is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town 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 8843 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 250 persons per km². The total area of the town was .

Geography

Kunimi is located in Date District in the very northern portion Fukushima prefecture, bordering on Miyagi prefecture. Mt. Handa and Mt. Ugasu are near the western end of the town, and a continuous mountain range runs along the northern end of the town, which is also the prefectural border with Miyagi Prefecture. The Abukuma River flows south of the town. The town center, where government offices and various types of transportation are concentrated, is relatively close to the border with the neighboring Koori town. *Mountains: Atsukashiyama (289.4m) *Rivers: Abukuma River

Neighboring municipalities

* Fukushima Prefecture **

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 ...

Koori Koori (also spelt koorie, goori or goorie) is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians from a region that approximately corresponds to southern New South Wales and Victoria. The word derives from the Indigenous language Awabakal. For some people ...

*Miyagi Prefecture ** Shiroishi

Climate

Kunimi 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''). The average annual temperature in Kunimi is . The average annual rainfall is with September being the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kunimi population statistics
/ref> the population of Kunimi has been in decline over the past 70 years.

History

The area of present-day Kunimi was part of ancient Mutsu Province. 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 ...

, it was partly ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia' ...

'' territory under direct control of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, and partly under

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

. The town of Fujita developed as a post station 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 ...

highway. 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

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, and Fujita was established as a town on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The town of Kunimi was formed on March 31, 1954 with the merger of the town of Fujita with the villages of Kosaka, Morieno, Okido, and Oeda, all in Date District. The town hall was destroyed in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake.

Economy

The economy of Kunimi is primarily agricultural.

Education

Kunimi has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town does not have a public high school. * Kunimi Prefectural Middle School * Kunimi Elementary School

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 ...

* –

Highway

* – Kunimi Interchange – Kunimi Service Area *

Local attractions

* Atsukashiyama Barrier, a National Historic Site * Ishimotai Memorial Stele, a National Historic Site *Ishimotai Castle ruins *Kangetsudai Cultural Center

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Fukushima Prefecture