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 ...

located in

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 Miya ...

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 city 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 34,631, 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 180 persons per km² in 14,358 households. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Sōma is located in northeastern Fukushima Prefecture, bordered by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

to the east and the Abukuma Plateau to the west. Sōma is closer to

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, 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 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

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 nort ...

than it is to the prefectural capital of

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 ...

. *Mountains **

Mount Ryōzen View from the mountain trail is a mountain on the border of Sōma City and the former town of Ryōzen, in Date City, Fukushima. It is in height. Along the hiking trail are the sites of what were Ryōzen Temple and Ryōzen Castle. The mountain ...

(825m) *Rivers **Uda River *Coastal features ** Matsukawa Lagoon

Neighboring municipalities

*Fukushima Prefecture **

Minamisōma is a city located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 53,462 in 26,355 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Minamisōma is located in northe ...

** Iitate **

Date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner ** Group dating *Play date, a ...

** Shinchi *Miyagi Prefecture **

Marumori is a towns of Japan, town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 13,092, and a population density of 48 persons per km² in 5,050 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Marumori is located ...

Climate

Sōma has a humid climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa'') characterized by mild summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sōma is 12.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1260 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sōma has remained the same over the past 40 years.

History

The area of present-day Sōma 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 ...

, and has been settled since at least 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 c ...

. During 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 ...

, the area developed 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, ...

of Sōma Domain, home of the

Sōma clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled the northern Hamadōri region of southern Mutsu Province in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Sōma claimed ...

from the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

until the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

. 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 Iwaki Province. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1896, the area was organized into a number of towns and villages within the districts of Namekata and Uda. In 1896, Namekata and Uda were merged to create Sōma District. The town of Nakamura was established on April 1, 1889. Nakamura was merged with seven neighbouring villages and raised to city status on March 31, 1954, becoming the city of Sōma.

2011 earthquake and tsunami

The eastern, coastal portion of Sōma was inundated by

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

flood waters following the magnitude 9.1

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

off its coastline on March 11, 2011. The tsunami reached up to approximately 4 km inland in Sōma; flooded areas included Sōma Port and the Matsukawa-ura Bay area, up to the elevated Route 6 Sōma Bypass. The tsunami was measured to have been 9.3 meters or higher in Sōma. Sōma is about north of

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant The is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a site in the towns of Ōkuma and Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The plant suffered major damage from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The ...

, the site of the

nuclear accident A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility. Examples include lethal effects to individuals, lar ...

that followed the tsunami, and was thus not subject to mandatory evacuation.

Government

Sōma 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 ...

city legislature of 20 members. Sōma, together with the town of Shinchi contributes one member to the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Fukushima 1st district , the House of Representatives of Japan is elected from a combination of multi-member districts and single-member districts, a method called Parallel voting. Currently, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member districts (called proportional r ...

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

Sōma has a mixed economy, based on agriculture, commercial fishing and light manufacturing. The area is noted for its

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

cultivation. The

Shinchi Thermal Power Station The is a coal-fired thermal power station operated by the Sōma Kyōdō Power Co., Ltd. in the city of Sōma, Fukushima, Japan. The facility is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of Honshu. The Sōma Kyōdō Power Co., Ltd is a 50-50 jo ...

, a coal-fired

thermal power station A thermal power station is a type of power station in which heat energy is converted to electrical energy. In a steam-generating cycle heat is used to boil water in a large pressure vessel to produce high-pressure steam, which drives a stea ...

is located in Sōma.

Education

Sōma has nine public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by the city and two public high schools operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school.

Hospital

Soma General Hospital is a public hospital in Soma, Fukushima, Japan. Founded in 1970, the hospital is one of the largest health care institution in northeast Fukushima. It serves the cities of Soma, Fukushima, Soma, Shinchi, Fukushima, Shinchi, and surrounding munici ...

, a public hospital with 240 beds, is located in Sōma.

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) -

Jōban Line The Jōban Line ( ja, 常磐線, ) is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line officially begins at Nippori Station in Arakawa, Tokyo before the line officially ends at Iwanuma Station in Iwanuma, ...

* -

Highway

* – Sōma Interchange * – Sōma Interchange – Sōma Yamakami Interchange – Sōma Tamano Interchange * * *

Seaports

Port of Soma A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

Local attractions

*The Sōma horse-chasing Festival held on July 23 to 25 every year is a designated an

Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property A is administered by the Government of Japan, Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), and includes Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan, tangible properties (structures ...

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ag ...

Sōma Nakamura Castle was a Japanese castle that formed the administrative center of Sōma Domain, a Han (Japan), feudal domain of the Sōma clan under the Tokugawa shogunate, located in what is now the city of Sōma, Fukushima, Sōma in northern Fukushima prefectur ...

ruins *Sōma Nakamura Shrine *

Matsukawaura Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park in Sōma, Fukushima, Sōma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The park was established in 1951. is celebrated for its nori and Venerupis philippinarum, saltwater clams and in 1927 was selected as one of the 100 Landscap ...

, National Place of Scenic Beauty and a National Historic Site

Noted people from Sōma

Tochiazuma Tomoyori Tochiazuma Tomoyori (born 3 September 1944 as Hayao Shiga) is a former sumo wrestler from Sōma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was ''sekiwake,'' which he held for one tournament in 1970. He won the top division championship in J ...

, sumo wrestler *

Takahiro Suzuki is a retired Japanese people, Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player. After leaving his professional career, he worked as a baseball commentator and also was engaged in farming. References External links

1978 births Japanes ...

, professional baseball player *

Tikashi Fukushima Tikashi Fukushima (Sōma, Fukushima, Sōma, January 19, 1920 - São Paulo, October 14, 2001) was a Japanese Brazilians, Japanese-Brazilian Painting, painter and Printmaking, printmaker. Considered one of the most important Abstract art, abstracti ...

, artist.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soma, Fukushima Cities in Fukushima Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan