Tōhoku region

The Tōhoku region (東北地方, Tōhoku-chihō) is a geographical area of Japan. Tōhoku is Japanese for "northeast", and the Tōhoku region occupies the northeastern portion of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. The area is also known as Michinoku (みちのく). The population estimate of Tōhoku as of 2008 is 9,708,257.^{[citation needed]}

The region consists of six prefectures: Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata.

The last stronghold of the indigenous Ainu on Honshū and the site of many battles, Tōhoku retains a reputation as a remote region, offering breathtaking scenery but a harsh climate. The haiku poet Matsuo Bashō wrote Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North) during his travels through Tōhoku.

Tōhoku, like most of Japan, is hilly or mountainous, with the Ōu Mountains running north-south. Its initial historical settlement occurred between the seventh and ninth centuries, well after Japanese civilization and culture had become firmly established in central and southwestern Japan. Although iron, steel, cement, chemical, pulp, and petroleum-refining industries began developing in the 1960s, Tōhoku was traditionally considered the granary of Japan because it supplied Sendai and the Tokyo-Yokohama market with rice and other farm commodities. Tōhoku provided 20 percent of the nation's rice crop. The climate, however, is harsher than in other parts of Honshū and permits only one crop a year on paddy fields.

Cast iron tea pots like this one sit atop stoves during the long winters in Tōhoku.

The inland location of many of the region's lowlands has led to a concentration of much of the population there. Coupled with coastlines that do not favor seaport development, this settlement pattern resulted in a much greater than usual dependence on land and railroad transportation. Low points in the central mountain range fortunately make communications between lowlands on either side of the range moderately easy. Tourism became a major industry in the Tōhoku region.

Points of interest

Cities and populated areas

Natural features

Parks

References

This image is available from the United States Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division under the digital ID {{{id}}}
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Wikipedia:Copyrights for more information.

—Japan

External links

38°54′N 140°41′E / 38.900°N 140.683°E / 38.900; 140.683