Higashine, Yamagata

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Higashine (東根市; -shi) is a city located in Yamagata, Japan.

The city was founded on November 3, 1958. The city name means 'east root.' As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 46,513 and the density of 224 people per km². The total area is 207.17 km². The city's western boarder is the Mogami River. The eastern border is Miyagi Prefecture. The surrounding cities are Kahoku (河北) to the west, Murayama(村山) to the north, and Tendo to the south.

The Shinkansen (bullet train) stops at Sakuranbo Higashine station and the Yamagata City airport (which is just within Higashine's city limits) encourages a growing commercial and industrial center. The city of Higashine has a large industrial park. Some of the businesses include 3M, Casio, THK, ODELIC, and Kyocera. Many of these businesses are involved in manufacturing and research and development.

Higashine is known as "The Fruit Kingdom" and is especially well known for its cherries as well as for apples, pears and persimmons. The city mascot is a pear with cherry earrings and a staff with an apple. Higashine is the largest producer of cherries in Yamagata Prefecture. Yamagata Prefecture is the third largest producer of cherries in Japan.

In 1996 the snowboard and ski park Jangle Jungle opened. Jangle Jungle is regarded as the home of the Tohoku region's most adventurous snowboarders. Due to Jangle Jungle's closure during the 2006 season, kite skiing has experienced an explosion of popularity on the 'tanbo' (rice fields) around Higashine. Higashine is also famous for its hot spring baths (onsen) and its unique Yojiro-style yakkitori (skewered meat cooked on charcoal), which is widely acclaimed as the purest style of yakkitori. Perhaps most impressive is Higashine's "Big Tree". This massive, breathtaking tree is claimed to be the oldest Zelkova tree in Japan and regularly draws huge crowds in summer, especially during the festival season. The tree is estimated to be over 1200 years old.