes of Ezo, splitting their attention. In 1336, the Andō completed construction of Horikoshi Castle during the Northern and Southern Courts period.[17] During the Muromachi, the Nanbu slowly began edging the Andō out of present-day Aomori Prefecture. The Andō were pushed out of Tosaminato in 1432, retreating to Ezo, giving the Nanbu control over all their lands. The port settlement would fall into disrepair under the Nanbu.[10]

During the Sengoku period the Nanbu clan collapsed into several rival factions. One faction under Ōura Tamenobu asserted their control over the Hirosaki Domain. His clan, originally the Ōura clan (大浦氏, Ōura-shi), was of uncertain origins. According to later Tsugaru clan records, the clan was descended from the noble Fujiwara clan and had an accent claim to ownership of the Tsugaru region on the Tsugaru Peninsula and the area surrounding Mount Iwaki in the northwestern corner of Mutsu Province; however, according to the records of their rivals, the Nanbu clan, clan progenitor Ōura Tamenobu was born as either Nanbu Tamenobu or Kuji Tamenobu, from a minor branch house of the Nanbu and was driven from the clan due to discord with his elder brother.[18] In any event, the Ōura were hereditary vice-district magistrate (郡代補佐, gundai hosa) under the Nanbu clan's local magistrate Ishikawa Takanobu; however, in 1571 Tamenobu attacked and killed Ishikawa and began taking the Nanbu clan's castles in the Tsugaru region one after another.[19] He captured castles at Ishikawa, Daikoji and Aburakawa, and soon gathered support of many former Nanbu retainers in the region. After pledging fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he was confirmed as an independent warlord in 1590 and changed his name to "Tsugaru", formally establishing the Tsugaru clan. Tsugaru Tamenobu assisted Hideyoshi at the Battle of Odawara, and accompanied his retinue to Hizen during the Korean Expedition. Afterwards, he sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.[20]

Hirosaki Castle, the Edo period seat of the Tsugaru clan.

After the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Nanbu ruled the Shimokita Peninsula and the districts immediately to the south of it. The area to the west of the Nanbu's holdings and to the north of the lands held by the Akita clan were all controlled by the Tsugaru clan, from their capital at Hirosaki. Work on Hirosaki Castle was completed in 1611, replacing Horikoshi Castle as the Tsugaru clan's fortress.[17] By 1631, the Tsugaru clan had solidified their control over their gains made during the Sengoku period.[21] Mutsu Province was struck by the Tenmei famine between 1781 and 1789, due to lower than usual temperatures that were exacerbated by volcanic eruptions at Mount Iwaki, near the Tsugaru clan's capital, Hirosaki, between November 1782 and June 1783.[22]

At the beginning of the Edo period, the last pockets of Ainu people in Honshu still lived in the mountainous areas on the peninsulas of the prefecture. They interacted with the ruling clans to some extent, but they primarily lived off of fishing the waters of Mutsu Bay and the Tsugaru Strait. However, the Tsugaru clan made two big pushes to assimilate the Ainu, the first came in 1756 and the second came in 1809. Records show that the clan was successful in wiping out the Ainu culture in their holdings, though some geographic names in Aomori Prefecture still retain their original Ainu names.[23]

Despite the 1867 resignation of the last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, by late 1868 the Boshin War had reached northern Japan. On 20 September 1868 the pro-Shōgunate Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei was proclaimed at Morioka, the capital of the Nanbu clan who ruled Morioka Domain. The Tsugaru clan first sided with the pro-imperial forces of Satchō Alliance, and attacked nearby Shōnai Domain.[25][26] However, the Tsugaru soon switched course, and briefly became a member of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei.[27] However, for reasons yet unclear, the Tsugaru backed out of the alliance and re-joined the imperial cause after a few months. The Nanbu and Tsugaru clans resumed their old rivalry and fought at the Battle of Noheji.[25]

