Mizuho Province

Mizuho Province (瑞穂州) is a Yamataian province on Ōshima, with a population of 2,425,865 and an area of 13,696.494 km². Mizuho province is bordered by Shinano Province to the north-west, Yamagata Province to the west, and Yamashiro Province to the south-west. Aki Province is to the east and Harima Province is to the south-east across the Aki Strait.

The capital of Mizuho province is Mimasaka, and the largest city is Momono.

Geography
Mizuho province is located in the south-east of Ōshima, with its coastline largely along the sheltered Aki Strait. Dominated by the Mizuho Plain, Mizuho is the flattest province in Yamatai on average. The terrain primarily consists of fertile alluvial floodplains and low hills, with the highest elevation being the 813-metre Mount Miyoshi. The major rivers that pass through Mizuho are the Sunomata, Ibi, and Kiso Rivers, which flow from the Sayashi Mountains in the west to the Aki Strait in the east.

Administratively, Mizuho province also includes several islands within the Aki Strait as well as Kurashima Island, which is hilly island with a central plain featuring two saltwater lakes.

Cities

 * Kurashima
 * Mimasaka
 * Mizuho
 * Momono
 * Ōta
 * Takase

Towns

 * Ono

Economy
The main industries in Mizuho are agriculture and some light industries, most notably paper milling and alcohol brewing. The service sector also accounts for more than one-third of the province's gross domestic product. There is also a small heavy industry sector mainly concentrated on Momono City, due to the influence of nearby industrial city Kawazaki in Aki Province, which is connected to Momono via the MomoZaki Bridge.

Agriculture and other primary industries play a large role in Mizuho's economy. Mizuho has nearly one fourth of Yamatai's total arable land within the Mizuho Plain. It ranks first in the nation in the production of a host of agricultural products, including rice, soybeans, potatoes, sugar beets, onions, pumpkins, corn, raw milk, and beef. The average farm size in Mizuho is 26 hectares per farmer in 2013, which is almost 11 times bigger than the national average of 2.4 hectares.

Coal mining played an important role in the industrial development of Mizuho, with the Ishikari coalfield located inland. Cities such as Ōta were primarily developed to supply the rest of the region with coal. With the decline of the coal mining industry, these cities have pivoted towards the service industry.

Tourism is also another major industry in Mizuho, with many visitors annually visiting farms as well as the resorts on Kurashima Island.

Transportation
The MomoZaki Bridge, a double-decked road and rail bridge, links Momono with Kawazaki, and both cities are considered to be part of the Central Aki Industrial Area. Momono also has the third-largest port on the Aki Strait, behind Kawazaki and Noro.

The two most important heavy rail lines in Mizuho are the Aki Coastal Line and the Eastern Ōshima Shinkyuko. The Aki Coastal Line links Kobayashi in Yamashiro to Takase and connects the coastal cities, and is primarily host to local trains and freight trains. The Eastern Ōshima Shinkyuko is a high-speed passenger rail line that also connects Kobayashi to Takase, though it cuts through the Mizuho Plain and bypasses the coastal regions. There are 12 other heavy rail lines of varying lengths across Mizuho, connecting much of the province by rail.