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Yokote 横手市
City
Kamakura Snow Stature in Yokote
FlagSeal
Location of Yokote in Akita Prefecture
Yokote
Coordinates: 39°18′40.8″N 140°33′11.8″E / 39.311333°N 140.553278°E / 39.311333; 140.553278
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Akita
Government
• Mayor	Dai Takahashi (from October 2013)
Area
• Total	692.80 km (267.49 sq mi)
Population
• Total	81,617
• Density	120/km (310/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
Phone number	0182-35-2111
Address	8-2 Chuo-machi, Yokote-shi, Akita-ken 013-8601
Climate	Cfa/Dfa
Website	Official website
Symbols
Bird	Swan
Flower	Sakura
Tree	Apple

Yokote (横手市, Yokote-shi) is a city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. As of 30 April 2024, the city had an estimated population of 81,617 in 33,876 households, and a population density of 120 persons per km². The total area of the city is 692.80 km (267.49 sq mi).

Geography

Yokote is located in southeast corner of Akita Prefecture in the center of the Yokote Basin, the Yokote River, which flows from the Ōu Mountains to the east, flows through the urban area. It is located about 70 kilometers away from the prefectural capital at Akita city. The city has an area of about 45 kilometers east-west and about 35 kilometers north-south.

Neighboring municipalities

Akita Prefecture

• Daisen
• Higashinaruse
• Misato
• Ugo
• Yurihonjō
• Yuzawa

Iwate Prefecture

• Nishiwaga

Climate

Yokote has a Humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa/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 Yokote is 11.2 °C (52.2 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,737.3 mm (68.40 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.7 °C (76.5 °F), and lowest in January, at around −1.3 °C (29.7 °F).

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Yokote has been in decline for the past 70 years.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1950	148,075	—
1960	140,675	−0.51%
1970	124,160	−1.24%
1980	120,479	−0.30%
1990	115,761	−0.40%
2000	109,004	−0.60%
2010	98,378	−1.02%
2020	85,555	−1.39%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

History

The area of present-day Yokote was part of ancient Dewa Province and was the homeland of the Kiyohara clan of the Heian period Gosannen War. At the end of the Sengoku period, the area came under the control of the Onodera clan, who ruled from Yokote Castle. However, the Onodera sided against Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara and the area came under the control of the Satake clan, who had been relocated to Kubota Domain from their former holdings in Hitachi Province. Kubota Domain was uncommon in that it contained more than one castle, despite the Tokugawa shogunate's "one castle per domain" rule, and Yokote remained a secondary castle town under the Kubota clan until the Meiji restoration.

After the start of the Meiji period, the area became part of Hiraka District, Akita Prefecture in 1878, with one town and 23 villages. The modern city of Yokote was founded on April 1, 1951.

On October 1, 2005, the towns of Hiraka, Jūmonji, Masuda, Omonogawa and Ōmori, and the villages of Sannai, and Taiyū (all from Hiraka District) were merged into Yokote, which now occupies all of former Hiraka District, plus the villages of Meiji and Nishinarusei (formerly from Ogachi District), and the village of Kanazawa (formerly from Senboku District).

Government

Yokote has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 25 members. The city contributes four members to the Akita Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Akita 3rd District of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The economy of Yokote is based on agriculture.

Education

Yokote has fourteen public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government and five public high schools operated by the Akita Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one combined middle/high school and one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company - Ōu Main Line

• Jūmonji - Daigo - Yanagita - Yokote

East Japan Railway Company - Kitakami Line

• Kurosawa - Komatsukawa - Ainono - Yokote

Highway

• Tōhoku-Chūō Expressway
• Akita Expressway
• National Route 13
• National Route 107
• National Route 342
• National Route 397

Local attractions

• Akita Museum of Modern Art

Local events

Kamakura Festival

Yokote is known for its Kamakura Festival, a midwinter festival in which igloo-like snow houses are made throughout the town. It is held in the days leading to the Bonden Festival (mid February) and its location is focused around the city hall area. Children and others sit in the kamakura and serve amazake and mochi to visitors. In addition, several stalls are situated around town serving other types of typical Japanese festival food, including the town's own meibutsu "Yokote yakisoba".

An altar for the water deity is carved into the rear of the room inside each kamakura, where people pray for abundant harvests, the safety of their family members, protection against fire and for academic success. In addition to the large igloos, there are mini-kamakura which are spread throughout the city. There are candles Inside the tiny snow domes. Some of the regular kamakura and the mini-kamakura are sponsored by local businesses and can sometimes look like an advertisement for a product (like a cell phone). The kamakura can be experienced year round in a building adjacent to Yokote City Hall called the Kamakura-kan. Inside, there are a few kamakura kept at a temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) and are open to visitors.

International relations

Sister cities

Yokote is twinned with:

• Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan, since May 24, 1985
• Naka, Ibaraki, Japan, since October 22, 2004

Notable people from Yokote

• Keishi Handa, basketball player
• Makoto Hasegawa, basketball head coach
• Tatsuzō Ishikawa, author
• Kiyonomori Masao, sumo wrestler
• Yasushi Sasaki, movie director.
• Sayuri Sugawara, musician
• Yu Takahashi, musician
• Manabu Terata, politician
• Yoshinori Tomura, general
• Daisuke Usami, volleyball player

References

1. "Yokote City official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
2. ^ 気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値）. JMA. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
3. 観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）. JMA. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
4. Yokote population statistics

External links

• Official Website (in Japanese)
  • Information & Articles in English(in English)
• Yokote Tourism Website (in Japanese)

v t e Akita Prefecture
Akita (capital)
Core city	Akita
Cities	Daisen Katagami Kazuno Kitaakita Nikaho Noshiro Oga Ōdate Semboku Yokote Yurihonjō Yuzawa
Districts	Kazuno District Kosaka Kitaakita District Kamikoani Minamiakita District Gojōme Hachirōgata Ikawa Ōgata Ogachi District Higashinaruse Ugo Senboku District Misato Yamamoto District Fujisato Happō Mitane
List of mergers in Akita Prefecture

• Yokote, Akita
• Cities in Akita Prefecture