Noshiro, Akita

Noshiro is located in the flat coastal plains northwestern Akita Prefecture, bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west, but there are hills near the border with Mitane and along the coast. Much of the eastern part of the city is mountainous. The Yoneshiro River flows through the city and empties into the Sea of Japan near Noshiro Port. The highest point is Mount Yakeyama at 963.1 metres (3,160 ft).

Neighboring municipalities

Akita Prefecture

• Fujisato
• Happō
• Kamikoani
• Kitaakita
• Mitane

Climate

Noshiro has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification 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 Noshiro is 11.5 °C (52.7 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,494.4 mm (58.83 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.3 °C (75.7 °F), and lowest in January, at around 0.2 °C (32.4 °F).

Per Japanese census data, the population of Noshiro has been declining over the past 60 years.

Per the Nihon Shoki and other ancient chronicles, Noshiro is the location where an expedition sent by the imperial court led by Abe no Hirafu landed in 658 AD with orders to force the local Emishi tribes into submission. Trade vessels from Balhae were calling at Noshiro Port as late as 771 AD. The area of present-day Noshiro was part of ancient Dewa Province, dominated by the Satake clan during the Edo period, who ruled Kubota Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. The town of Nishirominato was established on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

The city of Noshiro was created by the merger of the town of Noshirominato and the villages of Shinonome and Sakaki (all formerly from Yamamoto District) on October 1, 1940.

On March 21, 2006, the town of Futatsui (from Yamamoto District) was merged into Noshiro.

Noshiro has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 20 members. The city (together with the towns of Yamamoto District) contributes four members to the Akita Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Akita 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

The economy of Noshiro is based on agriculture and commercial fishing. Tohoku Electric operates the Noshiro Thermal Power Station, a coal / biomass power plant in the city.

Noshiro has seven public elementary schools and six public junior high schools operated by the city government, and four public high schools operated by the Akita Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

• Noshiro Technical High School

Airport

• Odate-Noshiro Airport - opened in 1998

Railway

East Japan Railway Company - Ōu Main Line

• Higashi-Noshiro - Tsurugata - Tomine - Futatsui

East Japan Railway Company - Gonō Line

• Higashi-Noshiro - Noshiro - Mukai-Noshiro - Kita-Noshiro - Torigata

Highway

• Akita Expressway
• National Route 7
• National Route 101

Seaports

• Port of Noshiro

• Wrangell, Alaska, United States, since December 16, 1960

• Kaze no Matsubara - one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment
• Noshiro Onsen
• Noshiro Swimming Beach

Festivals

• Noshiro Port Fireworks Festival in 2008 had 150,000 visitors.
• Noshiro Yakutanabata
• Onagori Festival in Noshiro Kanto matsuri, Aomori Nebuta Matsuri, Samba Carnival and more. In 2008, 250,000 people visited.
• Tenku no Fuyajo

• Masumi Asano, voice actress
• Ando Chikasue, Daimyo
• Hosei Norota, politician
• Shuji Ono, Basketball head coach
• Takashi Ono, Olympic gymnast
• Sadatoshi Sugawara, Olympic volleyball player
• Nanako Takeda, professional football player
• Hisashi Yamada, professional baseball player