title: Aomori Prefecture

text: During the Yayoi period, the area that would become Aomori Prefecture was impacted by the migration of settlers from continental Asia to a lesser extent than the rest of Japan to the south and west of the region. 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 17 August. Throughout the Heian 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 set up the port settlement 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.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Minamoto no Yoritomo incorporated Mutsu Province into the holdings of the Kamakura shogunate. Nanbu Mitsuyuki was awarded vast estates in Nukanobu District after he had joined Minamoto no Yoritomo at the Battle of Ishibashiyama 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. They traded heavily with the Ainu in Ezo. However, conflict would break out between the Ainu and the Andō clan in 1268 and again in the 1320s. The conflict was put down after the Nanbu intervened at the behest of the shogunate. The conflict weakened the Kamakura shogunate in its later years, while the Andō were split into northern (Andō) and southern (Akita) divisions.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: 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.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: 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 one after another. 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.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: 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.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: At the beginning of the Edo period, the last pockets of Ainu people in Honshu still lived in the mountainous areas on the peninsulas of the prefecture. They interacted with the ruling clans to some extent, but they primarily lived off of fishing the waters of Mutsu Bay and the Tsugaru Strait. However, the Tsugaru clan made two big pushes to assimilate the Ainu, the first came in 1756 and the second came in 1809. Records show that the clan was successful in wiping out the Ainu culture in their holdings, though some geographic names in Aomori Prefecture still retain their original Ainu names.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Despite the 1867 resignation of the last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, by late 1868 the Boshin War had reached northern Japan. On 20 September 1868 the pro-Shōgunate Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei was proclaimed at Morioka, the capital of the Nanbu clan who ruled Morioka Domain. The Tsugaru clan first sided with the pro-imperial forces of Satchō Alliance, and attacked nearby Shōnai Domain. However, the Tsugaru soon switched course, and briefly became a member of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. However, for reasons yet unclear, the Tsugaru backed out of the alliance and re-joined the imperial cause after a few months. The Nanbu and Tsugaru clans resumed their old rivalry and fought at the Battle of Noheji.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: As a result of the minor skirmish, the Tsugaru clan was able to prove its defection from the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei and loyalty to the imperial cause. Tsugaru forces later joined the imperial army in attacking the Republic of Ezo at the Battle of Hakodate, where the pro-Shōgunate forces were finally defeated. As a result, the entire clan was able to evade the punitive measures taken by the Meiji government on other northern domains.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: In 1868 Mutsu Province was broken up into five provinces in the aftermath of the Boshin War, with its namesake province, Rikuō occupying what would later become Aomori Prefecture and the northwestern corner of Iwate Prefecture. On 4 September 1871 Rikuō Province was abolished and divided, establishing today's Aomori Prefecture. Its capital was briefly located in Hirosaki, but it was moved on 23 September to the centrally located port village, Aomori.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The prefecture's new capital, Aomori, saw rapid expansion which was due to its importance as a logistic hub in northern Japan. It became a town in 1889 and then a city in 1898. On 30 October 1889, an American merchant ship, the "Cheseborough" wrecked off the prefecture's west coast near the village Shariki, many of the ship's crew were saved by the villagers. The Nippon Railway, a private company, completed the Tōhoku Main Line in 1891, linking Aomori to Ueno Station in Tokyo. During a military exercise on 23 January 1902, 199 soldiers died after getting lost during a blizzard in the Hakkōda Mountains incident. On 3 May 1910, a fire broke out in the Yasukata district. Fanned by strong winds, the fire quickly devastated the whole city. The conflagration claimed 26 lives and injured a further 160 residents. It destroyed 5,246 houses and burnt 19 storage sheds and 157 warehouses.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: On 23 March 1945 a mudslide destroyed a section of the town of Ajigasawa, killing 87 of its inhabitants. At 10:30 p.m. on 28 July 1945, a squadron of American B-29 bombers bombed over 90% of the city of Aomori. The estimated civilian impact of the air raid on the city was the death of 1,767 people and the destruction of 18,045 homes. Infrastructure was destroyed across the prefecture including the Seikan Ferry, naval facilities in Mutsu and Misawa, Hachinohe Airfield, and the ports and railways of Aomori and Hachinohe.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: During the Occupation of Japan, Aomori's military bases were controlled by the US military. Hachinohe Airfield was occupied until 1950, and was called Camp Haugen. Misawa Air Base was occupied and rebuilt by the United States Army Air Forces; the base has seen a US military presence since then. Radio Aomori made its first broadcast in 1953. Four years later, the first fish auctions were held. 1958 saw the completion of the Municipal Fish Market as well as the opening of the Citizen's Hospital. In the same year, the Tsugaru Line established a rail connection with the village of Minmaya at the tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: In March 1985, after 23 years of labor and a financial investment of 690 billion yen, the Seikan Tunnel finally linked the islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, thereby becoming the longest tunnel of its kind in the world. Almost exactly three years later, on March 13, railroad service was inaugurated on the Tsugaru Kaikyo Line. The tunnel's opening to rail traffic saw the end of the Seikan Ferry rail service. During their 80 years of service, the Seikan rail ferries sailed between Aomori and Hakodate some 720,000 times, carrying 160 million passengers. It continues to operate between the cities, ferrying automobile traffic and passengers rather than trains.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Public College opened in April 1993. In April 1995, Aomori Airport began offering regular international air service to Seoul, South Korea, and Khabarovsk, Russia; however, the flights to Khabarovsk were discontinued in 2004. In June 2007, four North Korean defectors reached Aomori Prefecture, after having been at sea for six days, marking the second known case ever where defectors have successfully reached Japan by boat. In March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the east coast of Japan. The southeastern coast of Aomori Prefecture was affected by the resulting tsunami. Buildings along harbors were damaged along with boats thrown about in the streets.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Prefecture is the northernmost prefecture in the Tōhoku region, lying on the northern end of the island of Honshu. It faces Hokkaido from across the Tsugaru Strait. It borders Akita and Iwate in the south. The prefecture is flanked by the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Japan to the west with the Tsugaru Strait linking those bodies of water to the north of the prefecture. The islets of Kyūroku-jima in the Sea of Japan are the prefecture's westernmost point. Oma, at the northwestern tip of the axe-shaped Shimokita Peninsula, is the northernmost point of Honshu. The Shimokita and Tsugaru Peninsulas enclose Mutsu Bay. Between those peninsulas lies the smaller Natsudomari Peninsula, the northern end of the Ōu Mountains. The three peninsulas are prominently visible in the prefecture's symbol, a stylized map.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Lake Ogawara, a brackish lake at the base of the Shimokita Peninsula, is the eleventh largest lake in Japan, the largest brackish lake in the Tōhoku area, and the prefecture's largest lake. Lake Towada, a lake that sits in a volcanic caldera, straddles Aomori's boundary with Akita. The lake is a primary feature of Towada-Hachimantai National Park and is the largest caldera lake in Honshu. Also within the park, the Oirase River flows east towards the Pacific Ocean from Lake Towada. Another feature of the park, the Hakkōda Mountains, an expansive volcanic group, rise in the lands to the south of the city of Aomori and north of Lake Towada.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Shirakami-Sanchi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in the Shirakami Mountains in the western part of the prefecture. The site contains the largest surviving virgin beech forest in East Asia which is home to over 87 species of birds. Mount Iwaki, a stratovolcano and the prefecture's highest point lies to northeast of the Shirakami Mountains. The lands to the east and northeast of Mount Iwaki are an expansive floodplain that is drained by the Iwaki River. Hirosaki, the former capital of the Tsugaru clan, sits on the banks of the river.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: As of 31 March 2019, 12% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Towada-Hachimantai and Sanriku Fukkō National Parks; Shimokita Hantō and Tsugaru Quasi-National Parks; and Asamushi-Natsudomari, Ashino Chishōgun, Iwaki Kōgen, Kuroishi Onsenkyō, Nakuidake, Ōwani Ikarigaseki Onsenkyō, and Tsugaru Shirakami Prefectural Natural Parks; and Mount Bonju Prefectural Forest.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The climate of Aomori Prefecture is relatively cool for the most part. It has four distinct seasons with an average temperature of . Variations in climate exist between the eastern (Pacific Ocean side) and the western (Sea of Japan side) parts of the prefecture. This is in part due to the Ōu Mountains that run north to south in the middle of the prefecture, dividing the two regions. The western side is subject to heavy monsoons and little sunshine which results in heavy snowfall during the winter. The eastern side is subject to low clouds brought in by northeasterly winds during the summer months, known locally as Yamase winds, from June through August, with temperatures staying relatively low. However, there are instances of Yamase winds making summers so cold that food production is hindered. The lowest recorded temperature during the winter is , and the highest recorded temperature during the summer is .


