Ōmi, Niigata

Ōmi (青海町, Ōmi-machi^?) was a town located in Nishikubiki District, Niigata, Japan.

Overview

Ōmi is located on the Japan Sea coast, about four hundred kilometres north-west of Tokyo. The town also has two additional neighborhoods, Oyashirazu and Ichiburi, located six kilometres and thirteen kilometres respectively further down the coast from the main part of Ōmi. On March 19, 2005 Ōmi, along with the town of Nō, from Nishikubiki District, was merged into the expanded city of Itoigawa.

Demographics

The town is a classic case of rural decline now often found in modern Japan. In the last 30 years the population has decreased from around 17,000 to today's level of 9,797 as of 2003, with a density of 75.87 persons per km². The total area was 129.13 km². After graduating from high school most young people are forced to move to major population centres for university or in search of work. This is reflected in the population, with the majority of residents aged over 35. Concurrently the number of students attending Ōmi Junior High School has fallen from 568 to below 300 in the last 20 years.

The population is predominantly middle-class, and the average annual wage in 1990 was ¥452,826 (A$52,600). Many of the "blue collar" jobs at local factories have been taken up by outside residents (mostly single males), who reside in company supplied dormitories. The main employer in Ōmi is Denki Ltd., part of the Mitsui Corporation, with two large factories producing cement and chemicals. The 2000 census showed that only 105 people were employed in primary industry as compared to 2,278 in secondary (manufacturing) industries and 2,561 in tertiary (service) industries.

The other main employer is the town and governmental agencies with one civil servant for every seventy six people. Ōmi has many well funded facilities, especially for a town of its size. These include regular local bus and train services (but only a few long distance services), an indoor heated pool, gymnasium, baseball field, several small local parks, mountain camping sites, plus a new natural history museum, library, and performance hall seating 500 people.

On the flipside there are only a few small local shops, supermarkets and restaurants, and no entertainment facilities (movie theatre, bowling alley, amusement arcade, etc.) - especially those that would appeal to younger people. With the declining population many such facilities (such as the movie theatre and baseball stadium) have been closed and demolished in recent years.

The classic "nuclear" family is the norm, with few single parent families. As a rule of thumb there would be only one or two children in each school classroom (if any) who come from a single parent household. There are few organised interest groups (in a western sense), as people rely on traditional networks and family ties. There is virtually no ethnic diversity in the town - as is generally the case outside Japan's main population centres.

Travel information

Ōmi — The temple and park above Ōmi Kindergarten are quite pretty with a good view of the town. There is also a natural history museum at Kirara Ōmi Hall near the train station. Apart from these the only other real attractions are the nearby mountains and beach where one can go fossicking for jade washed down from Hisui Gorge in the nearby mountains.

Oyashirazu — An old village with many older houses. Nice to walk around and just take it in. It is a popular beach during summer with some beer stalls, plus a "Sunset Station" (Pier Park) and shops. There is also good snorkeling or scuba diving in this area. There is a nice youth hostel nearby, and camping sites up in the mountains complete with Indian tepees!

Ichiburi — This is a quaint little fishing village with still many signs of old Japan. Down by the harbour you will often find old fisherfolk sorting their catch, and mending their nets.

Festivals

Ōmi no take no karakai is a traditional New Years event that has been carried out since the Edo period (1603–1867). The event is performed in competition between the Eastern area of the town and the Western side. It begins with "Omatsutori" on January 7, where the two sides try to compete over kazaritake (ornamental bamboo) and two bamboos (isamitake and awasetake) tell the fortune regarding any bumper crop. The isamitake and awasetake activities, where bamboo branches are hooked and pulled, are joined in by young and old alike while the audience cheers. Although it is said that there used to be a few similar examples of this kind of New Years event in Japan, this one in Ōmi is the only remaining one. This event was designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property on December 28, 1987.

Notable persons

• Toshihiro Itō (singer/songwriter)
• Shun'ichi Kawai (volleyball player)
• Hideo Kurohimesan (one-time grand sumo sekiwake and military affairs chief)
• Dai Nagai (media "talent")

Sister relationship

• Yamagata, Nagano - a village located in Higashichikuma District, Nagano, Japan.

Interesting facts

Ōmi is world famous for its glaucophane schists and calcareous deposition (especially limestone), as well as jadeite.

Ōmi once had their own semi-professional baseball team

Nearly one whole side of the main road (Ōmi-dori) was demolished in 2004 to make way for the new Hokuriku Shinkansen which will have a major stop in neighbouring Itoigawa

The Japanese kanji for the area is correctly rendered in romaji as Ōmi. However, other widely used derivations include Omi, Oumi and Ohmi.

References

• The need for community involvement in schools - a Japanese case study
• Omi no take no karakai
• The Joetsu goodo Travel Guide
• Mindat.org - the mineral and locality database

External links

• City of Itoigawa (Japanese)

Books and articles

• Banno, S. "Glaucophane schists and associated rocks in the Ōmi District, Niigata Prefecture, Japan". 1958, ISBN: Unknown
• Klar, N. "My Mother is a Tractor: A Life in Rural Japan" 2005, ISBN 1412048974
• Niko, S. & Hasegawa, Y. "Two Species of Middle Carboniferous Tabulate Corals from the Omi Limestone Group, Niigata Prefecture". 1999, ISSN:0385-244X
• Sano, H. "Study on the accretion process of Seamount-Reef complex - example from the Ōmi Limestone body in Niigata Prefecture" 1995, ISSN: Unknown
• Yabe, H. "Carboniferous-Permian Boundary in Japan" 2006, ISSN: 0021-4280