is a city located in

Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...

, 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 (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

of northern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had a population of 114,476 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 91 persons per km² in 46,375 households. It is currently the second largest city by population in the prefecture, after Morioka. The total area of the city was .

Geography

Ichinoseki is located inland in the south of Iwate Prefecture, a little over two hours north of Tokyo by the Tōhoku Shinkansen. A large volume of extremely stable granite rock runs beneath the city, and is the center of a site being promoted as a suitable location for construction of the International Linear Collider (ILC).

Neighboring municipalities

Akita Prefecture * Higashinaruse Iwate Prefecture * Hiraizumi * Ōshū * Rikuzentakata * Sumita Miyagi Prefecture * Kesennuma * Kurihara * Tome

Climate

Ichinoseki has a humid climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with warm summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Ichinoseki is 10.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1248 mm with September as the wettest month and January as the driest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.5 °C.

Demographics

The agricultural makeup of the city outside the centre is mostly composed of farmers, leading to an influx of Chinese and Filipino immigrants due to marriage. As a result, Ichinoseki has a varied ethnic makeup, although the newcomers still remain a small minority. Per Japanese census data, the population of Ichinoseki peaked in the 1950s and has declined over the past 70 years. Ichinoseki has been recognized by Japan's Office for the Promotion of Regional Revitalization ( Kishida Cabinet Secretariat), which promotes the development of new technologies to combat depopulation, for meeting a "high standard" of

digital transformation Digital transformation (DT) is the process of adoption and implementation of digital technology by an organization in order to create new or modify existing products, services and operations by the means of translating business processes into a d ...

telework Remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from or at home, WFH as an initialism, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of working at or from one's home or another space rather than from an office or workplace. The pract ...

infrastructure. Related projects have been awarded over ¥80M in government grants.

History

The area of present-day Ichinoseki was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and has been settled since at least the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evi ...

period. The area was inhabited by the Emishi people, and came under the control of the

imperial dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. During the

, it was controlled by the Abe clan, followed by the

Northern Fujiwara The Northern Fujiwara (奥州藤原氏 ''Ōshū Fujiwara-shi'') were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region (the northeast of Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century as their own realm.

clan of Hiraizumi. During the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the area was dominated by various

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

clans before coming under the control of the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date fam ...

during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, who ruled

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. A portion of the present city was part of Ichinoseki Domain, a sub-domain of Sendai Domain. The town of Ichinoseki was established within Nishiiwai District, Iwate on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipality system. It was raised to city status on April 1, 1948 by the merger of the towns of Ichinoseki and Yamame with the villages of Mataki and Nakasato. *January 1, 1955 - Ichinoseki absorbed the villages of Genbi, Hagisho, Maikawa, and Yasakae *September 1, 1956 - Due to a boundary adjustment, the city absorbed parts of the town of Hiraizumi. *May 1, 1964 - Due to a boundary adjustment, the city absorbed more of the town of Hiraizumi. *September 20, 2005 - the towns of Daitō, Higashiyama and Senmaya, the villages of Kawasaki and Murone (all from Higashiiwai District), and the town of Hanaizumi (from Nishiiwai District) were merged with the city of Ichinoseki, which approximately doubled the old city's population and nearly tripled its size. *September 26, 2011 - the town of Fujisawa (also from Higashiiwai District) was merged into Ichinoseki. Higashiiwai District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

Government

Ichinoseki 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 25 members. Ichinoseki and the town of Hiraizumi collectively contribute five seats to the Iwate Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Iwate 3rd district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Education

Ichinoseki has 29 public elementary schools and 16 public junior high schools operated by the city government and one junior high school and eight public elementary schools operated by the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school and one private junior college. The Prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Special school

岩手県立一関清明支援学校

Elementary schools

Junior high schools

High schools

*Ichinoseki Gakuin High School (一関学院高等学校) *Ichinoseki Shuko High School (一関修紅高等学校) (also has a preschool and a university) *Ichinoseki No. 1 High School (岩手県立一関第一高等学校) *Ichinoseki No. 2 High School (岩手県立一関第二高等学校) *Hanaizumi High School (岩手県立花泉高等学校) *Daito High School (岩手県立大東高等学校) *Senmaya High School (岩手県立千厩高等学校) *Ichinoseki Tech High School (岩手県立一関工業高等学校)

Kosen

* Ichinoseki National College of Technology (一関工業高等専門学校)

Junior college

* Shuko Junior College

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

(JR East) - Tōhoku Shinkansen *

(JR East) -

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line () is a 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, Saitama, Saitama, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Uts ...

* - - - () - -

(JR East) -

Ōfunato Line The is a local railway line in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It originally connected Ichinoseki Station in Ichinoseki to Sakari Station in Ōfunato, Iwate, Ōfunato, on the Tohoku coast. The eas ...

* - - - - - - - Surisawa - - - - -

Highway

* * * * * * * *

Local attractions

* Geibikei is a dramatic river gorge which offers rides in traditional flat-bottomed boats, navigated by singing "gondoliers". * Genbikei is another popular river area with naturally carved cliffs. * Honederamura Shōen ruins has been designated an Important Cultural Landscape and a National Historic Site. A brochure can be seen here. http://www.ichitabi.jp/guidebook/pdf/guidebook_04_03_en.pdf *Ichinoseki is in close proximity to the historically significant site of Hiraizumi, which lies adjacent to the mid-northern border of the city. Ichinoseki station is a convenient transit hub for excursions to Hiraizumi, with access to Tōhoku Shinkansen and local rail lines.

Sister cities

International relations

* Central Highlands Regional Council,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Friendship cities

* Miharu ( Tamura District,

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

) **Signed between the former city of Ichinoseki on August 8, 1987 * Kesennuma (

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

) **Signed between the former cities of Ichinoseki and Kesennuma on May 1, 1997 **Signed between the former city of Kesennuma and former town of Murone on May 8, 2003 * Tanabe (

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

) **Signed between the former village of Murone and the town of Hongu on August 8, 1987 * Yoshikawa (

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

) **Signed by the former village of Murone on April 15, 1997

Notable people from Ichinoseki

Miyagiyama Fukumatsu was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture. He was the sport's 29th ''yokozuna'', and the last ''yokozuna'' in Osaka sumo. Career He was born . In the fall of 1909, he joined Dewanoumi stable. He made his pro ...

, sumo wrestler * Keiko Fuji, singer/actress * Shota Kimura, baseball player * Takahira Kogorō, diplomat *

Ayaka Komatsu Ayaka Komatsu ( ''Komatsu Ayaka''; born 23 July 1986) is a Japanese model, gravure idol and actress. She was born in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture. Biography Modeling career Her previous modeling agency A modeling agency is a company that ...

, model/actress *

Masato Onodera , better known by the ring name Yamato (stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently signed to Dragongate, where he is the current and record six-time Open the Dream Gate Cham ...

, professional wrestler * Shota Onodera, basketball player * Yuumi Shida, model/actress

References

External links

*
Ichinoseki tourist information
{{Authority control Cities in Iwate Prefecture