Mount Iwate and Mount Kurakake from Shizukuishi Ski Area

is a

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 ori ...

located in

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 Prefectur ...

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 north ...

. , 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 using a ...

of 16,263 in 6354 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 RosenberPopul ...

of 27 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Shizukuishi is located in the

Ōu Mountains The are a mountain range in the Tōhoku region of Honshū, Japan. The range is the longest range in Japan and stretches south from the Natsudomari Peninsula of Aomori Prefecture to the Nasu volcanoes at the northern boundary of the Kantō ...

of west-central Iwate Prefecture, bordering

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

to the west.

Mount Iwate is a stratovolcano complex in the Ōu Mountains of western Iwate Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū, Japan. With an elevation of , it is the highest in Iwate Prefecture. It is included as one of the 100 famous mountai ...

(2038 m), an active volcano, lies just to the north of Shizukuishi and dominates the landscape. The

form the boundary to the west as well with Akita Komagatake, another active volcano, just across the border in

. The downtown area is located where the

Shizukuishi is a town located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 16,263 in 6354 households, and a population density of 27 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Shizukuishi is located in the Ōu M ...

and Kakkonda Rivers meet. Gosho Lake was created in 1981 with the completion of Gosho Dam.

Neighboring municipalities

Iwate Prefecture *

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

Yahaba is a town in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 27,227, and a population density of 400 persons per km² in 10,131 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Yahaba is located in central Iwate Prefectur ...

* Shiwa *

Hanamaki is a Cities of Japan, city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 94,691, and a population density of 100 persons per km², in 37,773 households. The total area of the city is . Hanamaki is famous as the birthplace ...

* Nishiwaga * Takizawa * Hachimantai Akita Prefecture * Semboku

Climate

Shizukuishi has a cold

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Köppen ''Dfa'') characterized by mild summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Shizukuishi is 9.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1469 mm with September as the wettest month and February as the driest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around -3.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Shizukuishi has declined since the year 2000.

History

The area of present-day Shizukuishi has been inhabited since the earliest times. Archaeologists have found remains dating to the Japanese Paleolithic period. The area come under the control of the

Yamato dynasty The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

during the early

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

under the campaigns of

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro was a court noble, general and ''shōgun'' of the early Heian period of Japan. He served as Dainagon, Minister of War and ''Ukon'e no Taisho'' (Major Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards). He held the '' kabane'' of Ōsukune ...

, and 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 comb ...

. The area was a battlefield during the Former Nine Years War and the

Gosannen War The Gosannen War (後三年合戦, ''gosannen kassen''), also known as the Later Three-Year War, was fought in the late 1080s in Japan's Mutsu Province on the island of Honshū. History The Gosannen War was part of a long struggle for power wi ...

. It eventually came under the control of the

Nambu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai Pr ...

, who ruled from

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

under 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 characteriz ...

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

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 ...

, the villages of Shizukuishi, Gosho, Nishiyama and Omyojin within Minami-Iwate District were created on April 1, 1889, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. Kita-Iwate District and Minami-Iwate Districts merged to form Iwate District on March 29, 1896. Shizukuishi was raised to town status on December 23, 1940. On April 1, 1955, Shizukuishi merged with Gosho, Nishiyama and Omyojin, but lost a portion of its territory in a border adjustment with Morioka City on October 1 of the same year. The

All Nippon Airways Flight 58 All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 58 was a Japanese domestic flight from Sapporo to Tokyo, operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA). On 30 July 1971, at 02:04 local time, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-86F Sabre jet fighter collided with th ...

accident occurred over Shizukuishi on July 30, 1971.

Government

Shizukuishi 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 multic ...

town council of 16 members. Shizukuishi, together with the city of Takizawa, contributes three seats to the Iwate Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Iwate 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 paralle ...

Economy

The local economy is based on agriculture, forestry and seasonal

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. Koiwai Farm, based in Takizawa, is currently the largest privately owned

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

production center in Japan. The farm produces a full range of dairy products distributed throughout the nation.

Education

Shizukuishi has five public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company 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 are ...

(JR East) - Akita Shinkansen * JR logo (east)

(JR East) -

Tazawako Line The is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) connecting Morioka Station in Morioka, Iwate and Ōmagari Station in Daisen, Akita, Japan. Akita Shinkansen '' Komachi'' trains travel over the line, which was regauge ...

* - -

Highway

Local attractions

*In winter, numerous ski resorts come to life. Due to the town's rural nature, low income and low population

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi is a Japanese businessman. During the Japanese economic bubble, ''Forbes'' listed Tsutsumi as the wealthiest person in the world during 1987–94 due to his extensive real estate investments through the Seibu Corporation, which he controlled. ...

, Japan's richest man at the time, was able to build a large ski area and hotel without the kind of "organized opposition of environmentalists" which stymied his plans elsewhere in Japan."Japanese tycoon building top-notch ski, golf resort", The Chicago Daily Herald, August 25, 1991, section 4, page 2 *Koiwai Farm is a working dairy and tourist attraction. A number of the farm buildings have been named National Tangible Cultural Properties. The farm has been used as a shooting location for television dramas and movies. Every year Koiwai Farm puts on the . This festival is noteworthy for its giant snow sculptures. *The town is known for its annual hemp festival every year in August which draws "crowds of sightseers"."Legal hemp in Shizuoka, bizarre drug laws"
Reuters Newswire, August 25, 1998 Retrieved 31 August 2010.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Iwate Prefecture