Lake Akimoto is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

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 village 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 2,697 in 1091 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 12 persons per km². The total area of the village was .

Geography

Kitashiobara is located at the far northern Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture, bordered by

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. Kitashiobara consists of three areas, named after the former the villages of Kitayama, Ōshio, and Hibara. The western portion, Hibara, has a higher elevation than the other two areas, most of it between 800 m and 1000 m. Also, Lake Hibara in Hibara is located in the Bandai-Asahi National Park. It was created in 1888 during the eruption of Mount Bandai. Oguni-numa, a swamp, is reserved by the Japanese government as a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as w ...

. Some 86% of the village area is covered in mountains and forest. *Mountains : Mount Bandai *Rivers : Nakutsu-gawa, Ono-gawa *Lakes : Lake Hibara,

Goshiki-numa , is a cluster of five volcanic lakes situated at the foot of Mount Bandai in the center of the lake district of the Bandai Highland ( 磐梯高原, Bandai-kōgen), Kitashiobara, Fukushima, Japan. Goshiki-numa formed when Mount Bandai erupted ...

, Lake Onogawa, Oguni-numa, Akimoto Lake

Neighboring municipalities

Fukushima Prefecture *

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 ...

* Inawashiro * Kitakata Yamagata Prefecture * Yonezawa

Climate

Kitashiobara 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 ''Dfb'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kitashiobara is 7.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1666 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 20.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around -4.9 °C.

Demographics

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

History

The area of present-day Kitashiobara was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and 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 ...

. 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 ...

, it was organized as part of Yama District, Fukushima Prefecture. The villages of Kitayama, Ōshio and Hibara. were created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1884. The three villages merged to form the village of Kitashiobara village was created on March 31, 1954.

Economy

The economy of Kitashiobara is dependent on agriculture, seasonal tourism, and the mining of salt.

Education

Kitashiobara has two public elementary schools and two public junior high schools operated by the village government. The village does not have a public high school.

Geography

Neighboring municipalities

Climate

Demographics

History

Economy

Education

Transportation

Railway

Highway

Local attractions

Notes

External links