Hachinohe

Hachinohe is a city on the southeast coast of Aomori Prefecture in the Tohoku region of northern Honshu, Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean across flat coastal land. It holds the status of a core city and is the second largest city in Aomori Prefecture by population, with an estimated 212,279 residents at the end of 2025 and a total area of about 305.56 square kilometres. The Oirase and Mabechi rivers both flow through its territory, and part of its coast once lay inside a prefectural natural park that was folded into the Sanriku Fukko National Park in 2013. People have lived here since prehistoric times: many Jomon period remains have been found within the city, and the area was a major population centre for the Emishi people. Under the Nanbu clan it became a district of horse ranches and fortified settlements, and in 1664 the Tokugawa shogunate authorized a separate Hachinohe Domain for a junior line of that clan. The town grew as a castle town around Hachinohe Castle and as a small commercial centre and port serving the fishing grounds off southeastern Hokkaido, and its port still serves the fishing industry and international cargo ships. After the Meiji Restoration the domain was replaced by a short-lived prefecture that was merged into Aomori Prefecture; Hachinohe was weighed against Hirosaki as the prefectural capital, but the Meiji government chose to build a new town called Aomori instead.