Higashine

Higashine is a city in Yamagata Prefecture in northern Japan, built on an alluvial fan on the eastern shore of the Mogami River in the northern part of the Yamagata Basin, with hilly land in the west and the Ou Mountains forming its eastern border. Wikipedia gives an estimated population of 47,910 in February 2020 over about 207.17 square kilometres, and notes steady growth over the past fifty years. The area was part of ancient Dewa Province and is mentioned in the Engishiki records of the early Heian period. The village of Higashine was established in 1889, became a town in 1896 and attained city status on 3 November 1958. The city calls itself the Fruit Kingdom and is especially well known for cherries, as well as apples, pears and persimmons.