Ishinomaki Explained

Ishinomaki
Native Name Lang:ja
Settlement Type:City
Pushpin Map:Japan
Pushpin Map Caption: 
Coordinates:38.4176°N 141.3027°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Japan
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Tōhoku
Subdivision Type2:Prefecture
Subdivision Name2:Miyagi
Established Title:First official recorded
Established Date:367 AD
Established Title2:City Settled
Established Date2:April 1. 1933
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Masami Saito
Area Total Km2:554.55
Population Total:138,538
Population As Of:February 2, 2022
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:Japan Standard Time
Utc Offset1:+09:00
Blank Name Sec1:Phone number
Blank Info Sec1:0225-95-1111
Blank1 Name Sec1:Address
Blank1 Info Sec1:14-1 Kokucho, Ishinomaki-shi, Miyagi-ken 986-8501
Blank Name Sec2:Climate
Blank Info Sec2:Cfa
Module:
Embedded:yes

is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan., the city has an estimated population of 138,538, and a population density of 250 persons per km2 in 61,919 households.[1] The total area of the city is 554.55sqkm.

Geography

Ishinomaki is in northeastern Miyagi Prefecture. The city borders on Ishinomaki Bay to the south and Minamisanriku city to the north, with the Kitakami Mountains to the west. Its coastline forms part of the Sanriku Fukkō National Park, which stretches north to Aomori Prefecture. Ishinomaki includes Tashirojima (also known as "Cat Island"), Ajishima, and Kinkasan, three islands off the south coast of Oshika Peninsula.

Neighboring municipalities

Miyagi Prefecture

Climate

Ishinomaki has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) characterized by mild summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Ishinomaki 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 . Its record high is, reached on 15 August 2007, and its record low is, reached on 6 January 1919.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,[2] the population of Ishinomaki has declined over the past 40 years.

History

The area of present-day Ishinomaki was part of ancient Mutsu Province. During the Sengoku period, the area was contested by various samurai clans before the area came under the control of the Date clan of Sendai Domain during the Edo period. The town prospered as a major port and transshipment center for coastal shipping between Edo and northern Japan. The town of Ishinomaki was established within Oshika District on June 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

The city was founded on April 1, 1933. On April 1, 2005, Ishinomaki absorbed the neighboring towns of Kahoku, Kanan, Kitakami, Monou and Ogatsu, and the town of Oshika to more than quadruple its area and add nearly 60,000 people to its population.

The town of Ogatsu is regionally famous for its inkstones and has an annual scallop festival in the summer. Ayukawa, a town in Oshika, was formerly a base for several ships in Japan's whaling fleet.

2011 earthquake, tsunami, and subsidence

Ishinomaki was among the municipalities most seriously affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[3] [4] Several tsunamis, up to about 10m (30feet) high, traveled inland up to 5km (03miles) from the coast. The tsunami destroyed around 80% of the 700 houses in the coastal port of Ayukawa, and the Kadonowaki neighborhood was largely leveled.[5] [6] Approximately 46% of the city was inundated by the tsunami.[7] Following the tsunami, a Kamen Rider statue was found completely intact despite damage to the surrounding area; a writer for Tokyo Sports hoped that it would symbolically give hope to the survivors of the disaster.[8]

Many public schools were completely destroyed, including, which lost 70 of 108 students and nine of 13 teachers and staff.[9] There is still anger among some of the parents of the dead students because the teachers had wasted precious time in debating whether to evacuate to higher ground. And when the decision was finally made, the teachers had decided to get to higher ground further away from the school which necessitated crossing a nearby river bridge. It was here while crossing the bridge that both the teachers and students were swept away by the tsunami. This decision is deemed unreasonable by many of the parents because there is a hill right behind the school, which they could have reached quickly. One of the teachers had tried to persuade the other teachers to bring the students to safety uphill soon after the earthquake; when he was unsuccessful, he evacuated himself, managing to persuade one of the students to go with him - both survived. One of the teachers who survived the tsunami at the bridge later committed suicide.[10] [11] [12] [13]

Ishinomaki is the Japanese municipality with the highest confirmed death count., a total of 3,097 deaths had been confirmed in Ishinomaki due to the tsunami, with 2,770 unaccounted for.[14] Approximately 29,000 city residents lost their homes.[15]

Ishinomaki employs several foreigners to teach English in all of its elementary and junior high schools, as well as the two municipal high schools. American teacher Taylor Anderson was killed by the tsunami. Since her death, her family has been active in supporting the Ishinomaki school district, and has set up programs to further English education.[16]