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: A person living in or from Aomori Prefecture is referred to as an Aomorian. As of 2017, the prefecture had a total population of 1.28 million residents, accounting for just over 1 percent of Japan's total population. In 2018, Aomori Prefecture saw the second largest decrease in the number of Japanese citizens out of any prefecture in the country. Only neighboring Akita Prefecture lost more citizens than Aomori.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: In 2017, 23,529 people moved out of Aomori, while 17,454 people moved to the prefecture. In 2018, about 590,000 of the prefecture's residents were men and 670,000 were women, 10.8 percent of the population was below the age of 15, 56.6 percent of residents were between the ages of 15 and 64, and 32.6 percent was above the age of 64. In the same year the prefecture had a density of 130.9 people per square kilometer. In 2015, about 3,425 foreign-born immigrants lived in Aomori, making up just 0.26 percent of the prefecture's population, the lowest of any prefecture.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Like much of the Tōhoku Region, Aomori Prefecture remains dominated by primary sector industries, such as farming, forestry and fishing. The prefecture's forestry industry is centered around the cultivation and harvesting of hiba, a cypress tree utilized in construction of wooden structures across the country. In 2015, its economy had a GDP of 4,541.2 billion yen which made up about 0.83 percent of Japan's economy. Aomori Prefecture generates the largest amount of wind energy out of the prefectures of Japan, with large wind farms located on the Shimokita Peninsula. The peninsula is also home to the inactive Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant that is owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited, a company headquartered in the village of Rokkasho that is involved in the production of nuclear fuel, as well as the reprocessing, storage, and disposal of nuclear waste. The city of Hachinohe is home to the Pacific Metals Company, a manufacturer of ferronickel products.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Prefecture is a leading agricultural region in Japan. It is Japan's largest producer of apples, accounting for 59 percent of Japan's total apple production in 2018. The cultivation of apples in the prefecture began in 1875 when the prefecture was given three varieties of western origin to grow. The apples are consumed within Japan and exported to the United States, China, Taiwan, and Thailand. Aomori is also ranked highly in the nation's production of redcurrant, burdock, and garlic, accounting for 81, 37, and 66 percent, respectively, of the country's production.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori also boasts being the home to Hakkōda cattle, a rare, region-specific breed of Japanese Shorthorn. The town of Gonohe has a long history as a breeding center for horses of exceptional quality, popular among the samurai. With the decline of the samurai, Gonohe's horses continued to be bred for their meat. The lean horse meat is coveted as a delicacy, especially when served in its raw form, known as . The Aomori coast along Mutsu Bay is a large source of scallops, but they are particularly a specialty of the town Hiranai where the calm water around Natsudomari Peninsula makes a good home for them.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Tourism has been a growing sector of Aomori Prefecture's economy. It was among the top five prefectures of Japan in terms of growth in foreign tourists between 2012 and 2017. This influx of foreign tourists has led to the construction of more hotels in Aomori. Major draws to the prefecture are its historic sites, museums, and national parks. Several of the prefecture's Jōmon period historic sites were nominated in January 2009 to become World Heritage Sites. If approved, the archaeological sites would join Shirakami-Sanchi as the prefecture's second World Heritage Site. Tourist access to Shirakami-Sanchi is heavily restricted to tourists due to its delicate ecosystem, though several water features, trails, and roads can be accessed by its visitors. About 35.2 million domestic travelers visited Aomori Prefecture in 2016, while about 95,000 foreign tourists visited in 2017.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Prefecture and the Tsugaru Strait are of strategic value to both Japan and the United States, as the strait serves as an access point for the United States Navy into the Sea of Japan where they can put pressure on Russia, China, and North Korea. The prefecture also hosts Misawa Air Base, the only combined, joint U.S. service installation in the western Pacific servicing Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The JSDF maintains bases across the prefecture including, JMSDF Ōminato Base, JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base, and .


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The Tsugaru region of Aomori Prefecture is the birthplace of the traditional "Tsugaru-jamisen", a virtuosic style of playing "shamisen" that is deeply intwined with the region's identity and history. A notable player of the style was Takahashi Chikuzan, a blind musician from Hiranai who wandered around the country and eventually gained nationwide appeal. Aomori Prefecture is also where the decorative embroidery styles, "kogin-zashi" and "Nanbu hishizashi" originated as more utilitarian techniques during the Edo period. The peasant women of the area, who created the styles, used them to make linen clothing more robust and warm during the harsh winters since cotton was unavailable to the lower class. Wooden horse figures called "Yawata-uma" have been made in the former holdings of the Nanbu for 700 years.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The Aomori area has given rise to several soups: "ke porridge" which consists of "miso soup" with diced root vegetables and wild plants such as butterbur and bracken with tofu from the Tsugaru area; "ichigoni", a sea urchin roe and abalone soup in which the sea urchin roe looks like strawberries, known as "ichigo" in Japanese, from the town of Hashikami; "hittsumi" a roux with chicken and vegetables from the Nanbu area; "Hachinohe senbei soup" a hearty soup with "Nanbu senbei" loaded with vegetables and chicken; "jappa-jiru" a vegetable soup with cod roe from Aomori; and "keiran" a red bean dumpling soy sauce soup served during special occasions on the Shimokita Peninsula. Another dish that was created in the area surrounding Mutsu Bay is "kaiya" in the Tsugaru area or "kayaki" on the Shimokita Peninsula, it is a boiled miso and egg dish mixed with fish or scallop meat on a large scallop shell that serves as both the cookware and serveware. In 2006, the production of aged black garlic began in Aomori Prefecture. The prefecture has since become the largest producer of the superfood in Japan.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Prefecture boasts a variety of festivals year round offering a unique look into northern Japan, and hosts the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri, one of the . During late April "hanami" festivals are held across the prefecture, with the most prominent of the festivals being located on the grounds of Hirosaki Castle. Summer and autumn hold many distinct festivals with bright lights, floats, dancing and music. Winter is centered on snow festivals where attendees can view ice sculptures and enjoy local cuisine inside an ice hut.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Prefecture has produced several writers and artists. Osamu Dazai, the writer of Japan's second most popular novel "No Longer Human", is one of the prefecture's best-known writers. Shunsuke Kikuchi, a composer for series such as "Dragon Ball" and "Doraemon", was born in the city of Hirosaki. The creator of the supernatural manga series "Shaman King", Hiroyuki Takei, is from the village of Yomogita in northwestern Aomori. The comedian Daimaō Kosaka, known widely for his viral single "PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)", was born in Aomori Prefecture. "Sōsaku-hanga" artist Shikō Munakata was born in Aomori. Much of his art was inspired by the prefecture's natural qualities and rural culture.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The two largest cities of the prefecture, Aomori and Hachinohe, both host professional sports teams. Both cities have professional soccer clubs in the Japan Professional Football League: Aomori's ReinMeer Aomori and Hachinohe's Vanraure Hachinohe. Other professional sports teams in the two cities include the Aomori Wat's, a basketball team from Aomori in the B.League and the Tohoku Free Blades, an ice hockey team from Hachinohe that competes in the Asia League.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Prefecture hosted the 2003 Asian Winter Games from 1 February to 8 February 2003. Approximately 1,200 athletes from 29 Asian countries participated in the games. Five venues across the prefecture held 51 different events. Aomori Prefecture is also slated to host the 80th National Sports Festival of Japan in 2025, though it is likely the event will be postponed for a year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The prefecture has produced some professional athletes. Daisuke Matsuzaka, is a pitcher from the city of Aomori for the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball who formerly pitched for the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox. He was the winning pitcher for the Red Sox in Game 3 of the 2007 World Series in which Matsuzaka and the Red Sox would defeat the Colorado Rockies. Yoshisada Yonezuka from the town of Nakadomari was a martial arts instructor for USA Judo. He coached the team in the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The Aomori Curling Club was a curling club of the Japan Curling Association from the city of Aomori that represented Japan in the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Winter Olympics and several World Curling Championships. The club was disbanded in 2013.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Prefecture has of roads, highways, and streets, along with of expressways. Four major expressways pass through the prefecture: the Tōhoku Expressway, which runs south–north through center of the prefecture; the incomplete Tsugaru Expressway, running east–west in the southwestern portion of the prefecture; the partially-complete Hachinohe-Kuji Expressway that travels south–north along the prefecture's eastern coast to Hachinohe; and the partially-complete Shimokita Expressway that travels south–north along Shimokita Peninsula from the town of Noheji to the city of Mutsu.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Several auxiliary routes of the Tōhoku Expressway also serve the prefecture. The Aomori Expressway and Hachinohe Expressway, spur routes into the eastern part of the city Aomori and central Hachinohe. A spur of the Hachinohe Expressway continues northwest across the eastern side of the prefecture towards the prefecture's capital. It is made up of several named routes: the Momoishi Toll Road, the Daini-Michinoku Toll Road, the Kamikita Expressway, and the Michinoku Toll Road. Several national highways pass through the prefecture. National routes 4, 7, and 45 are primary routes that link the prefectural capital to the capitals of other prefectures across Japan. Additional national routes in Aomori Prefecture include routes 101, 102, 102, 103, 104, 279, 280, 282, 338, 339, 340, 394, and 454. Two of the prefecture's national highways also continue north across the Tsugaru Strait to Hokkaido: National Route 279, which is carried to Hakodate by the Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry; and National Route 280, which was previously carried by ferry to the town of Fukushima, Hokkaido, though the route is still signed from Fukushima to Hakodate.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Railroads have played an important role in Aomori Prefecture's transportation network and development since the Meiji period. Aomori Station, Shin-Aomori Station, Hachinohe Station, Hirosaki Station, and Shichinohe-Towada Station are major rail stations operating in Aomori Prefecture. The East Japan Railway Company (JR East), operates several rail lines in the prefecture: the Tōhoku Shinkansen, the Tōhoku Main Line, the Ōu Main Line, the Ōminato Line, the Gonō Line, the Hachinohe Line, and the Tsugaru Line. Other notable rail operators in the prefecture are the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), that runs the Hokkaido Shinkansen through the Seikan Tunnel to and from Hokkaido, the Aoimori Railway that operates passenger services on the Tōhoku Main Line, and the northernmost privately owned railway in Japan, the Tsugaru Railway.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Maritime transport in Aomori Prefecture operates primarily from the ports of Aomori, Mutsuogawara, and Hachinohe, though smaller ports are found throughout the prefecture. The ports at Aomori and Hachinohe both serve cruise ships and ferry lines. Additionally, a ferry line operates between Ōma and Hakodate. Prior to the opening of the Seikan Tunnel, rail ferries operated by the Japanese National Railways linked Aomori Station and Hakodate Station as the primary connection between Hokkaido and the rest of Japan. A museum dedicated to the historic rail ferries operates near Aomori Station in a former rail ferryboat, the "Hakkoda Maru".


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: There are two commercial airports located within Aomori Prefecture, Aomori Airport and Misawa Airport. Both airports are relatively small, though Aomori Airport offers regular international flights to South Korea and Taiwan, seasonal flights to China, and chartered flights to Thailand, in addition to domestic flights to several cities.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Aomori Prefecture's national university is Hirosaki University, which was formed by the combination of several colleges and higher education schools in 1949 in accordance with the National School Establishment Law of 1949. The prefecture has two other public universities, Aomori Public University and the Aomori University of Health and Welfare. Several private universities are also located in Aomori Prefecture. Among them are Aomori University, Hachinohe Gakuin University, Hachinohe Institute of Technology, Hirosaki Gakuin University, Hirosaki University of Health and Welfare, Tohoku Women's College, and the Towada Campus of Kitasato University.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The Aomori Prefecture Board of Education oversees various aspects of the prefecture's educational system including the management of libraries, the Aomori Prefectural Museum, and various educational support offices and centers. In all the prefecture allocated 130.3 billion yen towards education in 2018. In 2017 the prefecture's public school system was teaching 133,507 primary and secondary students, a sharp decrease from a total of 173,537 students ten years earlier. Overall the prefecture has 94 kindergartens (1 of which is a national school and 3 that are public), 289 elementary schools (1 of which is a national school and 288 that are run by municipal governments), 161 middle schools (1 of which is a national school, another which is run by the prefecture, 4 that are private, and 155 that are run by municipal governments), and 95 high schools.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: During the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search conducted in Flagstaff, Arizona for main-belt asteroids that have a risk of coming close to Earth, observers discovered , an asteroid which they named after Aomori Prefecture. 19701 Aomori was given its name on 9 May 2012 after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami to pay respect towards the damaged communities along the prefecture's southeastern coast.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Since 1961, the prefectural symbol of Aomori is a green stylized map of the prefecture on a white background, showing the crown of Honshū: the Tsugaru, Natsudomari and Shimokita Peninsulas. The green is representative of development while the white symbolizes the vastness of the world.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The prefectural bird has been Bewick's swan since 1964, the species migrates to the area during the winter. In 1966, the prefecture designated the hiba ("Thujopsis dolabrata") as its prefectural tree. The apple blossom was designated as the prefectural flower in 1971 to pay homage to the prefecture's apple production. In 1987, the Japanese halibut was designated as the prefectural fish.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Tōhoku dialect, one of the three main dialects of Japan, is spoken in Aomori Prefecture. The most widespread variants are the Tsugaru dialect, Nanbu dialect, and Shimokita dialect. The boundary determining which of these dialects are spoken is mainly along the former border of the Tsugaru and Nanbu clans between Hiranai and Noheji, with some overlap. Speakers of the Tsugaru dialect are typically centered around Hirosaki, while those who use the Nanbu dialect are centered around Hachinohe. The Shimokita dialect is used on the Shimokita Peninsula around Mutsu and has been recognized as having enough differences to distinguish it from the Nanbu dialect. It was also used in combination with the Nanbu dialect in an early Japanese–Russian dictionary written by a man whose father came from the Shimokita Peninsula.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The oldest discovered compilation of words and phrases of the Nanbu dialect was written in 1790 followed by a dictionary of the Tsugaru dialect in 1809. Special features of the Aomori dialects include an atypical intonation, voicing consonants that are typically unvoiced (e.g. [k] sounds become [g]), and the addition of voiced velar nasal sounds and corresponding kana (か゚ [ŋa], き゚ [ŋi], く゚ [ŋu], け゚ [ŋe], and こ゚ [ŋo]).


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: There is a negative connotation that surrounds people who speak this dialect, labeling them as lazy country folks. Due to this negativity speakers of Tōhoku dialects will often hide their accents. A study performed in 2016 indicated that people from Aomori who are 70 years and older frequently use these dialects, while use becomes less frequent the younger a person is regardless of fluency. Additionally, the study revealed that when traveling to Tokyo, older generations will continue to use their dialect, while younger generations switch to standard Japanese. On the other hand, over half of each generation surveyed preferred to use their local dialect when talking to Tokyoites in Aomori Prefecture.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: The largest newspaper by readership in Aomori Prefecture is "The Tōō Nippō Press" with a daily readership of 245,000, 56% of the total share of the newspaper market in the prefecture. The newspaper also runs a radio news station which is broadcast by the Aomori Broadcasting Corporation (RAB). Other local newspapers are Hachinohe's "The Daily Tōhoku Shimbun", Hirosaki's "The Mutsu Shimpo", and Kuroishi's "Tsugaru Shinpō".


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Four television stations are broadcast in Aomori Prefecture. RAB is a television and radio broadcaster based in the capital that is affiliated with the Japan Radio Network, National Radio Network, and Nippon News Network. RAB uses the call signs JOGR-DTV for digital television broadcasts and JOGE, JOGO, and JOGR for radio broadcasts in Hirosaki, Hachinohe, and Aomori, respectively. Japan News Network's affiliate, Aomori Television began broadcasting with the call sign JOAI on 1 December 1969. Asahi Broadcasting Aomori. NHK broadcasts radio, television, and digital television from NHK Aomori with the call signs JOTC and JOTG. NHK radio services began on 17 April 1941, while television broadcasts commenced on 22 March 1959.


title: Aomori Prefecture

text: Hani Motoko, a native of Hachinohe, is considered to be Japan's first female journalist. She became known for her column about famous Japanese women that began publication in 1897 in the "Hōchi Shimbun". Motoko later started a journal, that focused on the values of middle-class women.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "Run the World (Girls)" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé, from her fourth studio album "4" (2011), released as the lead single from the album on April 21, 2011. It was written and produced by R&B singer The-Dream and Beyoncé, while heavily sampling "Pon de Floor" by Major Lazer written by Nick "Afrojack" van de Wall, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, David "Switch" Taylor and Adidja "Vybz Kartel" Palmer. Additional Production was handled by Switch and Shea Taylor. The song's development was motivated by Beyoncé wanting to do something different: a mixture of different cultures and eras, a new sound, and a message which would give women strength. An unedited demo of the song, then thought to be titled "Girls (Who Run the World)", was leaked on the internet on April 18, 2011. "Run the World" premiered on US radio on April 21, 2011, and was digitally released the same day.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "Run the World" is an electropop and R&B song that heavily samples "Pon de Floor" by Major Lazer. The song's title and lyrics comprise an unapologetically aggressive message promoting female empowerment. "Run the World" initially divided critics; some complimented the song's sample, its musical direction, and Beyoncé's aggressiveness, while others criticized the continuation of past themes and stated that they wanted to see Beyoncé covering new topics. Several critics compared "Run the World" to Beyoncé's other singles with similar themes such as "Independent Women" (2000) – with Destiny's Child, and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008) among others, stating that "Run the World" takes a more direct and assertive approach towards female empowerment.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: The single peaked at number 29 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, becoming her lowest performing lead single to date, and reached the top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Scotland. "Run the World" was a top 20 hit in Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Francis Lawrence and was filmed in California over a three-day span. The video won Best Choreography at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards and Best Dance Performance at the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Beyoncé promoted "Run the World" with high-profile live performances, notably at the 2011 "Billboard" Music Awards and on the French "X Factor". Although her performance at the "Billboard" Music Awards was well received by critics, it ignited controversy surrounding the production due to visual similarities to a performance by Italian entertainer Lorella Cuccarini in February 2010 at the 60th Sanremo Music Festival in Italy. "Run the World" was used to awaken the crew of the final mission of the US Space Shuttle Atlantis and was dedicated to Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus. Heather Morris covered "Run the World" for "Asian F", an episode of the American television show "Glee".


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: In an interview with The Capital FM Network in early March 2011, Shea Taylor confirmed that "4" lead single would premiere at the end of April. "Run the World" was written by Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Beyoncé, Nick van de Wall, Thomas Wesley Pentz, Dave Taylor, and Adidja Palmer. It was produced by Switch, The-Dream, Beyoncé and Taylor. "Run the World" was recorded by DJ Swivel and Pat Thrall at MSR Studios, New York City, and was mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach. Before release, the song's title was rumored to be "Girls (Who Run the World)". On April 14, 2011, two portions of the song leaked online while an unfinished demo of "Run the World (Girls)" was leaked online on April 18, 2011. In an interview with "Billboard", Beyoncé described the song:


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: It's definitely riskier than something a bit more... simple. I just heard the track and loved that it was so different: it felt a bit African, a bit electronic and futuristic. It reminded me of what I love, which is mixing different cultures and eras — things that typically don't go together — to create a new sound. I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That's how I've gotten to where I am.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Between June 16 and June 27, 2011, one song from "4" each day was available to listen to on Beyoncé's official website, together with its accompanying photographs from the album packaging and a quote. On June 27, 2011, "Run the World (Girls)" was the twelfth song to be made available. In the accompanying quote, Beyoncé said: "I try to write songs that will bring out the best in all of us and keep us close together. I think about saying the things that women want to say but sometimes are not confident enough to say. I am going to continue to write those songs that give women strength."


