Mogami, Yamagata

Mogami is located in the mountains of extreme northeastern Yamagata Prefecture. Despite its name, the Mogami River does not run through the town. The area is known for extremely heavy snows in winter.

Per Japanese census data,[2] the population of Mogami peaked in the 1950s, and is now considerably less than what it was a century ago.

Mogami has a Humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Mogami is 9.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1649 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.7 °C.[3]

During the Sengoku period, the area was under the control of the Mogami clan who built Oguni Castle. During the Edo period, parts of the area came under the control of Shinjō Domain. After the start of the Meiji period, the area became part of Mogami District, Yamagata Prefecture. The villages of Higashi-Oguni and Nishi-Oguni were established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. These villages merged to form the town of Mogami on September 1, 1954.

Mogami was formerly known as a horse breeding area, and numerous ranches supplied horses to the Imperial Japanese Army's cavalry regiments. Modern Mogami is dependent on agriculture, forestry and seasonal tourism to its many hot spring resorts.

Mogami has seven public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the city government and one public high school operated by the Yamagata Prefectural Board of Education.

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• Official Website (in Japanese)