Yamagata, Yamagata

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**Yamagata City**
**山形市**
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Yamagata prefecture
Physical characteristics
Area	381.34 km²
Population (as of 2003)
Total	255,304
Location	°′N °′E
Symbols
Yamagata City City Hall
Official website: Yamagata City

Coordinates: °′N °′E

This article is about the city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Although its Japanese language orthography is different there is another city written the same in English in Gifu Prefecture, see Yamagata, Gifu (山県市). There are also villages of the same name in Nagano Prefecture and Iwate Prefecture.

Yamagata city office building

Yamagata (山形市; -shi, lit. mountain shape) is the capital city of Yamagata Prefecture in Japan.

The famed temple of Yamadera (Ryushakuji) lies within the city limits, 15 minutes by train from the center.

As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 255,304 and a density of 669.49 persons per km². The total area is 381.34 km².

The hanagasa festival (花笠祭り; hanagasa matsuri), one of Tohoku's major summer festivals, is held in the city every August. Yamagata also hosts the bi-annual Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. An autumn tradition is imoni-kai (taro potato party). taro potatoes, thin-sliced meat, and vegetables are boiled in a pot at picnic spots. The banks of the Mamigasaki River are popular. Once a year, the city government serves thousands from its giant imoni pot.

Yamagata City is served by the Yamagata Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo, which detaches from the Tohoku Shinkansen at Fukushima City. The express train takes under three hours, and the one-way cost is about 10,000 yen.

Yamagata City is located in a wide central valley (bonchi) that can heat up quickly in spring and summer and is often grey and humid, while to the east in Miyagi Prefecture on the Pacific coast it is usually clearer and more temperate. The opposite is the case in winter with the valley seeing frequent snow and the Pacific coast remainig clear and fine.

In the center of town west of the train station is the extensive Kajo Koen (park), the grounds of the keep of feudal warlord Mogami Yoshiaki. While most of the park is athletic fields and public function buildings, the rebuilt walls, eastern main gate, and surrounding moat of the former castle are impressive. The park is filled with cherry blossoms and people in season. It contains a small public museum with nice displays of natural and social history.

The city is also the home of the Kojirakawa Campus and Iida Campus of Yamagata University. The Kojirakawa Campus houses the Faculty of Literature & Social Science, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Education, Art & Science. The Iida Campus includes the Faculty of Medicine, which also includes the School of Nursing and the University Hospital.

The city was founded on April 1, 1889.

1 Transportation
- 1.1 Train stations
- 1.2 Major roads
2 Trivia
3 External links

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Train stations

JR East
- Yamagata Shinkansen: Yamagata
- Ōu Main Line: Zaō - Yamagata - Kita-Yamagata - Uzen-Chitose - Minami-Dewa - Urushiyama
- Senzan Line: Omoshiroyama-Kōgen - Yamadera - Takase - Tateyama - Uzen-Chitose - Kita-Yamagata - Yamagata
- Aterazawa Line: Yamagata - Kita-Yamagata - Higashikanai

[edit] Major roads

Tōhoku Chūō Expressway: Yamagata-chūō, Yamagata-Kaminoyama interchanges
Yamagata Expressway: Yamagata-Zaō, Yamagata-kita, Sekizawa interchanges
Route 13, Route 48, Route 112, Route 286, Route 348, Route 458

[edit] Trivia

The highest temperature ever recorded in Japan was registered in Yamagata (40.8 C on July 25, 1933).
Yamagata is a sister city to Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia
Yamagata is a sister city to Boulder, Colorado.