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, Japan. , 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: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

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 contin ...

to the east and the Abukuma Plateau to the west. Sōma is closer to Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture 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 (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, and has been settled since at least the Jōmon period. 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 characte ...

, 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, a ...

of Sōma Domain, home of the Sōma clan 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. 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 exp ...

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 mi ...

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 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 multi ...

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 of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Sōma has a mixed economy, based on agriculture, commercial fishing and light manufacturing. The area is noted for its strawberry cultivation. The Shinchi Thermal Power Station, a coal-fired thermal power station 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, a public hospital with 240 beds, is located in Sōma.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Jōban Line * -

Highway

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

Seaports

* Port of Soma

Local attractions

*The Sōma horse-chasing Festival held on July 23 to 25 every year is a designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
Agency for Cultural Affairs *

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 * Mount Ryōzen, 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, professional baseball player * Tikashi Fukushima, artist.

References

External links

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