Gonohe, Aomori

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location of Gonohe in Aomori prefecture

Gonohe (五戸町, Gonohe-machi^?) is a town located in Sannohe District, Aomori, Japan. Gonohe Town is located in the north-eastern part of Sannohe-gun, approximately 16 kilometres west of Hachinohe City and 10 kilometres southeast of Towada City. The town is adjacent to Hachinohe City to the east, Shingo Village to the west, Nanbu Town to the south, and Towada City, Oirase Town and Rokunohe Town to the north. With a total area of 177.82 km², the land extends 16.8 kilometres east to west and 18.55 kilometres north to south.

1 Geography
2 Climate
3 History
4 Local culture
5 Economy
6 Recent controversy
7 Commander Kyosuke Eto
8 External links

[edit] Geography

The Gonohegawa River, which flows from Mt. Herai-dake into the Pacific Ocean, and the Asamizugawa River, which originates from a hot spring swamp to join the Mabechigawa River, run parallel to each other through the town. While embracing these two rivers, residential areas have formed, and rice fields can be found in the flat areas that benefit from the favourable flows of water. The slightly sloped hillside areas spread to the east of the Ōu Mountains and are utilized as crop fields and apple orchards.

[edit] Climate

The type of weather most characteristic of the region is the yamase, the easterly winds which bring cold air in summer. In Gonohe Town, the yamase brings rain and, when such conditions last for a long time, harvests are significantly affected because of the low temperatures and lack of sunshine. However, the town receives relatively less snow than its location in northern Tōhoku would otherwise suggest.

[edit] History

The name of the town is said to have derived from the ranch system used by the Nanbu clan who ruled in these parts. In 1189, during the Kamakura period, Mitsuyuki Saburo Nanbu of Kai was given the former Nukabe district (the current Sanhachi and Kamikita districts of Aomori Prefecture) to start the Nanbu clan. As the land was suited for raising battle horses, he divided it into nine he (ranches), then further divided each he into four plots of north, south, east and west. Thus his ranch system, which comprised four mon (directions) and nine hes, is said to be the origin of the town's name Gonohe. The Chinese characters 五戸 used in the town's name translate as fifth gate or door.

In April 1889, with the introduction of the town and village system, the land became Gonohe Village. In November 1915, the village started the town system and became Gonohe Town. In July 1955, Gonohe Town was combined with Kawauchi Village and Asada Village, this also included incorporating part of the Tekurabashi area of Nozawa Village and the Toyomauchi area of Toyosaki Village. After a merger with neighbouring Kuraishi on 1st July 2004, Gonohe now has an estimated population of 25,635 and a density of 116.04 persons per km². In recent years there has been a small community of repatriated Manchurian Japanese living in Kuraishi.

[edit] Local culture

In its earlier history Gonohe enjoyed a reputation as a breeding centre for horses of exceptional quality, popular amongst the Samurai. With the decline of the Samurai, Gonohe's horses continued to be bred for their meat. The lean horse meat is coveted as a delicacy, especially when served in its raw form, known as Basashi (Japanese: 馬刺し). This dish is a speciality of both Gonohe and Kumamoto City in southern Kyūshū. After its horses, Gonohe is best known for the local popularity of soccer.

[edit] Economy

Key industries of the town are agriculture, with a focus mainly on producing vegetables, rice and livestock. Since the town was designated a new industrial city of Hachinohe district, inland industries have developed in the Jizo-daira Industrial Estate, where 20 companies are now in operation.

[edit] Recent controversy

On 28th June 2001 the town's Korean 'sister city' Okchongun cancelled a planned trip to send 25 young people, mostly students, on an exchange visit to Gonohe. The decision was a reaction to the recent approval in Japan of a series of Junior High School history textbooks that were regarded as distorting historical fact and glossing over the atrocities carried out by the Japanese military during its Second World War campaigns in Asia. The youngsters had planned to visit between 29th August and 2nd September that year, to coincide with the Gonohe festival held on 31st August.

The event was preceded by a related incident in April of that year, when a group of Gonohe assemblymen cancelled a planned visit to Korea that May. That decision had also been made owing to the schism caused by the latest developments in the Japanese history textbook controversies. The matters were eventually settled and normal exchanges resumed.

[edit] Commander Kyosuke Eto

Kyosuke Eto, Gonohe's most famous resident, was born in Gonohe on April 7, 1881, the first son of a local sake brewer. He was expected to succeed to the family business in the natural course of events under the primogeniture system, a common custom in Japan in those days. However, when he was a junior high school student, he told his father that he wanted to change to a high school in Tokyo to serve in the Imperial Japanese Navy in the future. He is said to have fasted for three days and succeeded in persuading his stubbornly objecting father.

After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1900, the major achievement in his seventeen-year career came when he was only 24 years old, in the "Sea of Japan Naval Battle" against Russia in 1905, Japan's first major war against world powers after the Meiji Restoration of 1867. He was the commander of the aft turret of the battleship HIJMS Azuma, and contributed a great deal to Japan's sweeping victory. He was conferred his first decoration later.

The next major success for Kyosuke was during the First World War, when he worked as staff officer of the Navy's Heavy Artillery in the battle against Germany in Tsingtao, China. The battle turned out to be a decisive victory for Japan and the artillery made an outstanding contribution to it.

In May 1916 Kyosuke was transferred to the United Kingdom via Siberia, and from 15 August that year he served on board HMS Vanguard. Just before midnight on Monday 9 July 1917, HMS Vanguard suffered an explosion while stationed in Scapa Flow, Scotland. This was probably caused by an unnoticed stokehold fire heating cordite stored against an adjacent bulkhead in one of the two magazines which served the amidships turrets P and Q. She sank almost instantly, killing an estimated 843 men; there were only two survivors. Amongst those killed was 36 year old Kyosuke. The site is now designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act. His family visited the Orkneys in 1984, and were taken to the site of Vanguard's wreck.

Kyosuke received the following Posthumous Conferment: