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 322,996 people in 141760 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 430 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Kōriyama is designated as a core city and functions as a commercial center for Fukushima Prefecture. Kōriyama is the third largest

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most cas ...

in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku reta ...

Geography and climate

Kōriyama is located in the center of 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 ...

region of Fukushima Prefecture in the

of Japan. The Adatara Mountains are to the north, Lake Inawashiro is to the west, and the Abukuma Highlands are to the east. The Abukuma River flows through downtown Kōriyama. The downtown area extends to the west of Kōriyama Station.

Neighboring municipalities

Sukagawa 270px, Sukagawa City Hall is a city located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 76,251 in 38824 households, and a population density of 270 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Sukagaw ...

Aizu-Wakamatsu is a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 118,159 in 50,365 households, and a population density of 310 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Aizuwakamatsu is located in the west ...

Nihonmatsu is a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 54,013 in 20,179 households, and a population density of 160 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . The Adachi neighborhood of Nihonmatsu was the bi ...

* Tamura * Motomiya * Otama * Ten-ei *

Hirata Hirata may refer to: Places *Hirata, Fukushima, former village in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan * Hirata, Gifu, former town in Gifu Prefecture, Japan *Hirata, Shimane, former city in Shimane Prefecture, Japan *Hirata, Yamagata was a town located in ...

* Miharu *

Ono ONO, Ono or Ōno may refer to: Places Fiji * Ono Island (Fiji) Israel * Kiryat Ono * Ono, Benjamin, ancient site Italy * Ono San Pietro Ivory Coast * Ono, Ivory Coast, a village in Comoé District Japan * Ōno Castle, Fukuoka * ...

* Inawashiro

Climate

Kōriyama has a

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 freez ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by hot wet summers and cool, quite dry winters. The average annual temperature in Kōriyama is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kōriyama has increased over the past 60 years.

History

Kōriyama originated as a regional governmental center in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

, when the area was on the frontier of Yamato settlement of the Tōhoku region. The surrounding area developed into ''

shōen A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private ...

'' controlled by various samurai clans in the

Heian The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to: * Heian period, an era of Japanese history * Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto * Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms) * ...

and

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 b ...

s. Nearby centers, such as

developed into castle towns, Kōriyama remained as a commercial center and thrived as a

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

because of its importance as a traffic focal point into 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 ...

and was part of the territory of

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 ...

. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the town of Kōriyama was established within

Asaka District Asaka is a Districts of Uzbekistan, district of Andijan Region in Uzbekistan. The capital lies at Asaka, Uzbekistan, Asaka. It has an area of and it had 340,000 inhabitants in 2022. The district consists of 1 city (Asaka), 4 urban-type settlemen ...

. In the early

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 dispossessed samurai were assigned undeveloped lands in the area to reclaim and as a result, the population grew and region developed into an agricultural center. The relative abundance of hydroelectric power also helped with the development of local industry. Kōriyama was raised from town to city status on September 1, 1924 with the annexation of neighboring Odawara Village. Kuwano Village was likewise annexed on June 1, 1925. During the 1930s, Kōriyama was noted a center for military equipment production. It was thus a target for American bombers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and the city was subject to three large-scale air raids during the war. From 1954 to 1955, Kōriyama expanded by annexing the town of Otsuki and portions of the villages of Tomita and Iwae, and in 1965 annexed the villages of Nishida and Nakata. In 1997, the city received core city designation, giving it increased autonomy from national and prefectural governments. On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake caused damage, but Kōriyama is located outside of the mandatory evacuation zone set by the Japanese government after the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 ...

. Many people from the evacuation zone relocated to Kōriyama. On 30 July 2020, a ''

shabu-shabu ''Shabu-shabu'' ( ja, しゃぶしゃぶ, shabushabu) is a Japanese ''nabemono'' hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water and served with dipping sauces. The term is onomatopoeic, derived from the sound – "swish swi ...

'' restaurant exploded, damaging an area spanning several hundred meters.

Government

Kōriyama 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 38 members. The city contributes nine members to the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, Kōriyama is part of the Fukushima 2nd Electoral District, which includes neighbouring Nihonmatsu, Motomiya and Adachi District.

Mayors

*1st: Yoshiya Ōmori (大森吉弥、1925–1929) *2nd: Jun Wada (和田潤, 1929–1937) *3rd: Hachirō Murai (村井八郎, 1937–1940) *4th: Ujirō Seki (関卯次郎, 1940–1942) *5th: Hachikurō Ōshima (大島破竹郎, 1942–1947) *6th: Shichiji Itō (伊藤七司, 6 April - 2 May 1947) *7th: Zenko Honma (本間善庫, 1947–1951) *8th: Morishige Tanji (丹治盛重, 1951–1959) *9th: Hiyoshi Hidese (秀瀬日吉, 1959–1977) *10th: Takashi Takahashi (高橋堯, 1977–1985) *11th: Hisashi Aoki (青木久, 1985–1993) *12th: Eiji Fujimori (藤森英二, 1993–2005) *13th: Masao Hara (原正夫, 2005–2013) *14th: Masato Shinagawa (品川萬里, current) Sources:

Economy

Kōriyama city is called the "commercial capital in Fukushima" and the economic bloc is the biggest in

. ;Principal companies headquartered in Koriyama * XEBIO; sporting goods * Kourakuen;

ramen is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of served in a broth; common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen has its roots in Chinese noodle di ...

noodle shop chain * York Benimaru; large supermarket retailer with networks in south Tōhoku, Nigata, and North Kanto ;Banks headquartered in Koriyama * Daito Bank *

Toho Bank is a Japanese regional bank headquartered in Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū. Toho Bank provides financial services for individual and corporate customers, including deposits, loans, real estate, sec ...

