Oga City

Oga City
男鹿市
Oga City in Akita
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Akita
Physical characteristics
Area	240.80 km²
Population	31,367 (as of 2012-04-01)
Symbols
Tree	Cryptomeria (杉)
Flower	Camellia (ツバキ)
Bird	Grey heron (アオサギ)
City Hall
Address	66-1 Funagawaminato Funagawa aza Izumidai, Oga, Akita 010-0511 (〒010-0511 秋田県男鹿市 船川港船川字泉台66-1)
Telephone	☎ 0185-23-2111
Website	Homepage

Oga City (男鹿市; -shi) is a city in western Akita Prefecture located on the Oga Peninsula.

History

The area of present-day Oga was part of ancient Dewa Province, dominated by the Satake clan during the Edo period, who ruled Kubota Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. The village of Funagawa was established with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889 and became the town of Funagawaminato on October 24, 1894. The city of Oga was created on March 31, 1954, by the merger of the town of Funagawaminato with the four neighboring villages of Wakimoto, Iriai, Ogatanaka and Toga.

On March 22, 2005, the town of Wakami was merged into Oga.

Wakimoto Incident

On August 5th, 1981, a policeman who was patrolling the coast discovered three men getting out of a rubber boat along Oga's Wakimoto Coast. The police managed to arrest one, while the other two managed to escape in the boat. The arrested man turned out to be an ethnic Korean born and raised in Japan, who had since turned covert operative for North Korea early in 1981. After traveling to North Korea for a month of training in July, the man was attempting to secretly return to Japan to begin his spy activities in earnest when he was caught. He had been tasked with preparing the way for other North Korean operatives and disseminating information about their political philosophy. This has since been known as the Oga Wakimoto Incident (男鹿脇本事件).

Festivals and events

• Namahage Sedo (なまはげ柴灯), second weekend in Feb, Fri-Sun, 6-7:30 pm. Circle up around the bonfire and watch demons come down from the mountain to scare the crap out of little kids. Other activities include an explanatory play, drumming, dance, and mochi throwing. If you pick up one of the Namahage's raffia from the ground, you'll stay healthy all year.

• Annual Taiko Workshop, 1st or 2nd weekend in March, Sat 12pm to Sun 5pm. Taiko enthusiasts from all over the ken (and some from farther still) gather for this annual workshop. Classes are available for players of all ability levels. Participants with any taiko experience OR any musical experience are encouraged to take the "New Song" course, in which everyone learns a multi-instrumental full piece in two days. Sheet music is provided, or you can learn by ear. Other classes cover the odaiko, bamboo flute, and beginning technique for the chudaiko.

• Oga Fireworks, Aug 14, 7-9pm. Pretty great fireworks display over the port. Plenty of room to spread out, plenty of food stalls, and less hectic than Omagari, though traffic is a bit of a mess after the event. Flowers of fire start dotting the sky at 7:30.

Sightseeing Destinations

Scary Namahage

• Namahage Museum (なまはげ館)

A museum dedicated to Oga's signature namahage festival. It features a video (in Japanese), a room of masks, and a corner where you can try putting on the Namahage outfit yourself. Next to the museum is the Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum, where performances of the Namahage ritual are held regularly. The Namahage Museum alone costs ¥540 per adult; a combined ticket costs ¥864. For more information, visit http://www.namahage.co.jp/namahagekan/english/ Open 08:30-17:00 365 days a year.

• Goshado (五社堂)

A beautiful shrine (or rather, a set of five shrines) overlooking the shore of Oga, located not far from the Godzilla Rock. Take the Monzen bus line out from Oga Station to the very end of the line,then walk to the Akagami Shrine (赤神神社), where the 999 Stone Stairs leading to the shrine begin. Located behind the shrine is the Shinzan Trail. Beware, however - the bus runs once every hour, if that.

• Shinzan Trail

(Japanese name not known) A mountain trail crossing over the Shinzan mountain, going from Goshado to the Namahage Museum. The view is incredible, but not this is not a trail for the faint of heart; it takes roughly four hours to cross and gets quite steep in places. Also, be aware that buses are uncommon at either end.

• Mt. Kanpu

Oga's famous aquarium, GAO

A small mountain which dominates the peninsula's skyline. At its peak is an observation tower, and the mountain is also host to a paragliding school that is open from March to December.

• Prefectural Aquarium GAO(男鹿水族館GAO)

GAO is one of Oga's main attractions and is home to a curious polar bear by the name of Gota.
☎ 0185-37-2131
http://www.gao-aqua.jp/en/index.html (English)
http://www.gao-aqua.jp/ (Japanese)
秋田県男鹿市戸賀塩浜字壷ケ沢９３

Schools

Senior high schools

• Oga Marine High School
• Oga Technical High School

Junior high schools

• Oga Minami Junior High School
• Oga Kita Junior High School
• Oga Higashi Junior High School
• Katanishi Junior High School

Elementary schools

• Funagawa Dai Ichi Elementary School
• Wakimoto Dai Ichi Elementary School
• Funakoshi Elementary School
• Hokuyō Elementary School
• Futto Elementary School
• Misato Elementary School

Onsen

Main article: Onsen

• Teisui (帝水) One of Akita's more famous onsen. Offers excellent views over the ocean.
  Open daily from 11:00-14:30, admission:¥1,000, ☎ 0185-37-2331
  〒010-0673 秋田県男鹿市戸賀塩浜 website
• Onsen Ryokan Yumoto (温泉旅館 ゆもと) This onsen was formally known as Yumoto Hotel (湯本ホテル). Homepage ☎ 0185-33-3151
  秋田県男鹿市北浦湯本字福の沢36

External Links

• http://www2.city.oga.akita.jp/index_en.html/ Oga official website] (English)
• http://www2.city.oga.akita.jp/ Oga official website (Japanese)
• http://www.oganavi.com/ OgaNavi tourism website (Japanese)