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: After the single leaked on the internet, it was released early. "Run the World (Girls)" premiered on US radio on April 21, 2011, at 8 a.m. EST, and was made available for download on iTunes Stores worldwide the same day. According to Digital Spy, the single was available on iTunes, and podcast service "Concrete Loop", without payment a few hours before its official release. "Run the World (Girls)" was released to mainstream, urban contemporary and urban adult contemporary radio on April 26, 2011. According to MTV News, "Run the World (Girls)" was well received by Beyoncé's fans on Twitter. A Digital EP with three remixes of the song was released in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the UK, on September 2, 2011.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: The cover art for "Run the World (Girls)" was previewed on April 20, 2011. On the cover, Beyoncé strikes a bold pose while standing in sand. With her fist in the air covered in forearm protectors, Beyoncé wears a hip cut draping yellow Emilio Pucci dress and black stiletto boots. The "Los Angeles Times" wrote that the photograph points to a "...post-apocalyptic war zone, donning an elaborate gold headdress and holding a red flag emblazoned with a black 'B'." The photograph was taken on April 14, 2011. Tray Hova of "Vibe" magazine complimented the cover art of the single, stating that Beyoncé looks "resplendent as hell" on the cover and that "Nobody's complaining about Bey season here." Eleanor Young, in "Marie Claire", described the cover art as "hideous". Ray Rogers of "Billboard" stated that Beyoncé "clearly transmits her trademark message of female empowerment". Becky Bain of Idolator described the cover as "pretty disappointing", and that, with a "ballistic, over-the-top club banger" song like "Run the World (Girls)", she expected something more than a body shot of Beyoncé, and criticized the cover for being confusing regarding the location of the photography. However, Bain complimented Beyoncé on her choice of stilettoes as "...serious business".


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "Run the World" is an electropop and R&B song. Jocelyn Vena of MTV News described the song as a "club banger" and "female empowerment/girl power type of song", like several of Beyoncé's previous singles, including "Independent Women" (2000)—with Destiny's Child—and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008). Shea Taylor said that the track draws more from pop music than R&B, and is reminiscent of Michael Jackson's prime work. "Run the World (Girls)" also incorporates dancehall influences in the tradition of "Get Me Bodied" (2007). The "high energy" song contains elements of go-go, and is set to a marching militaristic drumbeat sampled from the club song "Pon de Floor" by Major Lazer and Vybz Kartel. "Run the World" also consists of heavy synth pangs and African and marching percussion.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: A review in "The Huffington Post", and Kevin O'Donnell of "Spin" magazine, noted that "Run the World (Girls)" features shout vocals and raw chanting. In an interview with Ray Rogers of "Billboard", Beyoncé stated that this was something she wanted to showcase in "4", "I used a lot of the brassiness and grittiness in my voice that people hear in my live performances, but not necessarily on my records." Kathy McCabe of Australian newspaper "The Daily Telegraph" likened "Run the World" to "Single Ladies" and "Diva" (2009). Johnston Breihan of "The Village Voice" compared "Run the World (Girls)" to schoolyard chants, due to its "cheer-team beats" and the repetitive use of the word "Girls". "Billboard" magazine's critic Jem Aswad described the song's production, lyrics and Beyoncé's vocals:


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "Run the World (Girls)" is a complex but catchy track that's actually more reminiscent of M.I.A. and Santigold than Sasha Fierce. The song combines a dancefloor-defying military drumbeat, a sample from Switch's group Major Lazer, an unconventional song structure and some incongruously pretty, layered melodics that are basically chanted but still employ [Knowles'] full vocal range. The lyrics, however, are just as female-empowering as we've come to expect. There's much more to the song than first meets the ear—it confuses on first listen but coalesces beautifully with repeated plays.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "Rap-Up" stated that Beyoncé is dominant over men in "Run the World". "Run the World" opens with a short piano solo and a heavy beat. Beyoncé chants, "Girls! / We run this mutha / Girls! / Who run the world." It moves into smoother, more persuasive but still boastful lyrics, "I think I need a barber/ None of these niggas can fade me/ I'm so good with this/ I remind you I'm so 'hood with this." She then delivers the repetitive hook and chorus lines. In the second verse, Beyoncé sings that education gives women strength and independence. Other lyrics of this theme include the line, "smart enough to make these millions, strong enough to bear the children, then get back to business." Jocelyn Vena of MTV News said that Beyoncé sings in her signature staccato style on the second verse of the song. She repeats the chorus after the bridge lines and her vocals fade out as the song finishes.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Critics had mixed reactions towards the track. Amos Barshad writing for the "New York" magazine described "Run the World (Girls)" as "kind of a monster — aggressive and intense and totally committed". He also called the song declarative and felt that as a lead single, it was "bluntly effective." Matt Donnelly of "The Los Angeles Times" compared "Run the World (Girls)" to several of Beyoncé's previous singles, stating that the song has a harder edge than "Independent Women Pt. 1", nevertheless, it does not contain "the gritty, futuristic chic" of "Diva" (2009). Jenna Clarke of "The Sydney Morning Herald" called it an "infectious sounding track" having a catchy dance beat with empowering lyrics and added that the song showcases "a grittier sounding Beyoncé", yet still following the "power footsteps" of her other chart topping hits such as "Single Ladies" and "Crazy In Love" (2003). Kevin O'Donnell of "Spin" magazine described the song as "a rousing girl power anthem", which resembles "Single Ladies" and "If I Were a Boy" (2008), and highlighted that "Run The World (Girls)" is "far rowdier" than any of those songs because of its synth squiggles and raw chanting. Jarett Wieselman of the "New York Post" considered "Run the World (Girls)" to be one of the most exciting tracks Beyoncé has ever released.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Jocelyn Vena of MTV News called "Run the World (Girls)" a "sassy [song with] girl-power lyrics paired with [a] club appeal", further writing that the song is "loud and proud in its relentless message", and that Beyoncé "is clearly rallying the troops to her side". Nick Minichind of VH1 lauded the song for several pointed comments on empowerment which according to him, "are skillfully weaved into the lyrics, without feeling out of place." He also wrote that "Run the World (Girls)" restores girls' own subjectivity and that the bridge shows a "practically Cleopatra-channeling Beyoncé." Lewis Corner from Digital Spy described "Run the World (Girls)" as "yet another female-empowerment revolution that is sure to dominate dancefloors this summer". Robert Copsey, also writing for Digital Spy, awarded the song four stars out of five, complimenting the "earthy beats, hypnotising hooks and militant drums pound[ing] relentlessly as Queen B declares it's 'GRLZ who run this mutha' with more woman-friendly conviction than Geri Halliwell at a Spice Girls convention circa 1998." Tom Breihan of Pitchfork Media wrote that "Run the World (Girls)" is "as devotedly pro-female as the title would lead you to expect", and is as dancefloor-directed as Beyoncé gets, in the tradition of "Get Me Bodied" and "Single Ladies". Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani wrote "[Beyoncé] misses the mark big time here" and called the song "plain daft". He, however, praised the song's bridge and Beyoncé "warm, gooey harmonies". Maura Johnston of "The Village Voice" disapproved of the song's lack of structure, calling it "a bit overstuffed, but fairly enjoyable". "Dallas Observer" critic Shahryar Rizvi stated that the track "cribs a bit" from Major Lazer's "Pon de Floor" and M.I.A.'s track "Boyz", but added that Beyoncé being a couple of years late in acquiring this sound was "a problem".


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: In a negative appraisal, Tom Hull cited the song's "punk rigidity" as the worst of "4"s "overkill production", while saying, "girls are ever going to run the world sounding like the Sweet."


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Digital Spy ranked "Run the World" at number 16 on its list of 25 Best Songs of 2011. Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" placed the song in his list of Top Songs from 2011. It received a Teen Choice Award for Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Track at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards. "Run the World" was nominated for Best Single at the 2011 Virgin Media Music Awards. On "The Village Voice"s 2011 year-end Pazz & Jop singles list, "Run the World (Girls)" was ranked at number 137. The song was nominated for Best R&B/Urban Dance Track at the 27th Annual International Dance Music Awards. In 2013, John Boone and Jennifer Cady of E! Online placed the song at number seven on their list of ten best Beyoncé's songs, writing that it "had everyone, male "and" female, dancing". The same year, the writers of "Complex" magazine put the song at number 25 on their list of Beyoncé's 25 best songs, adding that her assertion "we run this mother", "practically wills every woman who hears this song to aspire to bigger things".


