Shinjo Basin

A basin in the northeastern part of Yamagata Prefecture, centered on Shinjo City and spreading into the surrounding Mogami District. The southern part is an eroded basin with many terraces and hills cut into the basin floor by the Mogami River, which flows northwest, and the central part by the Sake River, which joins various rivers flowing south and west. It is subdivided by low-relief hills into the Kanayama Basin in the Kanayama River basin in the north, Shiohara in the Izumida River in the central part, and the Sasunagawa River alluvial fan. The basin has a low average annual temperature, few hours of sunshine, and heavy snowfall in winter, so agricultural productivity is lower than in other regions, and there are many migrant workers. Shinjo City was the castle town of the Tozawa clan's Shinjo Domain, which developed in the center of the Sasunagawa River alluvial fan. The town of Funagata in the south is known for its lignite coal, and the town of Kanayama in the north for its beautiful cedar forests.

[Shige Nakagawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

山形県北東部、新庄市を中心に周辺の最上(もがみ)郡に広がる盆地。南部は北西流する最上川に、中央部は南・西流する諸河川をあわせる鮭川(さけがわ)によって盆地床を刻み込んだ段丘や丘陵の多い開析盆地の形態を示す。低起伏の丘陵によって北部金山(かねやま)川流域の金山盆地、中央部泉田(いずみだ)川の塩野原(しおのはら)、指首野川扇状地(さすのがわせんじょうち)などに細分される。盆地一帯は年平均気温が低く、日照時間も少ないうえに、冬季は積雪量が多いため、農業生産性が他地域に比べて低く、出稼ぎ者が多い。新庄市街地は指首野川扇状地の扇央に発達した戸沢氏新庄藩の城下町。南部の舟形(ふながた)町の亜炭、北部の金山町の杉の美林などが知られる。

［中川　重］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例