270px, Nanko Park in Shirakawa 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 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 59,393 in 23,546 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 190 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Shirakawa is located in south-central Fukushima prefecture facing the Nasu plateau, and extending to the lowland Shirakawa Basin. *Rivers: Abukuma River

Neighboring municipalities

* Fukushima Prefecture ** Nishigō ** Izumizaki ** Nakajima ** Yabuki ** Tanagura ** Ishikawa ** Asakawa **

Ten'ei was a after ''Tennin'' and before '' Eikyū.'' This period spanned the years from July 1110 through July 1113. The reigning emperor was . Change of Era * January 22, 1110 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. ...

*Tochigi Prefecture ** Nasu

Climate

Shirakawa 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 freezing ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by mild summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Shirakawa is 11.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1377 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

History

The area of present-day Shirakawa was part of ancient Mutsu Province and was the location of a barrier gate 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 ...

connecting the capital at

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

with the northern provinces. In the

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 ...

, the Buddhist monk and ''waka'' poet Nōin composed the following poem about the region: ) 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 characteriz ...

the area prospered as a

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 ...

Shirakawa Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in southern Mutsu Province. It was centered on Komine Castle in what is now the city of Shirakawa, Fukushima. Its most famous ruler was Matsudaira Sadanobu, the archit ...

, and was the site of a major battle in the Boshin War during 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 ...

. 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 ...

, it was organized as part of

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 Iwaki Province. The town of Shirakawa was formed on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. On April 1, 1949, Shirakawa was elevated to city status after merging with the neighboring village of Ōnuma. Subsequent mergers occurred in 1954 and 1955 with the inclusion of the villages of Shirasaka, Odagawa, Goka and a portion of Omotegō into the territory of Shirakawa. On November 7, 2005, the villages of Taishin,

Higashi Higashi is the Japanese word for ''east''. In kanji it is represented as 東. Higashi may also refer to: Places *Higashi, Shibuya, a district of Shibuya, Tokyo *Higashi, Fukushima, a village in Fukushima Prefecture * Higashi, Okinawa, a village i ...

, and the remainder of Omotegō (all from Nishishirakawa District) were merged into Shirakawa, increasing its population from 48,297 to approximately 66,000 and territory from to .

Government

Shirakawa 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 26 members. Shirakawa, together with Nishishirakawa District contributes three members to the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Fukushima 3rd district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Southern Fukushima Prefecture, Fukushima and consists of the cities of Shirakawa, Fukushima, Shirakawa, Sukag ...

of the lower house 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

Shirakawa has a mixed economy, and is a major commercial center for the surrounding region. Principal industries include electrical appliances, construction materials and clothing. The

D+M Group D+M Group, formerly known as DMGlobal and D&M Holdings, was a Japanese corporation that owned several audio and video brands. It was formed in 2002 from the merger of Denon and Marantz. It had acquired several other companies since that time. Pr ...

has a plant where Marantz and Denon High fidelity components are produced.

Education

Shirakawa has fifteen public elementary schools and eight junior high schools operated by the city government and four public high schools operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education.

Post offices

Shirakawa has nineteen

post offices A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

within the boundaries of the city.List of Post Offices in Shirakawa

Transportation

Railway

JR East -

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 ...

** – ( Shin-Shirakawa) – -

Highway

* – Shirakawa-chūō Interchange – Abukuma Parking Area * * *

Local attractions

*Site of

Shirakawa Barrier The is the location of a frontier fortification on the Ōshū Kaidō highway in what is now the Hatajuku neighborhood of the city of Shirakawa, Fukushima Japan, three kilometers south of the border of Tochigi Prefecture The site was designated a ...

- National Historic Site *

Komine Castle is a Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Shirakawa, southern Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Throughout the middle to later Edo period, Komine Castle was home to the Abe clan, ''daimyō'' of Shirakawa Domain. It was also referred to ...

– One of the 100 Castles of Japan * Nanko Park – National Historic Site and National Scenic Site * Shirakawa Funada-Motonuma Sites – kofun period burial tumulus, National Historic Site * Yūki-Shirakawa Castle, National Historic Site *Festivals held in Shirakawa include "Daruma Ichi", celebrating the traditional

Daruma doll A is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting a bearded man (Bodhidharma), vary greatly in color and design depending o ...

, wherein the city streets are packed with stalls selling Daruma, a variety of festival foods and charms, and "

Chōchin The traditional lighting equipment of Japan includes the , the , the , and the . The is a lamp consisting of paper stretched over a frame of bamboo, wood or metal. The paper protected the flame from the wind. Burning oil in a stone, metal, ...

Matsuri" (Lantern Festival), which is held each summer, with a special three-day celebration held once every three years.

International relations

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...

, France, since October 20, 1988 *

Anoka, Minnesota Anoka ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 17,142 at the 2010 census. Anoka is the "Halloween Capital of the World" because it hosted one of the first Halloween parades in 1920. It ...

, USA, since October 13, 2002

Noted people from Shirakawa

* Gishu Nakayama, writer *

Atsushi Fujita is a former long-distance runner from Japan. Career He graduated from Komazawa University, during the student has participated in Hakone Ekiden. He won the 2000 edition of the Fukuoka Marathon, clocking 2:06:51 on December 3, 2000 – the se ...

, Olympic marathon runner * Hideo Madarame, Olympic cyclist * Toshiaki Fushimi, Olympic cyclist

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Fukushima Prefecture