Murayama, Yamagata
city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Murayama (村山市, Murayama-shi) is a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 February 2020, the city had an estimated population of 23,643 in 8133 households, and a population density of 120 persons per km². The total area of the city is 196.98 square kilometres (76 sq mi).
Geography
Murayama is located in northeast Yamagata Prefecture, in a river valley of the Mogami River, with branches of the Ōu Mountains to the east and west.
Neighboring municipalities
Yamagata Prefecture
Funagata
Higashine
Kahoku
Obanazawa
Ōishida
Ōkura
Sagae
Climate
Murayama has a Humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa) with large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Murayama is 11.2 °C (52.2 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,250.1 mm (49.22 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.5 °C (76.1 °F), and lowest in January, at around −1.2 °C (29.8 °F).
Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Murayama has declined steadily over the past 70 years and is now less than it was a century ago.
The public source identifies “Murayama, Yamagata” as city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Murayama, Yamagata and city.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Murayama, Yamagata”, the useful work is to connect “city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q858008. VIAF identifies the subject as 252325809. The Library of Congress control number is n83064717. Authority coordinates are 38.483, 140.380. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Murayama, Yamagata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.