was a small

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

located in Nishiibaraki District,

Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefecture ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. On March 19, 2006, Iwama, along with the town of Tomobe (also from Nishiibaraki District), was merged into the expanded city of Kasama.

Geography

The former town of Iwama is located about 100 km northeast of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

and near the city of

Mito Mito may refer to: Places *Mito, Ibaraki, capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Mito, Aichi, a Japanese town *Mito, Shimane, a Japanese town * Mitō, Yamaguchi, a Japanese town * Mito District, a district in the province of Concepción, Per ...

. Iwama is at the base of Mt. Atago (愛宕山 Atago-San). Mt. Atago is part of a larger Prefectural Park that extends up towards Kasama. On top of Mt. Atago is a kids' play area with a giant slide (about 150m in length) as well as the Atago shrine (愛宕神社 "Atago Jinja").

Demographics

As of 2003, the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 16,588 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematicall ...

of 332.23 persons per km². The total area was 49.93 km².

Notable residents

Iwama is known for having been the residence of Morihei Ueshiba, founder of

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in aroun ...

, from 1942 until his death. It was during this period that the term "Aikido" came into use. The world's only shrine to Aikido was built here by the founder along with a small

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...

. Practitioners from around the world come to Iwama to train as uchideshi (内弟子) or “live-in students”. There are two famous Aikido dojos in the town including the original

Iwama dojo Iwama may refer to: *Iwama, Ibaraki, a former town in Nishiibaraki District, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Iwama Station, a train station in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Iwama dojo, an aikido dojo *Iwama style, a style of aikido People with the ...

(now called the Aikikai Foundation Ibaraki Branch Dojo) and the Shin-Shin Aiki-Juku. The latter is operated by Hitohiro Saito (the son of one of Ueshiba's most famous disciples Morihiro Saito) who formed his own organisation (the Aiki Shuren-Kai) in 2003. Ueshiba’s

continues to operate within the

Aikikai The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Doshu (the family heir of the founder of Aikido). It is represented globally through the International Aikido Federation ...

under his original students, including Chief Instructor Hiroshi Isoyama, Shigemi Inagaki and others. The Aiki Jinja, or

Shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

, is situated opposite the

Iwama Dojo Iwama may refer to: *Iwama, Ibaraki, a former town in Nishiibaraki District, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Iwama Station, a train station in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Iwama dojo, an aikido dojo *Iwama style, a style of aikido People with the ...

and near the Aiki Shuren-Kai Shin-Shin Aiki-juku.

Festivals

The town's official

matsuri Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. Many festivals have their roots in traditional Chinese festivals, but have undergone extensive changes over time to have little resemblance ...

is held in the last week of September, but throughout the year it also observes the usual Japanese holidays. The Aiki Jinja Rei Taisai (Aiki-Shrine Grand Festival) is held every April on the 29th (Showa holiday) and features a "hono embu" (demonstration offering) by the Aikido Doshu. More than a thousand people usually come for the celebration which also features a

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

ceremony carried out by

Ōmoto-kyō file:Chouseiden.jpg, ''Chōseiden'' in Ayabe , also known as , is a religion founded in 1892 by Nao Deguchi, Deguchi Nao (1836–1918), often categorised as a Japanese new religions, new Japanese religion originated from Shinto. The spiritual l ...

priests.

References

Ibaraki branch

Foundation (official website).

External links

Official website
in Japanese
Blog of American Aikido student living in Iwama 2004-2006
* Homepage of the Aikikai Foundation Ibaraki Branch Doj

Ueshiba Moriteru)

Hitohiro Saito) {{Authority control Dissolved municipalities of Ibaraki Prefecture Kasama, Ibaraki