Ohira [village] - Ohira

Japanese: 大衡[村] - おおひら

A village in Kurokawa County, central Miyagi Prefecture. Population 6,028 (1995). It is located in hilly land between the Naruse River and its tributary, the Yoshida River. Lignite was once produced in the hills to the east, but it declined after peaking in the mid-1950s, and all of the mines were closed in 1972. From around 1956, the valley bottoms carved into the hills were opened up to produce rice, and in recent years dairy farming, apple production, and flower cultivation have increased in addition to rice cultivation. Ojojihara in the northwest, which accounts for about 20% of the village's area, became an army training ground in the late Meiji period, and was taken over by the U.S. military after World War II. It is now a training ground for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

宮城県中央部，黒川郡の村。人口6028(1995)。鳴瀬川とその支流吉田川にはさまれた丘陵地にある。東部の丘陵では亜炭を産出していたが，1950年代半ばをピークに衰退し，72年にはすべてが閉山となった。1956年ころから丘陵を刻む谷底などで開田が進み，近年は米作のほか，酪農やリンゴの生産，花卉栽培がふえている。村面積の約20％を占める北西部の王城寺原は明治末期に陸軍の演習場となり，第2次大戦後アメリカ軍が接収したが，現在は陸上自衛隊の演習場になっている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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