History

The Aomori Prefecture came into existence in 1871. Aomori Town was established in 1889. The town was incorporated as a city in 1898 with a population of 28,000.

Around one o'clock in the afternoon of May 3, 1910 a fire broke out in the Yasukata district. Fanned by strong winds, in four short hours the fire 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.

At 10:30 p.m. on July 28, 1945 a squadron of American B29 bombers approached Aomori from the west and, in less than two hours bombed over 90% of the city. Radio Aomori (RAB) made its first broadcast in 1951. 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 Minmaya Village at the tip of the peninsula.
   Meanwhile, various outlying towns and villages were being incorporated into the growing city and with the absorption of Nonai Village in 1962, Aomori became the largest city in the prefecture.
   In March 1985, after 23 years of unremitting labor and an enormous financial investment of 700 billion yen, the Seikan Tunnel finally linked the islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, thereby becoming the longest tunnel of its kind in the world. Almost exactly three years later, on March 13, railroad service was inaugurated on the Tsugaru Kaikyo Line.

That same day saw the end of the Seikan Ferry service, thus closing a chapter of history which began in 1908. During their 80 years of service, the familiar ferries of the Seikan line sailed between Aomori and Hakodate some 720,000 times, carrying 160 million passengers.

In April 1993, the enthusiasm of Aomori City and a group of six other local communities was rewarded with the opening of Aomori Public College. Defining its mission as "turning out graduates with an awareness both of their own city and of the world beyond it", the college has assumed the core functions necessary to provide such learning and culture. At the same time, it strives to serve the local community at large and to play a leading role in this age of internationalization and information exchange.
   In August 1994, Aomori City penned an "Education, Culture and Friendship Exchange Pact" with Kecskemet in Hungary. One year later a similar treaty was signed with Pyongtaek City in South Korea, and cultural exchange activities began with exchanges of woodblock prints and paintings.
   Also, in April 1995, Aomori Airport became the first airport in the northern Tohoku region to offer regular international air service to Seoul, South Korea, and Khabarovsk, Russia.(External Link) In June, 2007, 4 North Korean defectors reached Aomori Prefecture, after having been at sea for 6 days, marking the second known case ever where defectors have successfully reached Japan by boat.(External Link)

Geography

Cities

Towns and villages

Mergers

Economy

Demographics

Culture

Tourism attractions

Shirakami-Sanchi There is a localized Japanese legend that Jesus Christ didn't die on the cross but made his way to Shingo, Aomori where he became a rice farmer, married, and had a family (External Link). The legend owes its existence to a supposed 1930s discovery, "the discovery of what were claimed to be ancient Hebrew documents detailing Jesus' life and death in Japan" (External Link); the local legend also posits that his grave is located in Aomori.

Prefectural symbols

The Aomori prefectural symbol is a stylized map of the prefecture, showing the crown of Honshū: the Tsugaru, Natsudomari and Shimokita Peninsulas.

Miscellaneous topics

The two major dialects of Japanese spoken in Aomori Prefecture are Tsugaru-ben (津軽弁) and Nambu-ben (南部弁); the former is prevalent in the area around Aomori City, and the latter is heard in and around the city of Hachinohe.

Media

TV