is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

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 ...

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 town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 13,810 in 5309 households, 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 35 persons per km². The total area of the town was . It is noted as the birthplace of the famous doctor

Hideyo Noguchi , also known as , was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist at the Rockefeller University, Rockefeller Institute known for his work on syphilis, serology, immunology, and contributing to the long term understanding of neurosyphilis. Before the Ro ...

, who contributed to knowledge in the fight against

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

and yellow fever.

Geography

Inawashiro is located in the far north of the

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princ ...

region of Fukushima Prefecture, bordering

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

to the north and

Lake Inawashiro is the fourth-largest lake in Japan, located in central Fukushima Prefecture, south of Mount Bandai. It is also known as the . The lake is located within the borders of Bandai-Asahi National Park. It is a surface area of , circumference of , de ...

to the south. *Mountains :

Mount Bandai is a stratovolcano located in Inawashiro-town, Bandai-town, and Kitashiobara village, in Yama-Gun, Fukushima prefecture. It is an active stratovolcano located to the north of Lake Inawashiro. Mount Bandai, including the Bandai heights, belo ...

Mount Adatara is a stratovolcano in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It is located about 15 kilometres southwest of the city of Fukushima and east of Mount Bandai. Its last known eruption was in 1996. An eruption in 1900 killed 72 workers at a sulfur mine locat ...

Mount Azuma-kofuji is an active stratovolcano in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. It has a conical-shaped crater and as the name "Kofuji" (small Mount Fuji) suggests, Mount Azuma is similar in shape to Mount Fuji. Mount Azuma's appealing symmetrical crater and the n ...

*Rivers : Nagase River *Lakes :

Akimoto Lake Akimoto Lake (秋元湖) is located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Straddling the border between the village of Kitashiobara and the town of Inawashiro, it serves as a reservoir, supplying drinking water to local residents. Along with Hibara ...

Neighboring municipalities

Fukushima Prefecture *

Aizuwakamatsu 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 . History The area of present-day Aizuwakamatsu ...

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

* Fukushima * Kitashiobara *

Kōriyama is a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 321,938 people in 141760 households, and a population density of 425 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Kōriyama is designated as a core city and ...

* Nihonmatsu Yamagata Prefecture * Yonezawa

Climate

Inawashiro 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 cold ...

(Köppen ''Dfa'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Inawashiro is 10.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1367 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Inawashiro population statistics
/ref> the population of Inawashiro has declined steadily over the past 40 years.

History

The area of present-day Inawashiro was part of ancient Mutsu Province and the location of Inawashiro Castle since the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

. It was the site of the

Battle of Suriagehara was a battle during the Sengoku period (16th century) of Japan. It was fought at a field called Suriagehara, whose modern location is split between the towns of Inawashiro and Bandai in Fukushima Prefecture. Background The Battle of Suriagehar ...

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 formed part of the holdings of

Aizu Domain was a Han (Japan), domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 The Aizu Domain was based at Aizuwakamatsu Castle, Tsuruga Castle in M ...

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 ...

. During 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 coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

, the Battle of Bonari Pass took place near Inawashiro. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the area was organized as part of Yama District, Fukushima Prefecture. The town of Inawashiro was founded with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1898. The town borders expanded considerably in 1955 through a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

with the villages of Iwase, Iwaho, Azauma, Nagase, Tsukinowa, Chisato, and Okinajima.

Economy

The economy of Inawashiro is based on tourism and agriculture. Primary agricultural crops include buckwheat and rice, along with tomatoes, dairy farming and

miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...

. There are many ski resorts,

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

and leisure facilities at Lake Inawashiro. Sulfur mining, formerly a mainstay of the local economy, ended with the closure of the last mine in 1968.

Education

Inawashiro has six public elementary schools and three public junior high schools operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school.

Transportation

Railway

JR East 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 ...

–

Ban'etsu West Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kōriyama Station (Fukushima), Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, and Niitsu Station in Akiha-ku, Niigata, Akiha Ward, Niigata (cit ...

* - - - -

Highway

* – Inawashiro-Bandai Kogen IC * *

Local attractions

* '' Tenkyōkaku'', a Meiji-period former residence of

Prince Arisugawa Takehito was the 10th head of a shinnōke, cadet branch of the Imperial House of Japan, Japanese imperial family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Early life Prince Takehito was born in Kyoto as a scion of the house, one of the ''sh ...

, designated an Important Cultural Property (ICP) * Noguchi Hideyo Memorial Hall *

* former Okinashima Villa of Prince Takamatsu (ICP) * former Baba residence (ICP) * Aizu-Matsudiara clan cemetery, National historic site

Noted people from Inawashiro

* Yumeko Aizome, actress *

, bacteriologist

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Fukushima Prefecture Inawashiro, Fukushima