The earthquake shifted the city southeast and downward, lowering it by as much as 1.2m (03.9feet) in some areas and causing it to flood twice daily at high tide. A once sandy beach in the Kadonowaki area completely disappeared and tides now reach the wall that once separated the beach from the road. Near the Mangakan Island, a walkway with benches was partially submerged in the river.[17]

Rebuilding

Since 2011, Ishinomaki and other municipalities have been focusing on rebuilding and attracting residents back into the area. In 2019, eight years after the tragedy, Okawa Elementary School remains in ruins, as a memorial to those that were lost in the tsunami. Numerous parents who lost children due to staff errors sued the school and won in 2019.[18]

Ishinomaki and other neighboring cities started construction on levees and large walls along the coast to protect against future tsunamis.[19]

Government

Ishinomaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 30 members. Ishinomaki, together with the town of Onagawa, contributes five seats to the Miyagi Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Miyagi 5th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Ishinomaki traditionally has been a center for commercial fishing, especially for the cultivation of oysters.

Education

Transportation

Railway

JR East

See main article: East Japan Railway Company.

Intercity bus

Daily scheduled intercity buses bound for the following cities, through the Sanriku Expressway, are being served from Ishinomaki Station.

Highways

Seaport

Local attractions

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Japan. Ishinomaki is twinned with:[22]

Friendship cities

Noted people from Ishinomaki

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 人口・世帯数(最新版). Ishinomaki city official. 2022-02-21. 2022-02-02. Japanese.
  2. https://www.citypopulation.de/php/japan-iwate.php Ichinomaki population statistics
  3. News: Satellite Photos of Japan Before and After the Quake and Tsunami . . 13 March 2011.
  4. News: Kyodo News . Kyodo News . Death toll may surpass 10,000 in Miyagi . . 14 March 2011 . 1.
  5. News: Kyodo News . Kyodo News . Miyagi coastal whaling port pulverized, little more than memory . . 18 March 2011 . 3.
  6. News: Gilhooly . Rob . 'Nothing can prepare you to witness this' . . 20 March 2011 . 7.
  7. [NHK]
  8. Web site: 仮面ライダー無事だった. https://web.archive.org/web/20110321175454/http://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/tokudashi.php?sid=12702. 18 March 2011 . 21 March 2011. Tokyo Sports. 22 April 2014.
  9. News: Lah, Kyung . In Japan, parents try to go on: 'My child should come home to me' . . 23 March 2011 . 23 March 2011.
  10. News: Gilhooly . Rob . Time has stopped for parents of dead and missing children . . 11 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120314055441/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120311f3.html . 14 March 2012.
  11. News: Parents unable to let go continue search for missing kids . Rob. Gilhooly. 13 October 2011. The Japan Times. The Japan Times Ltd.. Japan. 3. https://web.archive.org/web/20111214231410/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111013f1.html. 14 December 2011. 13 March 2013.
  12. News: Loss-staggered school reopens. 19 April 2011. The Japan Times. The Japan Times Ltd.. Japan. 3. https://web.archive.org/web/20110514084752/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110419f1.html. 14 May 2011. 13 March 2013.
  13. News: Kyodo News . Kyodo News . Loss-hit Ishinomaki school opens . . 22 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110426052206/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110422a7.html . 26 April 2011.
  14. News: Kyodo News . Kyodo News . Ishinomaki can't tally March 11 missing . . 17 June 2011 . 2.
  15. News: Robson . Seth . Ishinomaki residents rebuild their lives as they rebuild their town . . 30 August 2011.
  16. Web site: Live Your Dream. The Taylor Anderson Story . www.thetaylorandersonstory.com . 29 October 2023.
  17. News: Quake shifted Japan; towns now flood at high tide . Contra Costa Times/Associated Press . 9 May 2011 . 9 May 2011 . Alabaster, Jay . https://web.archive.org/web/20110530133541/http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_18026656?nclick_check=1 . 30 May 2011 . dead .
  18. Web site: New principals in Miyagi meet with relatives of kids lost to tsunami. 2020-12-17. The Asahi Shimbun. en.
  19. Web site: The Town That Was Washed Away: 8 Years After The Great Tohoku Earthquake (a photo essay). Ambalina. Limarc. 2019-08-13. Japan Bound. en-US. 2019-11-14.
  20. Web site: 沼津貝塚 . Cultural Heritage Online. Agency for Cultural Affairs. ja. 25 December 2016.
  21. Web site: 100 Soundscapes of Japan . . 8 December 2015.
  22. Web site: 姉妹都市・友好都市. city.ishinomaki.lg.jp. Ishinomaki. ja. 2020-04-12.
  23. Web site: ja:東北の復興に向けての起業を応援する「みちのく起業」 . "Michinoku Entrepreneurship" to support entrepreneurs for the recovery of Tohoku . 2023-08-26 . Michinoku Shigoto.