Yurihonjō

Yurihonjō City
由利本荘市
Yurihonjō in Akita
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Akita
Physical characteristics
Area	1,209.08 km²
Population	78,966 (as of 2017-05-30)
Symbols
Tree	Japanese Zelkova (ケヤキ)
Flower	Cherry Blossom (さくら)
City Hall
Mayor	Makoto Hasebe (長谷部 誠)
Address	17 Ozaki Yurihonjō-shi, Akita 015-8501 (〒015-8501 秋田県 由利本荘市尾崎17番地)
Telephone	☎ 0183-62-2111
Website	Homepage

Yurihonjō (由利本荘市; -shi) is a city located in Akita, Japan. This page is about the greater city. For individual towns, see Honjō, Iwaki, Chōkai, Higashiyuri, Nishime, Ouchi, Yashima and Yuri.

History

Yurihonjo was founded on 22^nd March, 2005 when the former cities of Honjō and Iwaki, and the former towns of Chōkai, Higashiyuri, Nishime, Ouchi, Yashima and Yuri all merged together. After the merger, Yurihonjo became the largest municipality in Akita by area.

Yurihonjo Population (2017)

Honjo	Yashima	Iwaki	Yuri	Ouchi	Higashiyuri	Nishime	Chokai	Total
42,239	4,685	5,282	4,810	7,617	3,476	6,048	4,809	78,966

Events

1-Iwaki 2-Ouchi 3-Honjo 4-Nishime 5-Yuri 6-Higashiyuri 7-Yashima 8-Chōkai

As Yurihonjo is comprised of numerous towns, each town has their own local events. For a more comprehensive list, please see Yurihonjo festivals. Some of the bigger events and festivals in Yurihonjo include:

• Naked Festival, 「裸まいり」where men and boys walk through the snow wearing very little and carrying large objects, takes place each January in Honjō.
• Yurihonjo Fireworks Festival, 「由利本荘花火大会」held in the last weekend in July. A large fireworks festival along the river in Honjo.
• Iris Carnival, 「菖蒲カーニバル」a festival held in Honjo park in July. Music performances and festival food inside the park and traditional Japanese dances in the street outside the park.
• Honjo Sakura Festival, 「本荘さくら祭り」held in Honjo Park in April. People relax and take pictures under the cherry blossoms and eat festival food.
• Iwaki Harbor Festival, 「岩城ふれあい港まつり」a fireworks festival held in the seaside town of Iwaki.
• Ski Areas Open, December marks the start of the ski season. Yurihonjo's biggest ski slope is Yashima Ski Slope (矢島スキー場)

Sightseeing

Some good sightseeing spots in Yurihonjō are Honjō Park, Akata Giant Buddha, One Thousand Jizo, Hottai Falls, and Kofuen Sumo Ring. See the individual town pages for more. The imposing Mount Chōkai is Yurihonjo's most dominant geological feature, and can be climbed from a trailhead in Yashima.

Onsen

Some of the more famous onsen in the city are Poporokko (in Ouchi), Minato no Yu (in Iwaki), and Tsurumai Onsen (by Honjo Park). See Yurihonjo onsen for an extensive listing of bath houses.

Education

Board of Education

The Yurihonjō Board of Education is located in Nishime, and it is the main office for the city. There are branch offices in Yurihonjo's towns and villages.

Yurihonjō City Board of Education
40-61 Bentenmae, Numata, Nishime
Yurihonjō, Akita 015-0692
JAPAN

由利本荘市教育委員会
日本 〒015-0692 秋田県由利本荘市西目町沼田字弁天前40-61

☎ 0184-32-1306
📠 0184-33-3381

Schools

Universities

• Akita Prefectural University (Honjō Campus).

Senior high schools

• Honjo High School (本荘高等学校)
• Yuri High School (由利高等学校)
• Yuri Technical High School (由利工業高等学校)
• Yashima High School (矢島高等学校)
• Nishime High School (西目高等学校)

Junior high schools

• Honjo Kita Junior High School (本荘北中学校)
• Honjo Minami Junior High School (本荘南中学校)
• Honjo Higashi Junior High School (本荘東中学校)
• Yashima Junior High School (矢島中学校)
• Iwaki Junior High School (岩城中学校)
• Yuri Junior High School (由利中学校)
• Ouchi Junior High School (大内中学校)
• Nishime Junior High School (西目中学校)
• Chokai Junior High School (鳥海中学校)
• Higashiyuri Junior High School (東由利中学校)

Elementary schools

• Shinzan Elementary School (新山小学校)
• Tsurumai Elementary School (鶴舞小学校)
• Ozaki Elementary School (尾崎小学校)
• Koyoshi Elementary School (子吉小学校)
• Otomo Elementary School (小友小学校)
• Ishizawa Elementary School (石沢小学校)
• Yashima Elementary School (矢島小学校)
• Iwaki Elementary School (岩城小学校)
• Yuri Elementary School (由利小学校)
• Iwaya Elementary School (岩谷小学校)
• Ouchi Elementary School (大内小学校)
• Nishime Elementary School (西目小学校)
• Chokai Elementary School (鳥海小学校)
• Higashiyuri Elementary School (東由利小学校)

Other schools

• Yuri Handicapped School (ゆり養護学校). Combined JHS and HS.

Workplace internet filtering

Public buildings in Yurihonjo (including schools) have filtered internet. Certain words cannot appear in a page title (for example, girl, pink, and adult). If you browse to a blocked page, you will get the following error message: IWSSセキュリティイベント（in-proxy）. It is possible to circumvent the filters using https://proxify.com/, and though perhaps administrators would disapprove of this, so far none have.

Sports

Sport clubs available in the Yurohonjo area are:

• Badminton
  • Ozaki Badminton Club - Ozaki Elementary School Gym, Yurhihonjo. Every Friday 7:30pm - 9:00pm
  • GPO - Higashi Junior Highschool Gym, Yurihonjo. Every Thursday 7:00pm - 9:00pm.
  • Iwaki Badminton Club - Matsukasaki Town Gym, Matsugasaki. Every Monday, Thursday and Saturday 7:00pm - 9:00pm

• Floorball

• Volleyball

• Soccer

• Kyudo
  • Honjo Kyudo Dojo beside Honjo Minami JHS. Every Wednesday 7:00pm - 9:00pm.

See also

• Yurihonjo garbage collection.
• Yurihonjo City Song.
• Yurihonjo community groups.

External links

• Yurihonjō Tourist Association. Japanese.
• Wikivoyage. Yurihonjō travel guide.
• Yurihonjō Bus Schedules. Japanese.
• Yurihonjō official website. Japanese.
• Wikimedia Commons. Pictures of Yurihonjō.

Pictures

• 
  A city map
• 
  City Hall
• 
  Honjō Park
• 
  One Thousand Jizō
• 
  Naked Man Festival
• 
  Cultural Center 'Kadare'
• 
  Yurihonjo fireworks festival
• 
  Honjo marina
• 
  Kameda castle
• 
  Yashima ski slope
• 
  Hottai Falls
• 
  Nishime Sunflower Maze