Yamamoto, Miyagi

Yamamoto

山元町
Yamamoto 山元町
Town
	Yamamoto Town Office
	Flag Seal
	Location of Yamamoto in Miyagi Prefecture
	Yamamoto
	Coordinates: 37°57′44.5″N 140°52′39″E / 37.962361°N 140.87750°E
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Miyagi
District	Watari
Area
• Total	64.58 km2 (24.93 sq mi)
Population (October 10, 2020)
• Total	12,045
• Density	190/km2 (480/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- Tree	Japanese black pine
- Flower	Azalea
- Bird	Barn swallow
Phone number	0223-37-1111
Address	Aasehara Sakutayama 31, Yamamoto-chō, Watari-gun, Miyagi-ken 989-2292
Website	Official website

Yamamoto (山元町, Yamamoto-chō) is a town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 May 2020^[update], the town had an estimated population of 12,100, and a population density of 190 persons per km² in 4794 households.^[1] The total area of the town is 64.58 square kilometres (24.93 sq mi).

Geography

Yamamoto is located in south-east Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, and Fukushima Prefecture to the south.

Neighboring municipalities

Fukushima Prefecture

Shinchi

Miyagi Prefecture

Climate

Yamamoto has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) characterized by mild summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Yamamoto is 12.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1252 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.7 °C.^[2]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,^[3] the population of Yamamoto peaked at around the year 2000, and has dropped rapidly since, especially since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1920	10,615	—
1930	12,037	+13.4%
1940	12,967	+7.7%
1950	18,370	+41.7%
1960	16,547	−9.9%
1970	14,820	−10.4%
1980	17,630	+19.0%
1990	18,268	+3.6%
2000	18,537	+1.5%
2010	16,704	−9.9%
2020	12,045	−27.9%

History

The area of present-day Yamamoto was part of ancient Mutsu Province and was part of the holdings of Sendai Domain under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The village of Yamamoto was established on April 1, 1889, with the establishment of a post-Meiji restoration modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on February 1, 1951, by merging with the neighboring village of Sakamoto.

Yamamoto was devastated by the 9–9.1 moment magnitude scale (M_w) 2011 Tōhoku earthquake (Shindo 6+) off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March 2011 and resultant tsunami.^[4] Eyewitness accounts describe Yamamoto as "one of the worst-hit areas" with no houses left undamaged.^[5] On February 13, 2021, Yamamoto was again hit by a M7.3 earthquake that struck off the coast of Fukushima prefecture, with a Shindo 6- rating, though some record the shaking as Shindo 7.

Government

Yamamoto has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 13 members. Yamamoto and the town of Watari together contribute two seats to the Miyagi Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Miyagi 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The economy of Yamamoto is largely based on agriculture and commercial fishing.

Education

Yamamoto has four public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a public high school; however, there is a special education school for the handicapped operated by the Miyagi Prefectural Board of Education.