Yokote, Akita Prefecture, Tōhoku Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Yokote (横手市) is a city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan.

History The area of present-day Yokote was part of ancient Dewa Province and was the homeland of the Kiyohara clan of the Heian period Gosannen War. At the end of the Sengoku period, the area came under the control of the Onodera clan, who ruled from Yokote Castle. However, the Onodera sided against Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara and the area came under the control of the Satake clan, who had been relocated to Kubota Domain from their former holdings in Hitachi Province. Kubota Domain was uncommon in that it contained more than one castle, despite the Tokugawa shogunate's "one castle per domain" rule, and Yokote remained a secondary castle town under the Kubota clan until the Meiji restoration.

After the start of the Meiji period, the area became part of Hiraka District, Akita Prefecture in 1878, with one town and 23 villages. The modern city of Yokote was founded on April 1, 1951.

On October 1, 2005, the towns of Hiraka, Jūmonji, Masuda, Omonogawa and Ōmori, and the villages of Sannai, and Taiyū (all from Hiraka District) were merged into Yokote, which now occupies all of former Hiraka District, plus the villages of Meiji and Nishinarusei (formerly from Ogachi District), and the village of Kanazawa (formerly from Senboku District).

Geography Yokote is located in south-east corner of Akita Prefecture by the Ōu Mountains and Iwate Prefecture to the east. The Yokote River flows from the eastern Ōu Mountains through the city.

Neighboring municipalities • Akita Prefecture ◦ Yurihonjō ◦ Daisen ◦ Yuzawa ◦ Misato ◦ Ugo ◦ Higashinaruse • Iwate Prefecture ◦ Nishiwaga.

Economy The economy of Yokote is based on agriculture.