is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

in Iburi Subprefecture,

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

, Japan. Date was established around 1869, and became a city on April 1, 1972.

History

Remains of settlements from the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a ...

have been found in the Date area. The

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

, the native inhabitants of Hokkaido, also maintained a settlement at another location nearby until the beginning of the 20th century, when the Ainu were mostly assimilated into Japanese society. The name of the area comes from the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

, who rose to power in the 12th century in

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture **Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan *** Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

, on the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

. Before the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, their home castle was the Yanagawa castle in

Date District, Fukushima is a district located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. As of 2008, the district has an estimated population of 39,633 and a density of 190 persons per km2. The total area is 208.53 km2. Towns and villages *Kawamata * Koori * Kunimi Merger ...

. Later, it became the

Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date M ...

castle. The Date clan ruled the whole of

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the n ...

as well as the southern part of

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectu ...

, and was one of the most influential ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

s''. During the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, many samurai, including the Date clan, lost their territories due to the political changes of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

. In 1869, a branch family of the Date clan from Watari-Date moved to and settled at the south coast of the then-uncultivated Hokkaido. This was the foundation of Date. On March 1, 2006, the village of Ōtaki, from Usu District, was merged into Date.

Geography

Date is home to

Mount Usu is an active stratovolcano in the Shikotsu-Toya National Park, Hokkaido, Japan. It has erupted four times since 1900: in 1910 (which created Meiji-shinzan 神沼克伊,小山悦郎 ''日本の火山を科学する　日本列島津々浦々、 ...

() and the

Osaru River is a multidirectional shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986. The game was later rereleased as part of ''Namco Museum#Namco Museum Volume 1, Namco Museum Vol. 1'' for the original Sony PlayStation in 1995. Gameplay ''Toy Pop'' ...

. As a result of city and village merges, Date can essentially be divided into two sections: the Otaki Forest area and the Date Historic City area. Otaki Forest is home to Sankaidaki Falls and the Shirakinu River Bed. Date Historic City contains buildings that were built by the samurai, the most famous of which is the Usu-Zenkou temple.

Climate

Education

High schools

* Hokkaido Date High School * Hokkaido Date Midorigaoka High School

Transportation

Date lies at the conjunction of

National Highway National highway or National Highway may refer to: * National Highways (England) * National Highway (Australia) * List of National Roads in Belgium * Brunei National Roads System * National Highway System (Canada) * Trans-Ca ...

Route 37 and Route 453. Date can be accessed via the Date Interchange from the expressway or via

Date-Mombetsu Station is a railway station on the Muroran Main Line in Date, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Lines Datemombetsu Station is served by the Muroran Main Line, and is numbered "H38". Adjacent stations Histor ...

operated by JR Hokkaido. * Muroran Main Line: Usu - Nagawa - Date-Mombetsu - Kita-Funaoka - Mareppu - Kogane * hokkaido Expressway: Usuzan SA - Date IC

Partner cities

Watari, Miyagi is a town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 33,459, and a population density of 450 persons per km² in 12,643 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Watari is located in the Tōhoku re ...

(sister town) * Shinchi, Fukushima (sister town) * Yamamoto, Miyagi (sister town) * Shibata, Miyagi (friendship town) *

Lake Cowichan Lake Cowichan (Nitinaht: ʕaʔk̓ʷaq c̓uubaʕsaʔtx̣) (pop. 2,974) is a town located on the east end of Cowichan Lake and, by highway, is west of Duncan, British Columbia. The town of Lake Cowichan was incorporated in 1944. The Cowichan Ri ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

(sister town) * Hirakata, Osaka (cultural exchanges) *

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefect ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

, China (sister city)

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Date, Hokkaido Cities in Hokkaido