Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, Tōhoku Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Kitakami is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. The city is famous for the sakura that bloom in Tenshochi Park.

Geography Kitakami is located in south-central Iwate Prefecture, in the Kitakami River valley, approximately 45 km south of the prefectural capital of Morioka, and 490 km north of Tokyo. The city is at the confluence of the Kitakami River and the Waga River and has an altitude ranging from 50 to 200 meters above sea level, rising to 400 meters in the east.

Neighboring municipalities Iwate Prefecture • Hanamaki • Ōshū • Nishiwaga • Kanegasaki.

History The area of present-day Kitakami was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and has been settled since at least the Jōmon period by the Emishi people. The area was a stronghold for the Emishi chieftain Aterui until his death at the hands of Sakanoue Tamuramaro. During the later portion of the Heian period, the area was ruled by the Abe clan, and became a battleground during the Former Nine Years War. The Abe were followed by the Northern Fujiwara clan. During the Sengoku period, the area came under the control of the Nanbu clan. The area was part of Morioka Domain during the Edo period, under the Tokugawa shogunate, with the exception of two villages on its south-eastern border, which were under Sendai Domain.

The town of Kurosawajiri was established by the Meiji period creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1891. The modern city of Kitakami was founded on April 1, 1954, by the merger of the town of Kurosawajiri, with the villages of Iitoyo, Futako, Saraki, Oniyanai, Aisari and Fukuoka. On April 1, 1991 Kitakami absorbed the neighboring village of Ezuriko and town of Waga (both from Waga District).

Government Kitakami has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 13 members. Kitakami and the town of Nishiwaga collectively contribute four seats to the Iwate Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Iwate 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy The economy of Kitakami was traditionally agricultural; however, due to its ease of access with Sendai and Morioka via the Tōhoku Expressway, the area has rapidly developed into a light manufacturing and transshipment centre, with numerous industrial parks.

Education Kitakami has 17 public elementary schools and nine public junior high schools operated by the city government and five public high schools operated by the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education.

Transport: Rail East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Tōhoku Shinkansen • Kitakami;

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Tōhoku Main Line • Kitakami - Murasakino;

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Kitakami Line • Kitakami - Yanagihara - Ezuriko - Fujine - Tatekawame -Yokokawame - Iwasawa - Wakasennin.

Transport: Road • Tōhoku Expressway – Kitakami-Kanegasaki IC, Kitakami-Ezuriko IC • Akita Expressway – Kitakami IC, Kitakami-Nishi IC • National Route 4 • National Route 107 • National Route 456.

Local attractions The city is famous for the sakura that bloom in Tenshochi Park, which is regarded as one of the hundred best places in Japan to view cherry blossoms.

Another hallmark of the city is Oni Kenbai, a traditional sword dance where the dancers dress as demons, performed during the summer festivals, such as Kitakami Michinoku Traditional Dance Festival.

Kitakami also boasts a site that is reputed to be the grave of the famous Heian period waka poet Izumi Shikibu.

National Historic Sites • Kabayama Site, Jōmon period ruins • Ezuriko Kofun Cluster, Kofun period tumuli • Kunimisan temple ruins, Heian period temple ruins, • Hatten Site, Jōmon period settlement ruins • Nanbu-Date border mounds, Edo period border markers.