As a result of the minor skirmish, the Tsugaru clan was able to prove its defection from the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei and loyalty to the imperial cause. Tsugaru forces later joined the imperial army in attacking the Republic of Ezo at the Battle of Hakodate, where the pro-Shōgunate forces were finally defeated.[28] As a result, the entire clan was able to evade the punitive measures taken by the Meiji government on other northern domains.[29]

In 1868 Mutsu Province was broken up into five provinces in the aftermath of the Boshin War, with its namesake province, Rikuō occupying what would later become Aomori Prefecture and the northwestern corner of Iwate Prefecture.[30] On 4 September 1871, Rikuō Province was abolished and divided, establishing today's Aomori Prefecture. Its capital was briefly located in Hirosaki, but it was moved on 23 September to the centrally located port village, Aomori.[31]

The prefecture's new capital, Aomori, saw rapid expansion which was due to its importance as a logistic hub in northern Japan.[32] It became a town in 1889 and then a city in 1898. On 30 October 1889, an American merchant ship, the Cheseborough wrecked off the prefecture's west coast near the village Shariki, many of the ship's crew were saved by the villagers.[33] The Nippon Railway, a private company, completed the Tōhoku Main Line in 1891, linking Aomori to Ueno Station in Tokyo.[34] During a military exercise on 23 January 1902, 199 soldiers died after getting lost during a blizzard in the Hakkōda Mountains incident.[35] On 3 May 1910, a fire broke out in the Yasukata district. Fanned by strong winds, the fire quickly devastated the whole city. The conflagration claimed 26 lives and injured a further 160 residents. It destroyed 5,246 houses and burnt 19 storage sheds and 157 warehouses.[36]

On 23 March 1945, a mudslide destroyed a section of the town of Ajigasawa, killing 87 of its inhabitants.[37] At 10:30 p.m. on 28 July 1945, a squadron of American B-29 bombers bombed over 90% of the city of Aomori. The estimated civilian impact of the air raid on the city was the death of 1,767 people and the destruction of 18,045 homes.[38] Infrastructure was destroyed across the prefecture including the Seikan Ferry, naval facilities in Mutsu and Misawa, Hachinohe Airfield, and the ports and railways of Aomori and Hachinohe.[39]

During the Occupation of Japan, Aomori's military bases were controlled by the US military. Hachinohe Airfield was occupied until 1950, and was called Camp Haugen.[40] Misawa Air Base was occupied and rebuilt by the United States Army Air Forces; the base has seen a US military presence since then.[41] Radio Aomori made its first broadcast in 1953.[42] Four years later, the first fish auctions were held. 1958 saw the completion of the Municipal Fish Market as well as the opening of the Citizen's Hospital. In the same year, the Tsugaru Line established a rail connection with the village of Minmaya at the tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula.[43]

In March 1985, after 23 years of labor and a financial investment of 690 billion yen, the Seikan Tunnel finally linked the islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, thereby becoming the longest tunnel of its kind in the world.[44] Almost exactly three years later, on March 13, railroad service was inaugurated on the Tsugaru Kaikyo Line. The tunnel's opening to rail traffic saw the end of the Seikan Ferry rail service. During their 80 years of service, the Seikan rail ferries sailed between Aomori and Hakodate some 720,000 times, carrying 160 million passengers. It continues to operate between the cities, ferrying automobile traffic and passengers rather than trains.[45]

Aomori Public College opened in April 1993. In April 1995, Aomori Airport began offering regular international air service to Seoul, South Korea, and Khabarovsk, Russia; however, the flights to Khabarovsk were discontinued in 2004.[46] In June 2007, four North Korean defectors reached Aomori Prefecture, after having been at sea for six days, marking the second known case ever where defectors have successfully reached Japan by boat.[47] In March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the east coast of Japan. The southeastern coast of Aomori Prefecture was affected by the resulting tsunami. Buildings along harbors were damaged along with boats thrown about in the streets.[48]

