is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, Iwate Prefecture to the southeast, Akita Prefecture to the southwest, the Sea of Japan to the west, and Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait to the north. Aomori Prefecture is the eighth-largest prefecture, with an area of , and the 31st-most populous prefecture, with more than 1.18 million people. Mount Iwaki, an active stratovolcano, is the prefecture's highest point, at .
Humans have inhabited the prefecture for at least 15,000 years, and the oldest evidence of pottery in Japan was discovered at the Jōmon period Ōdai Yamamoto I Site. After centuries of rule by the Nanbu and Tsugaru clans, the prefecture was formed out of the northern part of Mutsu Province during the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century. The entire Tōhoku region, including Aomori Prefecture, experienced significant growth in population and economy until the late 20th century, when a significant population decline began. Though the prefecture remains dominated by primary sector industries, especially apple orchards, it also serves as a transportation and logistics hub due to its location. Additionally, it is the largest producer of black garlic in Japan. Tourism is also a significant part of the prefecture's economy, especially due to the Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan and Shirakami-Sanchi World Heritage Sites.
Aomori Prefecture has a distinctive subculture influenced by its distant location relative to the central government of Japan and the region's long, snowy winters. It is the birthplace of the traditional Tsugaru-jamisen, a local version of the three-stringed musical instrument known as shamisen. Embroidery, pottery, lacquerware, cabinetry, and iron working are also significant crafts in the prefecture. Various porridges and soups are distinctive to Aomori Prefecture. Several festivals are held in Aomori Prefecture; the most noted of which is Aomori Nebuta Matsuri. Aomori Prefecture is home to several association football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey teams. The prefecture's religious beliefs are heavily rooted in Shinto and Buddhism; it is noted for its blind mediums and purported tomb of Jesus. Etymology The name can be literally translated as "green forest". The name was first given to a port settlement established by the Hirosaki Domain in 1624 (modern city of Aomori), and most likely originates from a small forest on a hill that existed nearby, which is said to have been used by fishermen as a landmark.
History
Jōmon period The Jōmon period is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population. The oldest evidence of pottery in Japan was found at the Ōdai Yamamoto I Site in the town of Sotogahama in the northwestern part of the prefecture. The relics found there suggest that the Jōmon period began about 15,000 years ago. By 7,000 BCE, fishing cultures had developed along the shores of the prefecture. Around 3,900 BCE, settlement at the Sannai-Maruyama Site in the present-day city of Aomori began. The settlement shows evidence of wide interaction between the site's inhabitants and people from across Jōmon period Japan, including Hokkaido and Kyushu. The settlement of Sannai-Maruyama ended around 2,300 BCE for unknown reasons. Its abandonment was likely due to the population's subsistence economy being unable to result in sustained growth, with its end being spurred on by the reduced amount of natural resources during a neoglaciation. The Jōmon period continued up to 300 BCE in present-day Aomori Prefecture at the Kamegaoka site in the city of Tsugaru where small statuettes called Shakōkidogū have been found.
Yayoi period to Heian period
The Yayoi period, , is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production based on rice cultivation in Japan and the emergence of keyhole-shaped burial mounds. The region, known then as Michinoku, was inhabited by the Emishi. It is not clear if the Emishi were the descendants of the Jōmon people, a group of the Ainu people, or if both the Ainu and Emishi were descended from the Jōmon people. The northernmost tribe of the Emishi that inhabited what would become Aomori Prefecture was known as the Tsugaru. Historic records mention a series of destructive eruptions in 917 from the volcano at Lake Towada. The eruptive activity peaked on August 17. The Heian period, , was characterized by centralized government influenced by China. Throughout this period, the Emishi were slowly subdued by the Imperial Court in Kyoto before being incorporated into Mutsu Province by the Northern Fujiwara around 1094. The Northern Fujiwara continued to rule the Tōhoku region until 1189. Mutsu Province was a large province that was later broken into Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture.
The Northern Fujiwara set up the port settlement of Tosaminato in present-day Goshogawara to develop trade between their lands, Kyoto, and continental Asia. The Northern Fujiwara were deposed in 1189 by Minamoto no Yoritomo, who would go on to establish the Kamakura shogunate, which is known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan.
Kamakura period
The Kamakura period is a phase that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate between . Minamoto no Yoritomo incorporated Mutsu Province into the holdings of the Kamakura shogunate. Nanbu Mitsuyuki, founder of the Nanbu clan, was awarded vast estates in Nukanobu District after he had joined Minamoto no Yoritomo at the Battle of Ishibashiyama in 1180 and the conquest of the Northern Fujiwara.
Nanbu Mitsuyuki built Shōjujidate Castle in what is now Nanbu, Aomori. The eastern area of the current prefecture was dominated by horse ranches, and the Nanbu grew powerful and wealthy on the supply of warhorses. These horse ranches were fortified stockades, numbered one through nine (Ichinohe through Kunohe), and were awarded to the six sons of Nanbu Mitsuyuki, forming the six main branches of the Nanbu clan. The northwestern part of the prefecture was awarded to the Andō clan for their role in driving the Northern Fujiwara out of Tosaminato. The port was expanded under the rule of the Andō clan and they traded heavily with the Ainu in Ezo. Conflict would break out between the Ainu and the Andō clan in 1268 and again in the 1320s. The conflict ended after the Nanbu intervened at the behest of the shogunate. The conflict weakened the Kamakura shogunate in its later years. The Andō became split into northern (Andō) and southern (Akita) divisions. During this time, the Emishi were gradually assimilated into the warrior class.
Buddhism expanded greatly in Japan during this period, with six new schools of Buddhism being founded: Pure Land, Rinzai, , Sōtō, Nichiren school, and the Ji-shū branch of Pure Land. While these new schools of Buddhism spread to Aomori Prefecture, the process was slow due to the distance from Kamakura. Buddism is Aomori remained strongly blended with older schools of Buddism in Aomori Prefecture, especially Shugendō and Tendai.
Muromachi period
The Muromachi period, , saw the rise of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate and Onmyōji, practitioners of astronomy and divination, into high governmental positions. At the onset of the Ashikaga shogunate, the Nanbu and Andō continued to rule the area, with the Nanbu controlling the current prefecture's southeastern section and the Andō controlling the Shimokita and Tsugaru peninsulas. The Andō also were involved with controlling the fringes of Ezo, splitting their attention. In 1336, the Andō completed construction of Horikoshi Castle during the Northern and Southern Courts period. During the Muromachi, the Nanbu slowly began edging the Andō out of present-day Aomori Prefecture. The Andō were pushed out of Tosaminato in 1432, retreating to Ezo, giving the Nanbu control over all their lands. The port settlement would fall into disrepair under the Nanbu.
During the Muromachi period, Aomori Prefecture became a key part of the Japan-Ezo-Northern Asia trade network. Tosaminato on the Tsugaru Peninsula was the primary port for this trade network. By this timeframe the Emishi no longer existed as a distinct polity, but their culture was still influential. Relations with the Ainu in Hokkaido were still strong.
Sengoku period The Sengoku period of the 15th and 16th centuries is an era in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously, similar to the Early Middle Ages in Europe. During the Sengoku period, the Nanbu clan collapsed into several rival factions. One faction under Ōura Tamenobu asserted their control over the Hirosaki Domain. His clan, originally the , was of uncertain origins. According to later Tsugaru clan records, the clan was descended from the noble Fujiwara clan and had an accent claim to ownership of the Tsugaru region on the Tsugaru Peninsula and the area surrounding Mount Iwaki in the northwestern corner of Mutsu Province; however, according to the records of their rivals, the Nanbu clan, clan progenitor Ōura Tamenobu was born as either Nanbu Tamenobu or Kuji Tamenobu, from a minor branch house of the Nanbu and was driven from the clan due to discord with his elder brother.
In any event, the Ōura were hereditary under the Nanbu clan's local magistrate Ishikawa Takanobu; however, in 1571, Tamenobu attacked and killed Ishikawa and began taking the Nanbu clan's castles in the Tsugaru region. He captured castles at Ishikawa, Daikoji and Aburakawa, and soon gathered support of many former Nanbu retainers in the region. After pledging fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he was confirmed as an independent warlord in 1590 and changed his name to "Tsugaru", formally establishing the Tsugaru clan. Tsugaru Tamenobu assisted Hideyoshi at the Battle of Odawara, and accompanied his retinue to Hizen during the Korean Expedition. Afterwards, he sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.
Control of this region during the Sengoku period was more splintered than the central parts of Japan. Villagers were often forced to labor for the local rulers and feed soldiers. It was also more culturally diverse because of the Emishi-descendants and presence of the Wajin and Ainu. By this time the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to subsistence farming was fairly complete. The people of this region grew rice, barley, wheat, and millet and fished.
Edo period
During the Edo period, , Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional daimyo, or feudal lords. The Edo period was a prolonged era of peace, stability, economic expansion, and urbanizaion. After the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Nanbu ruled the Shimokita Peninsula and the districts immediately to the south of it. The area to the west of the Nanbu's holdings and to the north of the lands held by the Akita clan were all controlled by the Tsugaru clan, from their capital at Hirosaki. Work on Hirosaki Castle was completed in 1611, replacing Horikoshi Castle as the Tsugaru clan's fortress. By 1631, the Tsugaru clan had solidified their control over their gains made during the Sengoku period. Mutsu Province was struck by the Tenmei famine between 1781 and 1789, due to lower than usual temperatures that were exacerbated by volcanic eruptions at Mount Iwaki, near the Tsugaru clan's capital, Hirosaki, between November 1782 and June 1783.