Inakadate, Aomori
Geography. Inakadate occupies the flatlands within Minamitsugaru District of south-central Aomori, east of the city of Hirosaki. Neighbouring municipalities. Aomori Prefecture Climate. The village has a cold humid continental climate (Köppen "Dfb") characterized by warm short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Inakadate is 10.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1294 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.9 °C. Demographics. Per Japanese census data, the population of  Inakadate has decreased steadily over the past 70 years. History. During the Edo period, the area around Inakadate was controlled by the Tsugaru clan of Hirosaki Domain. After the Meiji Restoration, it became part of Minamitsugaru District. On April 1, 1889, Inakadate was proclaimed as a village with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. On April 1, 1955, it annexed neighboring Kodaji Village, but lost a portion of its territory to Onoe Town on October 1, 1956. Government. Inakadate has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral village legislature of eight members . Minamitsugari District contributes one member to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the village is part of Aomori 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan. Economy. The economy of Inakadate is heavily dependent on agriculture, notably rice and horticulture. Education. Inakadate has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school. Transportation. Railway. East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Ōu Main Line, Gono Line Local attractions. Art stimulus. In 1993, as part of a revitalization effort, Inakadate began creating  rice paddy art, murals of art using rice paddy fields. The people were looking for a way to revitalize their village. Archaeology showed that rice had been grown in the area for more than 2000 years. To honor this history, the villagers started a rice field behind the town hall. The villagers cultivated and used four different types of heirloom and modern strains of rice to create a giant picture in the field. To allow viewing of the whole picture, a mock castle tower 22 meters high was erected at the village office. In 2006, more than 200,000 people visited  the village to see the art. To encourage visitation outside of rice growing season, the town began using the same fields for winter rice paddy art in 2016. The designs are created by compressing snow into patterns by walking on it with snowshoes.