The climate of Aomori Prefecture is relatively cool for the most part. It has four distinct seasons with an average temperature of 10 °C (50 °F). Variations in climate exist between the eastern (Pacific Ocean side) and the western (Sea of Japan side) parts of the prefecture. This is in part due to the Ōu Mountains that run north to south in the middle of the prefecture, dividing the two regions. The western side is subject to heavy monsoons and little sunshine which results in heavy snowfall during the winter. The eastern side is subject to low clouds brought in by northeasterly winds during the summer months, known locally as Yamase winds, from June through August, with temperatures staying relatively low. However, there are instances of Yamase winds making summers so cold that food production is hindered. The lowest recorded temperature during the winter is −9.3 °C (15.3 °F), and the highest recorded temperature during the summer is 33.1 °C (91.6 °F).[50][56]

Aomori Prefecture is a leading agricultural region in Japan. It is Japan's largest producer of apples, accounting for 59 percent of Japan's total apple production in 2018.[78] The cultivation of apples in the prefecture began in 1875 when the prefecture was given three varieties of western origin to grow. The apples are consumed within Japan and exported to the United States, China, Taiwan, and Thailand.[50] Aomori is also ranked highly in the nation's production of redcurrant, burdock, and garlic, accounting for 81, 37, and 66 percent, respectively, of the country's production.[78]

Aomori also boasts being the home to Hakkōda cattle, a rare, region-specific breed of Japanese Shorthorn.[79] The town of Gonohe has a long history as a breeding center for horses of exceptional quality, popular among the samurai. With the decline of the samurai, Gonohe's horses continued to be bred for their meat. The lean horse meat is coveted as a delicacy, especially when served in its raw form, known as Basashi (馬刺し). The Aomori coast along Mutsu Bay is a large source of scallops, but they are particularly a specialty of the town Hiranai where the calm water around Natsudomari Peninsula makes a good home for them.[80]

The cascades of the Oirase River in the prefecture's Towada-Hachimantai National Park.[81]

Tourism has been a growing sector of Aomori Prefecture's economy. It was among the top five prefectures of Japan in terms of growth in foreign tourists between 2012 and 2017.[82] This influx of foreign tourists has led to the construction of more hotels in Aomori.[83] Major draws to the prefecture are its historic sites, museums, and national parks. Several of the prefecture's Jōmon period historic sites were nominated in January 2009 to become World Heritage Sites.[84] If approved, the archaeological sites would join Shirakami-Sanchi as the prefecture's second World Heritage Site. Tourist access to Shirakami-Sanchi is heavily restricted to tourists due to its delicate ecosystem, though several water features, trails, and roads can be accessed by its visitors.[85][86] About 35.2 million domestic travelers visited Aomori Prefecture in 2016, while about 95,000 foreign tourists visited in 2017.[73]

Aomori Prefecture and the Tsugaru Strait are of strategic value to both Japan and the United States, as the strait serves as an access point for the United States Navy into the Sea of Japan where they can put pressure on Russia, China, and North Korea.[87] The prefecture also hosts Misawa Air Base, the only combined, joint U.S. service installation in the western Pacific servicing Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the Japan Self-Defense Forces.[88] The JSDF maintains bases across the prefecture including, JMSDF Ōminato Base, JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base,[89] and JGSDF Camp Aomori.[90]

Tsugaru lacquerware (Tsugarunuri)

The Tsugaru region of Aomori Prefecture is the birthplace of the traditional Tsugaru-jamisen, a virtuosic style of playing shamisen that is deeply entwined with the region's identity and history. A notable player of the style was Takahashi Chikuzan, a blind musician from Hiranai who wandered around the country and eventually gained nationwide appeal.[91][92] Aomori Prefecture is also where the decorative embroidery styles, kogin-zashi and Nanbu hishizashi originated as more utilitarian techniques during the Edo period. The peasant women of the area, who created the styles, used them to make linen clothing more robust and warm during the harsh winters since cotton was unavailable to the lower class.[93][94] Wooden horse figures called Yawata-uma have been made in the former holdings of the Nanbu for 700 years.[95]

