Sotogahama, Aomori

Sotogahama
外ヶ浜町
Town
Cape Tappi, northernmost point of Tsugaru Peninsula

Flag
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Location of Sotagahama in Aomori Prefecture
Sotogahama
 
Coordinates: 41°02′35.7″N 140°37′56.4″E / 41.043250°N 140.632333°E / 41.043250; 140.632333Coordinates: 41°02′35.7″N 140°37′56.4″E / 41.043250°N 140.632333°E / 41.043250; 140.632333
Country Japan
Region Tōhoku
Prefecture Aomori
District Higashitsugaru
Area
 • Total 230.29 km2 (88.92 sq mi)
Population (November 2017)
 • Total 5,860
 • Density 25/km2 (66/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
City symbols  
- Tree Pine
- Flower Hydrangea
- Bird Common gull
Phone number 0174-31-1111
Address Kanita, Takadoya 44-2, Sotogahama-machi, Higashitsugaru-gun, Aomori-ken 030-1393
Website Official website
Sotogahama town hall
central Kanita

Sotogahama (外ヶ浜町, Sotogahama-machi) is a town located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. As of 30 November 2017, the town had an estimated population of 5,860, and a population density of 25.4 persons per km2. The total area of the town is 230.29 square kilometres (88.92 sq mi).

Geography

Sotogahama is in Higashitsugaru District of Aomori Prefecture, and consists of two discontinuous geographic areas in northern Tsugaru Peninsula. The larger area is in the south, and consists of the former town of Kanita with a coastline on Mutsu Bay, and the former village of Tairadate in the centre of northern Tsugaru Peninsula. The smaller area is in the north, and consists of the former village of Minmaya with a coastline on the Tsugaru Strait. Much of the town is within the limits of the Tsugaru Quasi-National Park. The town has a cold humid continental climate (Köppen Cfb) characterized by warm short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sotogahama is 10.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1267 mm with September as the wettest month.The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.8 °C.[1]

Neighbouring municipalities

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,[2] the population of Sotogahama has decreased by more than half over the past 40 years.

Census Year Population
1970 16,258
1980 14,955
1990 10,663
2000 9,170
2010 7,089

History

The Tsugaru Peninsula has been inhabited since Japanese Paleolithic times, and some of the world's oldest pottery has been discovered at the Odai Yamamoto I site.[3][4][5] The area around Sotogahama was controlled by the Tsugaru clan of Hirosaki Domain during the Edo period. During the post-Meiji restoration cadastral reform of 1889, Minmaya, Kanita and Tairadate villages were separated from Imabetsu. On March 28, 2005, these three municipalities merged to form the new town of Sotogahama. Minmaya is a geographically discontinuous enclave from the town's center in Kanita.

Economy

The economy of Sotogahama is heavily dependent on commercial fishing. Some of the locally caught seafood include sea urchin roe, sea pineapple, sea cucumber, scallops, abalone and squid.

Education

Sotogahama has three public elementary schools and three public junior high schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

Highway

Local attractions

  • Cape Tappi, the northwestern tip of Honshu
  • Tappizaki Lighthouse, one of the “50 Lighthouses of Japan” by the Japan Lighthouse Association.[6]
  • Odai Yamamoto I site, National Historic Site

Noted people from Sotogahama

  • Jackal Maruyama - a boxer
  • Takuya Tazawa – a nonfiction writer

References

  1. ↑ Sotogahama climate data
  2. ↑ Sotogahama population statistics
  3. ↑ Habu Junko (2004). Ancient Jomon of Japan (Case Studies in Early Societies). Cambridge University Press. pp. 34–42. ISBN 978-0-521-77213-6.
  4. ↑ "大平山元Ｉ遺跡 －日本最古の土器出土－" [Ōdaiyamamoto Ichi Site - Excavation of Japan's Earliest Earthenware] (in Japanese). Aomori Prefecture. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Kaner, S. (2003). "Jomon pottery, Japan". Current World Archaeology. Current Publishing. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Japan Lighthouse Association home page (in Japanese)
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