The name Aomori derives from the name of the capital city. The Japanese characters are "ao" (pron.: ah-oh; blue color) and "mori" (pron.: mo-lee; forest), meaning Blue Forest.
Aomori is the northernmost prefecture of Honshu Island. The capital is Aomori city. The population and area ranks 31st and 8th in Japan, respectively. The prefecture positionally corresponds to the ancient Mutsu-no-kuni (Riku-o-no-kuni) Province under the Ritsuryo system (ancient law system of Japan) in the 7th century.
Aomori is located in the northernmost part of Tohoku Region. The population is about 1.3 million and about one percent of the whole of Japan. The area of Aomori prefecture is 9,644 square km, which is about 2.5 percent of the whole of Japan. The total number of cities, towns and villages is 40, which is broken down to 10 cities, 8 counties, 22 towns and 8 villages. Fifty two percent of the population lives in the three cities of Aomori, Hachinohe and Hirosaki.
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The South is bounded by the prefectures of Iwate and Akita, the north is bounded by Tsugaru Strait and Hokkaido prefecture beyond it, the east is the Pacific Ocean, and the west is the Sea of Japan.
The Shirakami Mountains (white god mountains) is the UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are many nature sites, such as Lake Towada, Mt. Hakkoda, Mt. Iwaki, and Hotoke-ga-ura seashore. Since the Ohu (or Ou) (pron.: o-oo) Mountain Range runs the middle of the prefecture from north to south, Tsugaru Region in the west and Nambu Region (consists of Mihachi, Kamikita and Shimokita Regions) in the east have their own histories, climates, cultures and customs differently.
Aomori is one of the largest agricultural prefectures and the food self-sufficiency ratio is 118 percent on a calorie basis. The production of apples, Nagaimo (Chinese yams) and garlic ranks the top in each of them among the prefectures in Japan. In fishery, Hachinohe city is one of the largest fish capture ports in Japan. Especially in mackerels and squid, the fish catches are the top in Japan.
The south of the prefecture has the Hachinohe Coastal Industrial Zone built by a national policy, where a thermal power station, a paper mill, electronic device factories, dock and their related industries are located. The Shimokita Peninsula has a nuclear power plant and large-scaled wind power stations.
There are two airports, each in Aomori city and Misawa city. The Tohoku Shinkansen (bullet trains) links Shin-Aomori to Tokyo in 2 hours 59 minutes at the shortest. The conventional railroad lines are Aoimori (ah-oi-mori) Railway Line, Ou Main Line and Tsugaru-Kaikyo Line (links Hokkaido through the Seikan tunnel). Main roads are the Hirosaki line and Hachinohe line (called Hachinohe Expressway) of Tohoku Jukan Expressway and National Route 4, linking Aomori city to Nihonbashi in Tokyo. Besides, National Route 7 links Aomori city to Niigata city. Car ferries ply between Aomori Port and Hokkaido or Hachinohe Port and Hokkaido. Hachinohe Port has international container shipment services.
There are famous festivals, such as Aomori Nebuta Matsuri, Goshogawara Tachineputa, and Hachinohe Sansha Taisai. A number of Jomon excavations have been found in the prefecture area. For instance, houses ruins, earthenware and Dogu (pron.: doh-goo; ancient clay figures) were found at the Sannai-Maruyama Ruins (Aomori city), Futatsumori Kaizuka shell mound (Kamikita District), and Korekawa Stone Age Site (Hachinohe city).
The unemployment ratio is 6.1 percent (estimation of 2010), which is equivalent to German's ratio of 2011.
Origin of the name "Aomori"
Since the prefectural office moved from Hirosaki town to Aomori town, the capital name changed to "Aomori." The place first called "Aomori" was a new fishing port town, which Hirosaki-Han built in the Edo period. The port town had a natural green forest as a landmark visible from the sea. In a broad sense of the Japanese old word, the word "blue" also includes "green," the landmark and then town were called "Blue Forest".
The prefecture is not active in the secondary (manufacturing) industry, so that it has a problem with large depopulation. The prefecture made some efforts, such as Mutsu Ogawara Project and Crystal Valley Plan, to change to a prefecture of manufacturing, but resulted in failure. Accordingly, the primary industry is still a major industry in there.
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The prefectural GDP is 4.6 trillion yen, which ranks 28th in Japan, as of 2006, and equivalent to Oman's GDP. The amount of production by industry and their composition ratios are 203.9 billion yen (4.2 percent) in the primary industry, 1.1308 trillion yen (23.5 percent) in the secondary industry, and 3.4703 trillion yen (72.2 percent) in the tertiary industry. Compared with the other prefectures, Aomori prefecture has large ratio in the primary industry and small ratio in the manufacturing.
Agriculture
Aomori is one of the largest agricultural prefectures in production in Japan. According to the 2006 statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the total amount of the agricultural production was 288.5 billion yen. The self-sufficiency ratio for food is 118 percent. As well as Hokkaido, Iwate, Akita and Yamagata prefectures, Aomori is one of few prefectures that exceed 100 percent of the food self-sufficiency ratio. The climates vary from place to place due to the Tsugaru Plain, Nanbu Plain and mountainous areas, so that the various types of farming business have been run in there. The total amount of vegetable production ranks 14th in Japan and has been the top in Tohoku Region consecutively for 10 years.
Hirosaki city: The production of apples is the top in Japan. The prefecture is an area of apple production, and about half the apples in Japan's market are from Aomori. The apple variety "Fuji" is famous. "Fuji" was named after Fujisaki-machi (a town by Hirosaki city) where it was originally cultivated. The sugar content of Fuji is as high as 14 to 16 percent. The apples can be preserved for four months at normal temperatures or for seven months in a refrigerator.
The cultivation of the apples is active in Tsugaru Region including Hirosaki city. In addition, the area of Sannohe and KamiKita counties in Nambu Region are active as well. Ninety percent of Aomori's apple exports go to Taiwan. The production of horses has continued in Sannohe city and Shimokita Region. Even today, the racehorse production ranks second in Japan, after Hokkaido. The production of garlic (Towada city) and blackcurrant (Aomori city) is the top in each of them. Ninety percent of Japan's blackcurrants are from Aomori. In Japan, foie gras has only been produced at Aomori city.
Forestry
Aomori Hiba (he-bah) trees grow in one of the three most beautiful forests of Japan. The Hiba trees especially in the Shimokita Peninsula have good quality. The world's largest forest of natural beech trees is located in the Shirakami Mountains, which is the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Somei Yoshino is the most popular variety of cherry blossom in Japan, and the Japan's oldest Somei Yoshino tree is in Hirosaki park where Hirosaki Castle is located.
Fishery
The prefecture is active in fishery, since the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan surround its three sides, both warm current and cold current flow from the ocean into the Mutsu Bay located in the middle. The four currents make good fishing grounds near the prefecture. Major fishes are squid, scallops, large-tooth flounders (Hirame) and righteye flounders (Karei). The fishing ground especially in the Mutsu Bay is good for scallops, sea cucumbers, large-tooth flounders (Hirame), and Togekurigani crabs. The tunas caught in the Tsugaru Strait are high-class and have been shipping for metropolitan areas. The tunas shipping especially from Ooma-machi town (pron.: o-ma-machi) are called "Ooma-no-maguro" (pron.: o-ma-no-mah-goo-roh) are expensive products. Hachinohe Port always ranks first or second in fish catch amount in Japan, and its major fishes are squid, mackerels, and so on.