Ke porridge

The Aomori area has given rise to several soups: ke porridge which consists of miso soup with diced root vegetables and wild plants such as butterbur and bracken with tofu from the Tsugaru area; ichigoni, a sea urchin roe and abalone soup in which the sea urchin roe looks like strawberries, known as ichigo in Japanese, from the town of Hashikami; hittsumi a roux with chicken and vegetables from the Nanbu area; Hachinohe senbei soup a hearty soup with Nanbu senbei loaded with vegetables and chicken; jappa-jiru a vegetable soup with cod roe from Aomori; and keiran a red bean dumpling soy sauce soup served during special occasions on the Shimokita Peninsula. Another dish that was created in the area surrounding Mutsu Bay is kaiya in the Tsugaru area or kayaki on the Shimokita Peninsula, it is a boiled miso and egg dish mixed with fish or scallop meat on a large scallop shell that serves as both the cookware and serveware.[96] In 2006, the production of aged black garlic began in Aomori Prefecture. The prefecture has since become the largest producer of the superfood in Japan.[97]

Neputa in Goshogawara City

Aomori Prefecture boasts a variety of festivals year round offering a unique look into northern Japan, and hosts the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri, one of the Three Great Festivals of Tōhoku.[98] During late April hanami festivals are held across the prefecture, with the most prominent of the festivals being located on the grounds of Hirosaki Castle.[99][100] Summer and autumn hold many distinct festivals with bright lights, floats, dancing and music.[101] Winter is centered on snow festivals where attendees can view ice sculptures and enjoy local cuisine inside an ice hut.[102]

Aomori Prefecture has produced several writers and artists. Osamu Dazai, the writer of Japan's second most popular novel No Longer Human,[103] is one of the prefecture's best-known writers.[104] Shunsuke Kikuchi, a composer for series such as Dragon Ball and Doraemon, was born in the city of Hirosaki.[105] The creator of the supernatural manga series Shaman King, Hiroyuki Takei, is from the village of Yomogita in northwestern Aomori.[106] The comedian Daimaō Kosaka, known widely for his viral single "PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)", was born in Aomori Prefecture.[107] Sōsaku-hanga artist Shikō Munakata was born in Aomori.[108] Much of his art was inspired by the prefecture's natural qualities and rural culture.[109]

The two largest cities of the prefecture, Aomori and Hachinohe, both host professional sports teams. Both cities have professional soccer clubs in the Japan Professional Football League: Aomori's ReinMeer Aomori and Hachinohe's Vanraure Hachinohe. Other professional sports teams in the two cities include the Aomori Wat's, a basketball team from Aomori in the B.League and the Tohoku Free Blades, an ice hockey team from Hachinohe that competes in the Asia League.[110][111]

Aomori Prefecture hosted the 2003 Asian Winter Games from 1 February to 8 February 2003.[112] Approximately 1,200 athletes from 29 Asian countries participated in the games. Five venues across the prefecture held 51 different events.[113] Aomori Prefecture is also slated to host the 80th National Sports Festival of Japan in 2025,[114] though it is likely the event will be postponed for a year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[115] The prefecture has produced some professional athletes. Yoshisada Yonezuka from the town of Nakadomari was a martial arts instructor for USA Judo.[116] He coached the team in the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics.[117]

The Aomori Curling Club was a curling club of the Japan Curling Association from the city of Aomori that represented Japan in the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Winter Olympics and several World Curling Championships. The club was disbanded in 2013.[125]

Since 1961, the prefectural symbol of Aomori is a green stylized map of the prefecture on a white background, showing the crown of Honshū: the Tsugaru, Natsudomari and Shimokita Peninsulas. The green is representative of development while the white symbolizes the vastness of the world.[144]

The prefectural bird has been Bewick's swan since 1964, the species migrates to the area during the winter. In 1966, the prefecture designated the hiba (Thujopsis dolabrata) as its prefectural tree. The apple blossom was designated as the prefectural flower in 1971 to pay homage to the prefecture's apple production. In 1987, the Japanese halibut was designated as the prefectural fish.[144]