{{Short description|Bay in Aomori, Japan}} {{Infobox body of water |name= Mutsu Bay |image= Tsugaru Strait (English).png |caption = A map of Mutsu Bay and its surroundings |location= Aomori Prefecture, Japan |coords={{coord|40|59|N|140|58|E|region:JP-02_type:waterbody|display=inline}} |rivers= |oceans= Pacific Ocean |depth= {{convert|40|m|ft|abbr=on}} |countries= Japan |length= {{convert|40|km|2|abbr=on}} |width= {{convert|40|km|2|abbr=on}} |area={{convert|1668|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} |settlements= Aomori, Mutsu |references= | pushpin_map = Japan |islands= }} {{nihongo|'''Mutsu Bay'''|陸奥湾|Mutsu-wan}} is a bay located within Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It has an east–west distance of approximately {{convert|40|km|nmi mi|sp=us}} and a north–south distance of approximately {{convert|40|km|nmi mi|sp=us}} at its eastern end, with a total area of approximately {{convert|1667.89|sqkm|sqnmi sqmi|sp=us}}.
==Names== ''Mutsu Bay'' is the dominant English term used in English for the body of water; however, it has historically been referred to as the ''Gulf of Mutsu''.<ref>{{cite map|title=1927 Railway Map of Japan and Korea |year =1927|url=http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/G_7960_2340_1927_front.jpg |scale=1:1,640,000 |publisher=Tokyo Tsukiji Type Foundry Ltd.|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref> The Japanese name for the body of water is {{nihongo|''Mutsu-wan''|陸奥湾}}.
==Geography== Mutsu Bay is bordered by the Tsugaru Peninsula to the west and the Shimokita Peninsula to the east and north. It has an east–west distance of approximately {{convert|40|km|nmi mi|sp=us}} and a north–south distance of approximately {{convert|40|km|nmi mi|sp=us}} at its eastern end, with a total area of approximately {{convert|1667.89|sqkm|sqnmi sqmi|sp=us}}. The outlet of the bay is the {{convert|14|km|nmi mi|adj=on|sp=us}} wide Tairadate Strait which connects Mutsu Bay to the Tsugaru Strait separating the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. The bay has an average depth of {{convert|40|to|45|m|ft|0|sp=us}}, with a maximum depth of {{convert|70|m|ft|0|sp=us}} near its outlet to the Tsugaru Strait.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.env.go.jp/water/heisa/heisa_net/waters/mutuwan.html|script-title=ja:【閉鎖性海域ネット】10, 陸奥湾|publisher=Ministry of the Environment of Japan|date=1 April 2004|accessdate=13 February 2020|language=ja}}</ref>
Mutsu Bay includes Aomori Bay in the southwest, Noheji Bay in the southeast, and Ōminato Bay to the northeast.
==Resources== Economically, the shallow waters of the bay are an important fishery, with the cultivation of scallops predominating.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/tohoku/aomori/080410/aom0804100218000-n1.htm|script-title=ja:【特報 追う】ホタテ漁急成長の陰で バイト、夜間操業増加 陸奥湾遭難事故|publisher=Sankei Shimbun|date=April 10, 2008|accessdate=December 5, 2008|language=ja|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827004452/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/tohoku/aomori/080410/aom0804100218000-n1.htm|archivedate=August 27, 2009}}</ref> Other products commercially harvested include sea cucumber, olive flounder and Ascidiacea.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Makino |first1=Mitsutaku |title= Fisheries Management in Japan: Its institutional features and case studies |publisher= Springer Science & Business Media |date= 2011 |pages=66 |chapter=Chapter 4.2: Sea Cucumber Fishery in Mutsu Bay|isbn= 978-94-007-1777-0}}</ref> The fisheries were severely damaged by the 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat waves.
In the year 2002, the Ministry of the Environment classified some tidal flats of the eastern Mutsu Bay shoreline to be one of the 500 Important Wetlands in Japan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sizenken.biodic.go.jp/pc/wet_en/63/63.html|title=500 Important Wetlands in Japan|year=2002|work=No.63 Northern Shimokita-hanto Nearshore Waters|publisher=The Ministry of the Environment, Japan|language=English|accessdate=4 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106112109/http://www.sizenken.biodic.go.jp/pc/wet_en/63/63.html|archive-date=6 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Pacific white-sided dolphins are regular migrants into the bay annually, and whale watching and surveys using ferries have been conducted.<ref>Mutsuwan Ferry. [http://www.dolphin.aomori.jp/ 青森・陸奥湾 イルカ情報]. Retrieved on March 25, 2017</ref><ref>Kiyokawa H.. 2016. [http://www.aomori-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/17-02-02-article-02.pdf. Study on the Migratory Behavior of Pacific White-Sided Dolphin Lagenorhynchus obliquidens in The Mutsu Bay, Aomori Prefecture] (pdf). Journal of Aomori University Multidisciplinary Research Institute. Vol.17, No.2, pp.12-25. Retrieved on March 25, 2017</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery> File:Aomori Bay Asamushi Onsen Japan02bs5.jpg|Mutsu Bay from Asamushi Onsen File:Mutsu bay 陸奥湾 (2973091461).jpg|Mutsu Bay File:Aomori Bay 17-Sept-2018 p2.jpg|The southern part of Mutsu Bay as seen from the air over the Tsugaru Peninsula. Aomori Bay is in the center of the photograph with Noheji Bay in the top left corner. </gallery>
==References== *{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Allen |last2=Nobel |first2=David S |title=Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia |publisher=Kodansha |date=1993 |pages=1025 |isbn=406205938X}}
==Notes== <references/>
{{Commons category|Mutsu Bay}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Bays of Japan Category:Tourist attractions in Aomori Prefecture Category:Landforms of Aomori Prefecture Category:Mutsu, Aomori Category:Aomori (city) Category:Yokohama, Aomori Category:Noheji, Aomori Category:Hiranai Category:Sotogahama