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 def ...

Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi ...

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 ...

. , the city has 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 54,013 in 20,179 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of 160 persons per km². The total area of the city was . The Adachi neighborhood of Nihonmatsu was the birthplace of artist

Chieko Takamura was a Japanese artist. Biography Chieko Takamura was born in the town of Adachi in what is now the city of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture as Chieko Naganuma, the eldest of six daughters and two sons. In 1903, she went to the Japan Women' ...

, subject of the book of poems , written by her husband Kōtarō Takamura.

Geography

Nihonmatsu is located in the

Nakadōri is a region comprising the middle third of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It is sandwiched between the regions of Aizu to the west and Hamadōri is the easternmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two being Nak ...

section of Fukushima prefecture, between the cities of Fukushima and

Kōriyama is a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 322,996 people in 141760 households, and a population density of 430 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Kōriyama is designated as a core city an ...

. It is approximately 250 km from central Tokyo. Nihonmatsu's western border consists of the Adatara mountain range. The Abukuma River runs through the eastern part (forming the border between the former towns of Adachi and Tōwa), flowing from south to north. *Lakes: Miharu Dam *Mountains: Mount Adatara (1,728 m), Hiyama (1,054 m), Kohatayama (666.3 m) *Rivers: Abukuma River

Neighboring municipalities

*Fukushima Prefecture ** Fukushima **

** Tamura ** Motomiya ** Namie ** Katsurao ** Kawamata ** Ōtama ** Inawashiro

Climate

Nihonmatsu has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by mild summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nihonmatsu is 12.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1215 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nihonmatsu peaked around 1950 and has since declined to pre-1920s levels.

History

The area of present-day Nihonmatsu was part of ancient

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the co ...

. It developed as post station on the

Ōshū Kaidō The was one of the five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with Mutsu Province and the present-day city of Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu for government offic ...

highway and as the

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, a ...

Nihonmatsu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in southern Mutsu Province. It was centered on Nihonmatsu Castle in what is now the city of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima, and its territory included all of Nihonmatsu, Moto ...

, a 100,700 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

'' han, which was ruled by the

Niwa clan The was a Japanese samurai clan of northern Honshū that claimed descent from Emperor Kanmu via Prince Yoshimine no Yasuo (785-80) and Kodama Koreyuki (d.1069). Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géograp ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

) in 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 ...

. After 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 ...

, it was organized as part of Adachi District in the

region of Iwaki Province. The town of Nihonmatsu was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Nihonmatsu annexed the neighboring villages of Shiozawa, Dakeshita, Sugita, Ishii and Ohdaira on January 1, 1955 and was elevated to city status on October 1, 1958. The city annexed the towns of Adachi, Iwashiro and Tōwa (all from Adach District) on December 1, 2005.

Government

Nihonmatsu has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

city legislature of 26 members. Nihonmatsu contributes two members to the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Fukushima 2nd district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

Economy

Nihonmatsu is a regional commercial center with a mixed economy. It is especially noted for furniture manufacturing and ''

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and in ...

'' brewing.

Education

Nihonmatsu has 16 public elementary schools and seven public junior high school operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Fukushima Board of Education. *Fukushima Prefectural Adachi High School *Fukushima Prefectural Adachi Higashi High School *Fukushima Prefectural Nihonmatsu Industrial High School

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line ( ja, 東北本線, ) is a long railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Utsunomiya, Fuku ...

** - -

Highway

* – Nihonmatsu Interchange * * *

International relations

* –

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of En ...

, United States, since July 30, 1999 * –

Jingshan County Jingshan is a county-level city of Jingmen City, in central Hubei Province, People's Republic of China. It is named after nearby Mount Jingyuan (). It is bordered on the north by the Dahong Mountain and on the south by the Jianghan Plain. The co ...

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

, China, Friendship city since October 16, 1994

Local attractions

Nihonmatsu Shonentai Manifestation Monument 20100625

Tourist spot

* Nihonmatsu Castle, also known as Kasumiga Castle, is a historical castle along with a park. Nihonmatsu Castle is one of

Japan's Top 100 Castles The castles in were chosen based on their significance in culture, history, and in their regions by the in 2006. In 2017, Japanese Castle Association created an additional finest 100 castles list as Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles. Hokkaidō ...

. Nihonmatsu Castle has also been called one of the top 100 sites in Japan for cherry blossom viewing by Wikivoyage. * Obama Castle, historical castle ruins *,

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

resort located in western Nihonmatsu. *

Ebisu Circuit is a motorsport racing complex located in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Overview The Ebisu Circuit complex has seven individual tracks and two skid pad type circuits. The circuits are Nishi (West), Kita (North), Higashi (East), Mi ...

, famous drift racing track, adjacent to Tohoku Safari Park. * The Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival is held every October 4–6. The festival has been held annually since 1643 and is one of the three largest lantern festivals in Japan.

Sake

Nihonmatsu has a long history of

brewing, with several sake breweries headquartered in the city: * , established in 1752, one of the few breweries that continues to use the traditional kimoto brewing process. Tours are available. * , established in 1716. * , established in 1897. * Himonoya, maker of the Senkonari brand sake.

Notable people from Nihonmatsu

Kan'ichi Asakawa was a Japanese academic, author, historian, curator and peace advocate. Asakawa was Japanese by birth and citizenship, but he lived the majority of his life in the United States. Early life and education Asakawa was born in Nihonmatsu, Japan ...

, academic *

, artist * Michiro Endo, musician, political activist * Yuki Takamiya, long-distance runner

References

External links

Official website

Nihonmatsu Tourism Federation
{{Authority control Cities in Fukushima Prefecture