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Three days after its release to digital download outlets, the single debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 18 on April 24, 2011. A week later it had risen to number 11 and debuted at number five on the UK R&B chart. The song descended the chart for five consecutive weeks to number 45 before rising again to number 23 on the singles chart and from number 12 to number 6 on the R&B chart on May 29, 2011, when the music video was released. In Ireland, the single debuted at number 11 on April 28, 2011, the highest chart entry that week and in France, "Run the World (Girls)" debuted at number 33 with 2,065 copies sold. It peaked at number 12. On May 1, 2011, the song entered the Australian Singles Chart at number 12, being the highest new entry that week, and at number six on its urban chart. One day later, "Run the World (Girls)" debuted at number 21 in New Zealand, where it was the highest new entry that week. "Run the World (Girls)" declined in the charts in Australia and New Zealand. However, after the release of its music video, the single rose from number 42 to number 15 on the ARIA Singles Chart and peaked at number 4 on its urban chart on May 30, 2011. The following week, it climbed to number 10 on the singles chart, where it peaked. It was certified 5× platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of over 350,000 copies. The video release helped "Run the World (Girls)" re-enter the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 26 on May 23, 2011 and it peaked the following week at number nine. "Run the World (Girls)" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for sales of over 7,500 copies.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "Run the World (Girls)" debuted at number 40 on Canadian Hot 100 chart issue dated May 7, 2011. Paul Tuch of Nielsen SoundScan called the debut impressive as the song was released between digital and radio charts. It stands as Beyoncé's highest entry as a solo artist on the chart. After declining in the chart for three consecutive weeks, "Run the World (Girls)" left the chart in the week ending May 28, 2011. For the week ending June 11, 2011, the single recovered from number 60 to number 16 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart, receiving the titles of the greatest chart mover and the greatest digital gainer. For the issue dated May 7, 2011, "Run the World (Girls)" debuted at number 23 on the US Hot Digital Songs chart, selling 77,000 downloads sold. and at number 65 on the Radio Songs chart with 18 million listener impressions. It accordingly debuted at position 33 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and was the highest debut on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, opening at number 41. Digital sales of the single declined by 39%, amassing a total of a total of 47,000 downloads; it fell to number 39 on the Hot Digital Songs chart.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "Run the World (Girls)" was the highest debut, starting at number 37 on the US Pop Songs chart issue dated May 21, 2011. For the same week ending, the song continued to descend the Hot 100 chart to number 65. One week later, the single debuted at number 43 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, becoming Beyoncé's nineteenth solo entry on that chart. The same week, the single fell to number 76 on the Hot 100 chart. After descending the Hot 100 chart for four consecutive weeks, "Run the World (Girls)" recovered 26 places, moving from number 76 to number 50 for the week ending June 4, 2011, promoted by the song's re-entry on the Hot Digital Songs chart at number 44 after its music video's release. The following week, the single escalated to number 29 on the Hot 100 chart, which was its peak, as it descended the Hot 100 chart in subsequent weeks. "Run the World (Girls)" peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart issue dated July 9, 2011. On August 8, 2022, it was certified 4× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales and streams of over 4,000,000 units.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: The music video for "Run the World (Girls)" was directed by Francis Lawrence. Beyoncé worked with eight choreographers, including Frank Gatson and Sheryl Murakami. The Mozambican dance group Tofo Tofo was also a major source of inspiration for the video's choreography; after having seen their videos on YouTube but struggling to adopt the group's unique dancing style on her own, Beyoncé invited Tofo Tofo to LA, where they taught her their style and were featured in the music video themselves as well. The executive producer was Missy Galanida. Filming took place in the Mojave Desert and Inglewood, California. Images from the Mojave shoot were leaked online on April 12, 2011, showing Beyoncé standing in a smoky, post-apocalyptic war zone, wearing a gladiator outfit and a gold crown, and waving a red flag with a "B" logo. She was surrounded by dancers in brightly colored skirts, black military-style jackets and peaked caps. Other images showed an army of women posing against a ravaged car with the word "Révolution" sprayed on it. Posters of Beyoncé's face are seen behind the women. In an interview with MTV News on April 18, 2011, director Francis Lawrence, who had previously directed the video for Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (2009), discussed the music video:


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "I just shot a Beyoncé video at the beginning of this last week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, which was fun, and I hadn't done a video since 2009. It'll be big, it'll probably be one of the bigger Beyoncé music videos ever done. And, I can say that I think the song is unbelievable. The Gaga thing took me by surprise, 'cause I've done videos for probably 15 years, and I had forgotten what it felt like to have a video premiere and have it be anticipated and have it explode. And yeah I hope the same for Beyoncé, but I don't know if that's gonna happen. It is a fantastic song, so I really hope that song catches for her, and I think the video's gonna be really fun and cool and different for her."


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: On May 4, 2011, another 20-second clip of the music video was released, showing a troupe of females in a rural location, however Beyoncé is not seen during the clip. A third teaser was released on May 10, 2011, showing Beyoncé standing in front of a burning car, riding a horse and assembling an army in a post-apocalyptic clip. At a private listening party held on May 12, 2011, for "4", Beyoncé offered a small group of fans a preview of five songs from the album and the official video for "Run the World (Girls)", which reportedly features a lion and Beyoncé writhing around in sand. The video was scheduled for release on May 13, 2011, at 12:01 a.m, however Vevo confirmed that the release would be delayed because Beyoncé was "...perfecting it". The video premiered on "American Idol" on May 18, 2011. The director's cut of the music video is included on the deluxe version of "4". The video was released on July 1, 2011, but was leaked on June 29, 2011.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: In the video for "Run the World (Girls)", Beyoncé's outfits include armor, a high priestess' headdress, lingerie and runway couture Beyoncé is first seen wearing a red and gold embroidered dress with thigh-high boots, both by Alexander McQueen from fall/winter 2010. In the first dance scene of the video, she is wearing a Brian Lichtenberg patchwork fur vest. For a dance routine in sand, she wears a black fringed Norma Kamali outfit, followed by a Givenchy dress in a scene depicting Beyoncé with two larger-than-life hyenas. During a scene involving warriors, Beyoncé is wearing a black cut-out dress shown at Jean Paul Gaultier's spring couture show. A short Gareth Pugh dress with golden sequins and two gowns by Emilio Pucci – one yellow with a plunging neckline, the other emerald green with an asymmetrical cut – complete Beyoncé's outfits.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: The video begins with Beyoncé riding a black horse over an open, deserted plain. As the horse lifts off the ground, scenes of Beyoncé standing atop a ruined vehicle are shown, as she leads a large army of women. Additional scenery includes a large bull in the middle of the battleground and a large banner featuring an African themed drawing of Beyoncé. A woman seemingly nailed on a cross is later seen. As several scantily clad women are shown, a SWAT team of men charge towards the battlefield as a sample from Major Lazer's "Pon de Floor" is played. As the male forces arrive, Beyoncé, is wearing a large golden helm and is surrounded by a lion, a large group of women prepared for battle and banners featuring Beyoncé insignia. As the song begins, Beyoncé removes her armor and confronts the male army, engaging in a series of shoulder-thrusting dance routines.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Beyoncé dances seductively towards the men as scenes of Beyoncé wearing several outfits are seen, the first of which is a white evening gown as she grasps the chains of two chained hyenas. As the confrontation escalates, Beyoncé appears next to several flaming vehicles, and she undergoes another costume change. Returning to the main plot, the video shows Beyoncé in front of a small group of her female army, wearing a yellow ensemble and black heeled-boots. As the dancing commences, scenes of the two clashing armies are seen while Beyoncé writhes in sand. The females, now an even larger group, are shown dancing, using powerful and emphatic movements, in front of the male army with alternating costumes and several flags in the background. The video ends with the front line of females confronting the men face to face, raising their right arms and saluting to them as Beyoncé rips off the male general's badge, placing it on herself.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: The video received general acclaim from critics. On the night of the video's premiere, "Rap-Up" complimented Beyoncé on starting a "dance revolution", her "heavily-choreographed visuals" and "menagerie of wild animals, outrageous fashion, and epic dance sequences". Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine wrote that Beyoncé comes off like "barely sentient" but added that she remains cohesive and rational as a human being in real life. He further wrote: "Her reserve of crazy is far from bottomless, and she seems to save it all for her music videos, and I love her for that [...] [The video is] awesome in distressingly fragmented ways." Gina Serpe of E! Online wrote that "for anyone still laboring under the illusion that Beyoncé does not mean business, well, just watch this video. Described by B[eyoncé] herself as 'futuristic', 'electronic' and 'African', the 29-year-old fused all that and more into a still remarkably cohesive music video." CBS News wrote the "smoking hot video [was] blowing up on the web". "The Huffington Post" wrote that Beyoncé largely brings back the elements that made "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"'s video a hit, citing women's empowerment and a brand new dance. Jarett Wieselman of the "New York Post" complimented Beyoncé's wardrobe and dancing in the video, and wrote that the choreography ensures the lyrics, "my persuasion can build a nation".


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: James Montgomery of MTV News wrote Beyoncé has returned "to claim her throne" and that the message in the video "hammers the point home with all the subtlety of a jackhammer". He highlighted the "elaborate, hip-displacing dance routines, haute-couture costuming, wide-screen cinematography and expensive-looking sets". Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork Media wrote that "a thousand YouTube bedroom dancers flood[ing] the Internet with their own takes" were to come in the near future. "Rolling Stone" praised Beyoncé's dance moves and wrote that it is the latest addition "to the canon of dance pop videos with over-the-top apocalyptic imagery". Nick Neyland of "Prefix Magazine" wrote Beyoncé made the best music video of 2011, commending its "big budget extravagance, full of preposterous costumes and ridiculously over the top dance routines". Sarah Anne Hughes of "The Washington Post" wrote that Beyoncé uses "the non-violent tactic of dance to fight off some bad guys in riot gear" and that Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce "is out in full force as she uses an army of swiveling and shimmying women, her middle finger and two hyenas on leashes to keep control of a post-apocalyptic society". "Billboard" magazine wrote that Beyoncé made a triumphant return in the elaborate music video for "Run the World (Girls)" after creating classic clips for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Crazy in Love", and "Ring the Alarm".


