Date, Fukushima


Date is a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan., the city had an estimated population of 55,004 in 23,314 households and a population density of 219 persons per km2. The total area of the city was.
WWW city.fukushima-date.lg.jp

Geography

Date occupies the eastern half of the Fukushima Basin in northern Fukushima prefecture, with Miyagi Prefecture on its northern border. The area was once noted for sericulture but transitioned to fruit cultivation during the Taishō period. It is currently organized into the five former towns of Date, Hobara, Yanagawa, Ryozen, and Tsukidate, each of which retain numerous unique traditions and events. Hobara is the central area, where the municipal government is based.

Neighboring municipalities

Fukushima Prefecture
Miyagi Prefecture

Climate

Date has a humid climate. The average annual temperature in Date is. The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around, and lowest in January, at around.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Date has declined over the past 70 years.

History

A whole body skeleton of Paleoparadoxia was excavated in Yanagawa on August 21, 1984. The skeleton is named the “Yanagawa Specimen”. The first humans to live within the bounds of present-day Date City are thought to have arrived during the Paleolithic Period. The area was part of ancient Mutsu Province. Towards the end of the Heian Period, Shinobu-gun and Date-gun were awarded to Date Tomomune. Tomomune founded the Date clan in present-day Hobara. The 17th lord of the Date Clan, Date Masamune lost control of the area and went on to found the Sendai Clan and the City of Sendai. The clan continued to rule over the Sendai Domain during the Edo period. However, under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate, most of the area of Date was initially part of Yonezawa Domain, followed by Fukushima Domain and Yanagawa Domain before becoming tenryō territory under direct control of the shogunate. It was not part of the Date Clan's territories. After the Meiji Restoration, the area was organized as part of Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province.
As of 1889, at the time of the establishment of the modern municipalities system, the area consisted of 21 towns and villages. Between the years 1955 and 1960, these were consolidated into the five towns of Date, Hobara, Ryōzen, Tsukidate, and Yanagawa, which merged to create the modern city of Date on January 1, 2006.
Date is about north-west of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, the site of the nuclear accident that followed the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Although outside the nuclear accident exclusion zone, the levels of radiation in the city caused residents, and especially children, to remain indoors.
In 2016 an anime was produced in promotion of the city. Masamune Datenicle features a young Date Masamune who meets a dragon deity that gives him the ability to call upon former leaders of the Date Clan.

Government

Date has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 22 members. Date, together with the three municipalities of Date District, collectively contribute three members to the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Fukushima 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The economy of Date is primarily agricultural, with an emphasis on rice and horticulture. The area is noted for its peaches and dried persimmons.
Taiyo Yuden operates a metal power inductor production plant in the Yanagawa Industrial Zone in Date, Fukushima, which also produced CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs in the past.

Peaches

Date City's location in central Fukushima, in the middle of Fukushima Basin, helps in the cultivation of peaches. The most common varieties grown in the area are Akatsuki, Kawanakajima, and Yuuzora.

Dried Persimmons

As sericulture lost its place in the area during the Taisho period, the former village of Isazawa in Yanagawa replaced it with the production of dried persimmons, among other industries. Dried persimmons had been produced in the area since the Edo Period. However, the addition of sulfur fumigation as was used in the production of raisins in the United States, allowed for a much sweeter product. Whereas traditional dried persimmons, hoshigaki, have a tough skin and are almost black in color, those created with the additional step of sulfur fumigation, called anpogaki or tsurushigaki, are soft and bright orange.
Although the production of anpogaki was halted for three years after the 2011 disaster, Date City's persimmon orchards have since been decontaminated and testing machines have been installed, ensuring the safety of the final product.

Education

Date City has twelve public elementary schools, six public junior high schools, one public high school, and one private high school:
AreaPublic/PrivateSchool
DatePublicDate Elementary
DatePublicEast Date Elementary
YanagawaPublicYanagawa Elementary
YanagawaPublicAwano Elementary
YanagawaPublicSekimoto Elementary
HobaraPublicHobara Elementary
HobaraPublicOta Elementary
HobaraPublicKamihobara Elementary
HobaraPublicHashirazawa Elementary
RyōzenPublicKakeda Elementary
RyōzenPublicIshida Elementary permanently closed
RyōzenPublicOguni Elementary
RyōzenPublicOishi Elementary permanently closed
TsukidatePublicTsukidate Academy formerly Tsukidate Elementary
TsukidatePublicŌte Elementary permanently closed

AreaPublic/PrivateSchool
HobaraPublicDate High School（福島県立伊達高等学校） formerly Hobara High School
YanagawaPublicYanagawa High School permanently closed
DatePrivateSeikō Gakuin High School

Festivals

Summer

Hobara

  • Hobara Summer Festival
Held every year early to mid August, and features the Hobara Yoitoko Dance and Bon dance. Other specifics vary by year, but often include food stands from local vendors, various performances, and the Momo-Olympics where visitors can participate in various games to win prizes.

Tsukidate

  • Otehime-no-sato Summer Festival
Held around mid-August, this festival feature fireworks, foodstalls and lanterns.

Autumn

Hobara

  • Amaterasu Shinmeigu Shrine Autumn Festival
Held mid-October, local taiko groups form their own Taiko floats to perform around Jinya Street.

Ryōzen

Winter

Hobara

  • Tsutsuko-biki Festival
Begun over 300 years ago, this festival is held every year　at Itsukushima Shrine on the first Sunday of March. The main event is a three-way tug of war by men dressed solely in fundoshi and zori. After the winning team is decided, the men work together to lift and drop the heavy bundle repeatedly. This movement causes the hot mochi rice inside to form mochi, which is then passed out to the audience.

Transportation

Railway

East Japan Railway Company - Tōhoku Main Line
AbukumaExpress – Abukuma Express Line
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Highway

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Local attractions

Notable people from Date

International relations