Transportation

Kōriyama is an important transportation hub, as it is located in the center of Fukushima Prefecture and is the nexus of several railway lines and expressways. Kōriyama Station is the central station for the city. However, Kōriyama does not have an airport.

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 Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main ...

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 ...

* - Kōriyama - JR logo (east)

- East Ban'etsu Line *Kōriyama - JR logo (east)

- West Ban'etsu Line *Kōriyama - - - ] - - JR logo (east)

- Suigun Line *Kōriyama - Asaka-Nagamori - -

Highway

Koriyama-JCT-ban-etsu-expressway,koriyama-city,japan

* - Asaka PA - Kōriyama-minami IC - Kōriyama IC - Kōriyama JCT * - Kōriyama-higashi IC - Kōriyama JCT - Gohyakugawa PA - Bandai-Atami IC * * * *

Media

Television

* Fukushima Central Television (

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed ...

chain) * Fukushima Broadcasting (

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...

chain) CATY *Information Network Kōriyama

Radio

*FM Fukushima (JFN)

Newspaper

*Fukushima Mimpō (Fukushima,

Mainichi The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (pr ...

chain) *Fukushima Minyū (Fukushima, Yomiuri chain) * Kahoku Shinpō (

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 ...

)

Education

Universities and colleges

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. It is one of Japan's leading private universit ...

, Faculty of Engineering *

Ohu University is a private university, located in the city of 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 are ...

* Kōriyama Women's University & Colleges * Kōriyama Women's University Junior College * Open University of Japan, Fukushima Learning Center

Senior high schools

Kōriyama has ten public high schools operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education and six private high schools ;Public (prefectural) *Asaka High School *Asaka Mitate Branch High School *Asaka Reimei High School *Kōriyama High School *Kōriyama Higashi High School *Kōriyama Shōgyō High School *Kōriyama Kita Kōgyō High School *Asaka Kaisei High School *Konan High School *Kōriyama Hōsei High School ;Private *Tohoku High School of

*Shōshi Gakuen Shōshi High School *Teikyō Asaka High School *High School affiliated with Kōriyama Women's Colleges

Junior high schools

;Public *Koriyama First Junior High School *Koriyama Second Junior High School *Koriyama Third Junior High School *Koriyama Fourth Junior High School *Koriyama Fifth Junior High School *Koriyama Sixth Junior High School *Koriyama Seventh Junior High School *Tomita Junior High School *Asaka Junior High School *Asaka Second Junior High School *Ōtsuki Junior High School *Mihota Junior High School *Futase Junior High School *Nishida Junior High School *Katahira Junior High School *Kikuta Junior High School *Midorigaoka Junior High School *Moriyama Junior High School *Hiwada Junior High School *Meiken Junior High School *Koharada Junior High School *Kohken Junior High School *Miyagi Junior High School *Ose Junior High School *Konan Junior High School *Mitate Junior High School *Takase Junior High School *Atami Junior High School ;Private *Xaverio Junior High School

Multi-level schools

*Fukushima Korean School ( - North Korean international schoolHome
Fukushima Korean School. August 5, 2002. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.

Noted people from Koriyama

* Takeshi Honda, Figure skater *

Toru Iwaya is a Japanese people, Japanese mezzotint engraver and Painting, painter. Biography Born in Koriyama, Japan in 1936, the youngest child of Iwaya Kanekichi and Kageyama Matsu, Toru Iwaya went, at the age of 19, to Tokyo. After he graduated from ...

, Mezzotint engraver, painter * Miki Nagasawa, voice actress *, Japanese idol and voice actress * Toshiyuki Nishida, actor * Saga (

Alice Nine is a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in Tokyo in 2004. They were a part of PS Company until 2014. The band had King Records as its record label until 2010, when they joined Tokuma Japan. Then, in 2013, the band joined Universal Music Grou ...

), musician * Masashi Ohuchi, Olympic weightlifter * Toshio Tamogami,

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warf ...

* Joji Yuasa, composer * Hidekaz Himaruya, creator Hetalia * Takumi Nemoto, Politician (

Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. The minister is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan and is appointed by the Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Ja ...

) * GReeeeN, band

Twinnings

Japanese sister cities

Nara, Nara is the capital city of Nara Prefecture, Japan. As of 2022, Nara has an estimated population of 367,353 according to World Population Review, making it the largest city in Nara Prefecture and sixth-largest in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara i ...

(since 5 August 1971) *

Kurume, Fukuoka is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 303,579 and a population density of 1,320 persons per km². The total area is 229.96 km². On February 5, 2005, the town of Kitano (fr ...

(since 3 August 1975) *

Tottori, Tottori is the capital and the largest city of Tottori Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. Within Japan the city is best known for its sand dunes which are a popular tourist attraction, drawing visitors from outside the prefecture. The san ...

(since 25 November 2005)

International relations

* Brummen,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, sister city since 25 June 1988

Local attractions

Festivals

*Kōriyama Uneme Festival *Koriyama Summer Festival - an

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

-style festival. *Koriyama Autumn Festival - includes children's activities, ''

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

'' and ''

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

'' parades.

National Historic Sites

* Ōyasuba Kofun

References

External links

*
Koriyama City Guide 2017
(Japanese/English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Koriyama, Fukushima Cities in Fukushima Prefecture