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: On July 20, 2011, the video received three nominations at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in the categories Best Female Video, Best Choreography, and Best Cinematography. It won the Best Choreography category. The video was nominated for Best Video at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards. On November 27, 2011, the video won Best Dance Performance at the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards. It was nominated for Best Video at the 2011 Virgin Media Music Awards and Favorite Music Video at the 2012 People's Choice Awards. The writers of Slant Magazine put the music video at number 12 on their list of The 25 Best Music Videos of 2011. "The Guardian" included "Run the World (Girls)" on its list of the best pop videos of 2011, praising its "glorious effect" and the heavy choreography, before concluding that it is "tiring just watching it". On BET's "Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2011", "Run the World (Girls)" was ranked at number two. The video was nominated for Best Pop Video and Best Choreography at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, and International Artist Video of the Year at the 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards. It was nominated for World's Best Video at the 2012 World Music Awards. In 2013, John Boone and Jennifer Cady of E! Online placed the video at number seven on their list of Beyoncé's ten best music videos, comparing her dancing in the sand with Shakira's.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Beyoncé's first live performance of "Run the World (Girls)" was on May 17, 2011, on "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular" at the United Center in Chicago. The special aired on May 23, 2011. Beyoncé wore a tuxedo leotard with red heels and was accompanied by 40 female back-up dancers. The show was organized to commemorate the 25th and final season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show". Celebrities including Madonna, Tom Hanks, John Legend, Dakota Fanning, Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes were present. Beyoncé altered the bridge's lyrics, singing: "Oprah, your persuasion can build a nation." The crowd held up blue lights in the arena as Beyoncé sang the song twice while Winfrey danced. According to the "Chicago Tribune", Beyoncé received the loudest applause of the show. Beyoncé performed "Run the World (Girls)" live at the 2011 "Billboard" Music Awards ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 22, 2011. The writers of "Billboard" magazine described the live performance as both "stunning" and "impressive". Erika Ramirez of the same magazine put the performance at number one on her list of "Beyonce's 5 Biggest TV Performances" saying that it "showcased the strength of her reign best". It was also placed in the list of 15 Awesome "Billboard" Music Award Performances by the writers of the magazine.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: During her promotional tour of Europe, Beyoncé performed at several festivals and made only a limited amount of television appearances. Beyoncé performed the song at a private concert in Nice, France, on June 20, 2011. One week later, Beyoncé flew to the United Kingdom to serve as the closing act at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2011, where "Run the World (Girls)" was featured as the second to last song on the 90 minute set list, before finishing with "Halo". Beyoncé was also the solo female ever to headline the Pyramid stage in over twenty years. Beyoncé then returned to France, where she performed the song along with her live band on "Le Grand Journal" in June 2011.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "Run the World (Girls)" was sung live by Beyoncé on June 28, 2011, on the French "X Factor". On July 1, 2011, Beyoncé gave a free concert on "Good Morning America" as part of its "Summer Concert Series" on August 14, 2011, and during her 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé shows in Roseland Ballroom, New York City, to an audience of 3,500. Beyoncé wore a gold dress and performed with her all-female band and backing singers, called the Mamas. During the ITV special "A Night with Beyoncé" which aired on December 4 in the United Kingdom, Beyoncé performed "Run the World (Girls)" to a selected crowd of fans.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: In May 2012, Beyoncé performed "Run the World" during her revue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States' entertainment resort, hotel, casino and spa, Revel. The revue was also called "Back to Business" which was picked from a lyric of the song. A writer of Black Entertainment Television noted, "She dazzled fans with an assortment of high-energy performances of her upbeat hits like... 'Run the World (Girls).'" Caryn Ganz of "Spin" magazine praised the "swaggy" march, while Rebecca Thomas of MTV News wrote that Beyoncé's choreography during the performance of "Run the World", "is meant to do the same: a series of sensual quickstep moves that revolve around the hips and legs." Ben Ratliff of "The New York Times" mentioned the song in the "almost continuous high point" of the concert. The song also acted as the opening number of her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. After a video intro of Beyoncé imitating Mary Antoinette, Beyoncé rises from beneath the stage along with sparks and flames, leading into the opening performance of "Run the World (Girls)". The song was part of the set list of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's co-headlining On the Run Tour (2014). As well as her Formation World Tour (2016) and her OTR II Tour (2018) with Jay-Z again.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Following her performance at the "Billboard" Music Awards, Beyoncé initially received widespread praise from fans, critics and celebrities. However, the following day, critics voiced concerns about similarities to a performance by Italian pop star Lorella Cuccarini in February 2010 at the 60th Sanremo Music Festival. Billy Johnson, Jr of Yahoo! Music wrote: "Kenzo Digital, who spent a month creating Beyoncé's interactive video, told Yahoo! News that Lorella concert footage is only part of the inspiration for Beyoncé's show: "[The Cuccarini artists] are awesome and do incredible work as well, but there are a lot of different inspirations for where our piece came from." In a Yahoo! Amplified interview with Daniel Kreps, Digital said: "It's just a bare white screen. It's a technique in video art since the [19]80s in terms of frontal projection and interactive things. That's really nothing new. It's not even a new technology. It's just an incredibly simple, awesome storytelling device, and with a performer like Beyoncé it becomes incredibly powerful." Beyoncé later responded through an interview with AOL Music, saying she was inspired after finding Cuccarini's performance online:


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: "My makeup artist showed me the performance of Lorella Cuccarini a year ago, and it inspired me so much. I then met with the talented people who worked on it. The technology and concept were so genius. She was inspired after discovering Cuccarini's performance online. Thank God for YouTube or I would have never been exposed to something so inspiring. I never worked so hard on anything in my life as that performance for the Billboard Awards."


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: Beyoncé pre-recorded a message to the astronauts of the final mission of the US Space Shuttle "Atlantis" on July 16, 2011. With "Run the World (Girls)" playing in the background, Beyoncé said: "Good morning Atlantis. This is Beyoncé. Sandy, Chris, Doug, and Rex, you inspire all of us to dare to live our dreams—to know that we are smart enough and strong enough to achieve this. This song is especially for my girl Sandy and all the women who have taken us to space with them, and the girls who are our future explorers." "Run the World (Girls)" was used in a commercial for Beyoncé's fragrance, "Pulse" (2011). Released on August 18, 2011, the 15-second advertisement, directed by Jake Nava, shows Beyoncé wearing a metallic gown and walking through lights an instrumental version of the song plays in the background.


title: Run the World (Girls)

text: A dancer who had worked with Beyoncé, Heather Morris, covered "Run the World (Girls)" for the American television show "Glee" episode "Asian F", which aired on , 2011. Morris danced to the song wearing a leather cheerleading skirt. Amy Lee of "The Huffington Post" described Morris' dance choreography as "amazing" and Kristen Dos Santos of "E! News" called Morris' performance "knockout" and added that it might be "Glee"s best performance to date. Morris' version debuted at number 91 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and at number 47 on the US Hot Digital Songs chart for the week ending October 22, 2011. On August 25, 2013, girl group Adira–Belle performed "Run the World (Girls)" during the fifth season of "The X Factor Australia". Giles Hardie of "The Sydney Morning Herald" rated their performance six out of ten and wrote it was a "terrible song choice". He also felt that it was "a bit early for Beyoncé for these girls perhaps as the song was bigger than them".


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: William Backhouse Astor Sr. (September 19, 1792 – November 24, 1875) was an American business magnate who inherited most of his father John Jacob Astor's fortune. He worked as a partner in his father's successful export business. His massive investment in Manhattan real estate enabled major donations to the Astor Library in the East Village, which became the New York Public Library.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: William was born in New York City on September 19, 1792 and named after William Backhouse, a friend of his father who was a New York merchant. He was a son of fur-trader John Jacob Astor (1763–1848) and Sarah Cox Todd (1761–1834). His seven siblings were Magdalena (1788–1832), Sarah (1790–1790), John Jr. (1791–1869), Dorothea (1795–1874), Henry (1797–1799), Eliza (1801–1838), and an unnamed brother who died shortly after his November 13, 1802 birth.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: He attended local public schools. His spare hours and vacations were employed in assisting his father in the store. Official records show that he matriculated with the class of 1811 of Columbia College, but did not graduate from the institution. At Columbia, he was a member of the Peithologian Society and Philolexian Society, both undergraduate literary societies.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: Instead, at age sixteen, he was sent to the University of Göttingen in Germany, where he joined the German Student Corps Curonia of the Baltic German students; later he moved to the University of Heidelberg. He chose as his tutor a student, afterward known as the Chevalier Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen, with whom he also traveled.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: In 1815, he returned to the United States and entered partnership with his father, who changed the name of his firm to John Jacob Astor & Son and engaged in the China trade. William's elder brother John Jacob Astor Jr. was sickly and mentally unstable, and had no part in the business. He worked there until his father's death. One source argued that his role in the company was never anything more than as "an industrious and faithful head clerk", despite his official title of head of the firm's chief subsidiary, the American Fur Company, in its last several years of its ownership by Astor & Son.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: Although William's fortunes grew with his father's company, he became a truly wealthy man when he inherited the estate, worth around $500,000 (equivalent to $ million in ), of his childless uncle Henry Astor I, who died in 1833. When John Jacob Astor Sr. died in 1848, William became the richest man in America.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: Following the example of his father, he invested in real estate, principally situated below Central Park, between 4th and 7th Avenues, which rapidly increased in value. For about 13 years prior to 1873 he was largely engaged in building until much of his hitherto unoccupied land was covered by houses. He was said to own in 1867 as many as 720 houses, and he was also heavily interested in railroad, coal, and insurance companies. His management of the family real estate holdings succeeded in multiplying their value, and he left an estate worth close to $50 million. His house at Barrytown, New York, known as Rokeby, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: During the American Civil War he successfully brought a case against the income tax imposed by the United States government, which was ruled unconstitutional.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: He added to the bequest of his father for the Astor Library the sum of $250,000, of which he paid during his lifetime $201,000 in land, books, and money. The edifice was completed under his directions in May, 1853. In 1855 he presented to the trustees the adjoining lot, and erected thereon a similar structure, which was completed in 1859. He next gave $50,000 for the purchase of books. He gave much patient attention for many years to the administration of the library.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: He gave $50,000 to St. Luke's Hospital, and in his will he left $200,000 to the Astor Library, in addition to $49,000, the unexpended balance of his earlier donation. The gifts and bequests of William Backhouse Astor Sr. to the Astor Library amounted altogether to about $550,000. In 1879, William's eldest son John Jacob Astor III presented three lots adjoining the library building, and erected on them a third structure similar to the others, and added a story to the central building. His outlay, exclusive of land, was about $250,000, making the entire gift of the Astor family more than $1,000,000. In 1852–53, he built the St. Margaret's Home at Red Hook, New York and supported it until his death in 1875.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: On May 20, 1818, William married Margaret Alida Rebecca Armstrong (1800–1872), the daughter of Senator John Armstrong Jr. and Alida (née Livingston) Armstrong and sister of Horatio Gates Armstrong. Her mother, a member of the prominent Livingston family, was the youngest child of Judge Robert Livingston and Margaret (née Beekman) Livingston as well as the sister of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston and Secretary of State Edward Livingston. Her father, John Armstrong Jr. was President James Madison's second Secretary of War. Together, William and Margaret had seven children:


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: As a wedding gift, Astor gave Franklin and Laura Delano the southernmost 100 acres of Rokeby estate. The estate came to be known as "Steen Valetje" (which means "little stone valley" in Dutch).


