Aomori

Japan

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Aomori, city and capital of Aomori ken (prefecture), northern Honshu, Japan. It is located on Aomori Bay, near the northern limit of the Tōhoku region.

One of Japan’s most important transportation centres, Aomori is the terminus of the main northern Honshu rail lines—including the Tōhoku branch of the Shinkansen (bullet train)—and railroad ferry services across the Tsugaru Strait to Hakodate, on Hokkaido. The Tōhoku Highway and Seikan Tunnel facilitate communication between Hokkaido and Honshu. Strong winter winds make extensive breakwaters necessary in Aomori’s artificial harbour, which ships lumber and fish and is noted for coastal trade. Those same winds are a contributing factor to “sea-effect snow,” a phenomenon that makes Aomori one of the snowiest cities on Earth; snowfall in Aomori averages some 25 feet (7.6 metres) annually. Pop. (2020) 275,192.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.