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: Margaret Astor died on February 15, 1872, William Astor survived his wife by three years dying on November 24, 1875 in his townhouse at Lafayette Place in New York City. He was buried next to his wife in the Astor vault at Trinity Church Cemetery, designed by Frederick Clarke Withers, in New York City. In 1866 he conveyed the adjoining 142 acres of Rokeby to his son, Henry. Henry Astor built a brick dwelling on this land, but in 1873 conveyed the property to Laura.


title: William Backhouse Astor Sr.

text: Astor's local newspaper "The New York Times" eulogised, Mr. William B. Astor. an illness of four days ends an honored and successful life the public events in Mr. Astor's career a ripe scholar and philanthropic man. Mr William B. Astor, after an illness of only a few days, died at his residence in this City yesterday at 9:30 A.M., aged eighty three years. Mr. Astor was in his usual good health, except for a slight cold, until Saturday of last week. On that morning his cold began to trouble him and occasioned a severe cough.


title: E. V. V. Satyanarayana

text: Eedara Veera Venkata Satyanarayana (10 June 1956 21 January 2011) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed a total of 51 films in Telugu and Hindi and introduced many actors to Telugu cinema. He was well known for making comedy and melodrama films. In 2000, he established his own production company called as E. V .V. Cinema. He died in 2011.


title: E. V. V. Satyanarayana

text: Satyanarayana was born on 10 June 1956 in Korumamidi village of West Godavari district in present-day Andhra Pradesh, India. His parents were Venkat Rao and Venkata Ratnam. He has two brothers who worked in the film industry as still photographers. His passion for films did not let him concentrate on his studies. Deciding to test his luck in the Telugu film industry, E V V discontinued his studies after Intermediate and moved to Chennai.


title: E. V. V. Satyanarayana

text: E. V. V. faced many hardships during his early days in Chennai. His passion for films, relentless approach, persistence and determination to make it big in the industry attracted the attention of noted producer Navatha Krishnam Raju, with whose help he joined Devadas Kanakala as assistant director for the film "O inti Bhagavatam". Later, he worked under director Jandhyala for about 8 years and made 22 films like "Nalugu Stambhalata" (1982), "Rendu Jella Seetha" (1983), "Nelavanka" (1983), "Rendu Rella Aaru" (1985), "Aha Naa Pellanta" (1987) and "Hai Hai Nayaka" (1989). He also worked as co-director for the movie "Indrudu Chandrudu".


title: E. V. V. Satyanarayana

text: EVV Satyanarayana's directorial debut, "Chevilo Puvvu", was a major flop. He was so depressed that he contemplated leaving the film industry. But his destiny changed when producer D. Ramanaidu gave him a chance to direct "Prema Khaidi", which screened successfully in all centers. He followed in the path of his teacher, Jandhyala, and made successful comedy movies. His first movie in the comedy genre was "Appula Appa Rao", followed by "Aa Okkati Adakku" and "Jamba Lakidi Pamba". He also directed family sentiment films, most prominent among them the 1994 super hit film "Aame", starring Srikanth and Ooha. He also directed movies like "Hello Brother", "Alluda Majaka", "Intlo Illalu Vantintlo Priyuralu", "Goppinti Alludu", and "Varasudu", and the Hindi movie "Sooryavansham", which starred Amitabh Bachchan and Soundarya. He also directed critically acclaimed movies like "Thaali", "Kanyadanam" and "Ammo! Okato Tareekhu".


title: E. V. V. Satyanarayana

text: EVV died on 21 January 2011 due to multiple complications developed during chemotherapy for throat cancer which led to sepsis and cardiac arrest.


title: To Autumn

text: "To Autumn" is a poem by English Romantic poet John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821). The work was composed on 19 September 1819 and published in 1820 in a volume of Keats's poetry that included "Lamia" and "The Eve of St. Agnes". "To Autumn" is the final work in a group of poems known as Keats's "1819 odes". Although personal problems left him little time to devote to poetry in 1819, he composed "To Autumn" after a walk near Winchester one autumnal evening. The work marks the end of his poetic career, as he needed to earn money and could no longer devote himself to the lifestyle of a poet. A little over a year after the publication of "To Autumn", Keats died in Rome.


title: To Autumn

text: The poem has three eleven-line stanzas which describe a progression through the season, from the late maturation of the crops to the harvest and to the last days of autumn when winter is nearing. The imagery is richly achieved through the personification of Autumn, and the description of its bounty, its sights and sounds. It has parallels in the work of English landscape artists, with Keats himself describing the fields of stubble that he saw on his walk as conveying the warmth of "some pictures".


title: To Autumn

text: The work has been interpreted as a meditation on death; as an allegory of artistic creation; as Keats's response to the Peterloo Massacre, which took place in the same year; and as an expression of nationalist sentiment. One of the most anthologised English lyric poems, "To Autumn" has been regarded by critics as one of the most perfect short poems in the English language.


title: To Autumn

text: During the spring of 1819, Keats wrote many of his major odes: "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "Ode on Indolence", "Ode on Melancholy", "Ode to a Nightingale", and "Ode to Psyche". After the month of May, he began to pursue other forms of poetry, including the verse tragedy "Otho the Great" in collaboration with friend and roommate Charles Brown, the second half of "Lamia", and a return to his unfinished epic "Hyperion". His efforts from spring until autumn were dedicated completely to a career in poetry, alternating between writing long and short poems, and setting himself a goal to compose more than fifty lines of verse each day. In his free time he also read works as varied as Robert Burton's "The Anatomy of Melancholy", Thomas Chatterton's poetry, and Leigh Hunt's essays.


title: To Autumn

text: Although Keats managed to write many poems in 1819, he was suffering from a multitude of financial troubles throughout the year, including concerns over his brother, George, who, after emigrating to America, was badly in need of money. Despite these distractions, on 19 September 1819 he found time to write "To Autumn". The poem marks the final moment of his career as a poet. No longer able to afford to devote his time to the composition of poems, he began working on more lucrative projects. Keats's declining health and personal responsibilities also raised obstacles to his continuing poetic efforts.


title: To Autumn

text: On 19 September 1819, Keats walked near Winchester along the River Itchen. In a letter to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds written on 21 September, Keats described the impression the scene had made upon him and its influence on the composition of "To Autumn": "How beautiful the season is now – How fine the air. A temperate sharpness about it [...] I never lik'd stubble fields so much as now [...] Somehow a stubble plain looks warm – in the same way that some pictures look warm – this struck me so much in my sunday's walk that I composed upon it." Not everything on Keats's mind at the time was bright; the poet knew in September that he would have to finally abandon "Hyperion". Thus, in the letter that he wrote to Reynolds, Keats also included a note saying that he abandoned his long poem. Keats did not send "To Autumn" to Reynolds, but did include the poem within a letter to Richard Woodhouse, his publisher and friend, and dated it on the same day.


title: To Autumn

text: The poem was revised and included in Keats's 1820 collection of poetry titled "Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems". Although the publishers Taylor and Hessey feared the kind of bad reviews that had plagued Keats's 1818 edition of "Endymion", they were willing to publish the collection after the removal of any potentially controversial poems to ensure that there would be no politically motivated reviews that could give the volume a bad reputation.


title: To Autumn

text: "To Autumn" describes, in its three stanzas, three different aspects of the season: its fruitfulness, its labour and its ultimate decline. Through the stanzas there is a progression from early autumn to mid autumn and then to the heralding of winter. Parallel to this, the poem depicts the day turning from morning to afternoon and into dusk. These progressions are joined with a shift from the tactile sense to that of sight and then of sound, creating a three-part symmetry which is not present in Keats's other odes.


title: To Autumn

text: As the poem progresses, Autumn is represented metaphorically as one who conspires, who ripens fruit, who harvests, who makes music. The first stanza of the poem represents Autumn as involved with the promotion of natural processes, growth and ultimate maturation, two forces in opposition in nature, but together creating the impression that the season will not end. In this stanza the fruits are still ripening and the buds still opening in the warm weather. Stuart Sperry says that Keats emphasises the tactile sense here, suggested by the imagery of growth and gentle motion: swelling, bending and plumping.


title: To Autumn

text: In the second stanza, Autumn is personified as a harvester, to be seen by the viewer in various guises performing labouring tasks essential to the provision of food for the coming year. There is a lack of definitive action, all motion being gentle. Autumn is not depicted as actually harvesting but as seated, resting or watching. In lines 14–15 the personification of Autumn is as an exhausted labourer. Near the end of the stanza, the steadiness of the gleaner in lines 19–20 again emphasises a motionlessness within the poem. The progression through the day is revealed in actions that are all suggestive of the drowsiness of afternoon: the harvested grain is being winnowed, the harvester is asleep or returning home, the last drops issue from the cider press.


title: To Autumn

text: The last stanza contrasts Autumn's sounds with those of Spring. The sounds that are presented are not only those of Autumn but essentially the gentle sounds of the evening. Gnats wail and lambs bleat in the dusk. As night approaches within the final moments of the song, death is slowly approaching alongside the end of the year. The full-grown lambs, like the grapes, gourds and hazelnuts, will be harvested for the winter. The twittering swallows gather for departure, leaving the fields bare. The whistling red-breast and the chirping cricket are the common sounds of winter. The references to Spring, the growing lambs and the migrating swallows remind the reader that the seasons are a cycle, widening the scope of this stanza from a single season to life in general.


title: To Autumn

text: Of all of Keats's poems, "To Autumn", with its catalogue of concrete images, most closely describes a paradise as realized on earth while also focusing on archetypal symbols connected with the season. Within the poem, autumn represents growth, maturation and finally an approaching death. There is a fulfilling union between the ideal and the real.


title: To Autumn

text: Scholars have noted a number of literary influences on "To Autumn", from Virgil's "Georgics", to Edmund Spenser's "Mutability Cantos", to the language of Thomas Chatterton, to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Frost at Midnight", to an essay on autumn by Leigh Hunt, which Keats had recently read.


title: To Autumn

text: "To Autumn" is thematically connected to other odes that Keats wrote in 1819. For example, in his "Ode to Melancholy" a major theme is the acceptance of the process of life. When this theme appears later in "To Autumn", however, it is with a difference. This time the figure of the poet disappears, and there is no exhortation of an imaginary reader. There are no open conflicts, and "dramatic debate, protest, and qualification are absent". In process there is a harmony between the finality of death and hints of renewal of life in the cycle of the seasons, paralleled by the renewal of a single day.


title: To Autumn

text: Critics have tended to emphasize different aspects of the process. Some have focused on renewal; Walter Jackson Bate points to the theme of each stanza including "its contrary" idea, here death implying, though only indirectly, the renewal of life. Also, noted by both Bate and Jennifer Wagner, the structure of the verse reinforces the sense of something to come; the placing of the couplet before the end of each stanza creates a feeling of suspension, highlighting the theme of continuation.


title: To Autumn

text: Others, like Harold Bloom, have emphasized the "exhausted landscape", the completion, the finality of death, although "Winter descends here as a man might hope to die, with a natural sweetness". If death in itself is final, here it comes with a lightness, a softness, also pointing to "an acceptance of process beyond the possibility of grief." The progress of growth is no longer necessary; maturation is complete, and life and death are in harmony. The rich description of the cycle of the seasons enables the reader to feel a belonging "to something larger than the self", as James O'Rourke expresses it, but the cycle comes to an end each year, analogous to the ending of single life. O'Rourke suggests that something of a fear of that ending is subtly implied at the end of the poem, although, unlike the other great odes, in this poem the person of the poet is entirely submerged, so there is at most a faint hint of Keats's own possible fear.


title: To Autumn

text: According to Helen Vendler, "To Autumn" may be seen as an allegory of artistic creation. As the farmer processes the fruits of the soil into what sustains the human body, so the artist processes the experience of life into a symbolic structure that may sustain the human spirit. This process involves an element of self-sacrifice by the artist, analogous to the living grain's being sacrificed for human consumption. In "To Autumn", as a result of this process, the "rhythms" of the harvesting "artist-goddess" "permeate the whole world until all visual, tactile, and kinetic presence is transubstantiated into Apollonian music for the ear," the sounds of the poem itself.


title: To Autumn

text: In a 1979 essay, Jerome McGann argued that while the poem was indirectly influenced by historical events, Keats had deliberately ignored the political landscape of 1819. Countering this view, Andrew Bennett, Nicholas Roe and others focused on what they believed were political allusions actually present in the poem, Roe arguing for a direct connection to the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. Later, Paul Fry argued against McGann's stance when he pointed out, "It scarcely seems pertinent to say that 'To Autumn' is therefore an evasion of social violence when it is so clearly an encounter with death itself [...] it is not a politically encoded escape from history reflecting the coerced betrayal [...] of its author's radicalism. McGann thinks to rescue Keats from the imputation of political naïveté by saying that he was a radical browbeaten into quietism".


title: To Autumn

text: More recently, in 2012, a specific probable location of the cornfield that inspired Keats was discussed in an article by Richard Marggraf Turley, Jayne Archer and Howard Thomas, which draws upon new archival evidence. Traditionally, the water-meadows south of Winchester, along which Keats took daily leisurely walks, were assumed to have provided the sights and sounds of his ode. Marggraf Turley, Archer and Thomas argue that the ode was more directly inspired by Keats's visit to St Giles's Hill—site of a new cornfield—at the eastern extremity of the market city. The land, previously a copse, had recently been turned over to food production to take advantage of high bread prices. This new topography, the authors argue, enables us to see hitherto unsuspected dimensions to Keats's engagement with contemporary politics in particular as they pertained to the management of food production and supply, wages and productivity.


title: To Autumn

text: In his 1999 study of the effect on British literature of the diseases and climates of the colonies, Alan Bewell read "the landscape of 'To Autumn as "a kind of biomedical allegory of the coming into being of English climatic space out of its dangerous geographical alternatives." Britain's colonial reach over the previous century and a half had exposed the mother country to foreign diseases and awareness of the dangers of extreme tropical climates. Keats, with medical training, having suffered chronic illness himself, and influenced like his contemporaries by "colonial medical discourse", was deeply aware of this threat.


title: To Autumn

text: According to Bewell, the landscape of "To Autumn" presents the temperate climate of rural England as a healthful alternative to disease-ridden foreign environments. Though the "clammy" aspect of "fever", the excessive ripeness associated with tropical climates, intrude into the poem, these elements, less prominent than in Keats's earlier poetry, are counterbalanced by the dry, crisp autumnal air of rural England. In presenting the particularly English elements of this environment, Keats was also influenced by contemporary poet and essayist Leigh Hunt, who had recently written of the arrival of autumn with its "migration of birds", "finished harvest", "cyder [...] making" and migration of "the swallows", as well as by English landscape painting and the "pure" English idiom of the poetry of Thomas Chatterton.


title: To Autumn

text: In "To Autumn", Bewell argues, Keats was at once voicing "a very personal expression of desire for health" and constructing a "myth of a national environment". This "political" element in the poem, Bewell points out, has also been suggested by Geoffrey Hartman, who expounded a view of "To Autumn" as "an ideological poem whose form expresses a national idea".


title: To Autumn

text: Thomas McFarland, on the other hand, in 2000 cautioned against overemphasizing the "political, social, or historical readings" of the poem, which distract from its "consummate surface and bloom". Most important about "To Autumn" is its concentration of imagery and allusion in its evocation of nature, conveying an "interpenetration of livingness and dyingness as contained in the very nature of autumn".


title: To Autumn

text: "To Autumn" is a poem of three stanzas, each of eleven lines. Like others of Keats's odes written in 1819, the structure is that of an odal hymn, having three clearly defined sections corresponding to the Classical divisions of strophe, antistrophe, and epode. The stanzas differ from those of the other odes through use of eleven lines rather than ten, and have a couplet placed before the concluding line of each stanza.


title: To Autumn

text: "To Autumn" employs poetical techniques which Keats had perfected in the five poems written in the Spring of the same year, but departs from them in some aspects, dispensing with the narrator and dealing with more concrete concepts. There is no dramatic movement in "To Autumn" as there is in many earlier poems; the poem progresses in its focus while showing little change in the objects it is focusing on. There is, in the words of Walter Jackson Bate, "a union of process and stasis", "energy caught in repose", an effect that Keats himself termed "stationing". At the beginning of the third stanza he employs the dramatic Ubi sunt device associated with a sense of melancholy, and questions the personified subject: ""Where are the songs of Spring?""


title: To Autumn

text: Like the other odes, "To Autumn" is written in iambic pentameter (but greatly modified from the very beginning) with five stressed syllables to a line, each usually preceded by an unstressed syllable. Keats varies this form by the employment of Augustan inversion, sometimes using a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable at the beginning of a line, including the first: ""Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness""; and employing spondees in which two stressed syllables are placed together at the beginnings of both the following stanzas, adding emphasis to the questions that are asked: ""Who hath not seen thee..."", ""Where are the songs...?""


title: To Autumn

text: The rhyme of "To Autumn" follows a pattern of starting each stanza with an ABAB pattern which is followed by rhyme scheme of CDEDCCE in the first verse and CDECDDE in the second and third stanzas. In each case, there is a couplet before the final line. Some of the language of "To Autumn" resembles phrases found in earlier poems with similarities to "Endymion", "Sleep and Poetry", and "Calidore". Keats characteristically uses monosyllabic words such as ""...how to load and bless with fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run."" The words are weighted by the emphasis of bilabial consonants (b, m, p), with lines like ""...for Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells."" There is also an emphasis on long vowels which control the flow of the poem, giving it a slow measured pace: ""...while barred clouds bloom the soft dying day"".


title: To Autumn

text: Between the manuscript version and the published version of "To Autumn" Keats tightened the language of the poem. One of Keats's changes emphasised by critics is the change in line 17 of "Drows'd with red poppies" to "Drows'd with the fume of poppies", which emphasises the sense of smell instead of sight. The later edition relies more on passive, past participles, as apparent in the change of "While a gold cloud" in line 25 to "While barred clouds". Other changes involve the strengthening of phrases, especially within the transformation of the phrase in line 13 "whoever seeks for thee may find" into "whoever seeks abroad may find". Many of the lines within the second stanza were completely rewritten, especially those which did not fit into a rhyme scheme. Some of the minor changes involved adding punctuation missing from the original manuscript copy and altering capitalisation.