Date, Fukushima

Date 伊達市
City
Date City Hall Date City Hall
Flag of Date Flag Official seal of Date Seal
Location of Date in Fukushima Prefecture Location of Date in Fukushima Prefecture
Date
Coordinates:
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Fukushima Prefecture
Area
• Total	265.10 km2 (102.36 sq mi)
Population (December 2014)
• Total	62,098
• Density	234/km2 (610/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
- Tree	Pinus densiflora
- Flower	Peach
- Bird	Wagtail
Phone number	024-575-2570
Address	180 Hobaramachi aza Funabashi, Date-shi, Fukushima-ken 960-0692
Website	Official HP

Date (伊達市, Date-shi) is a city located in northern Fukushima Prefecture, in northern Honshū, Japan. As of December 2014, the city had an estimated population of 62,098 and a population density of 234 persons per km². The total area was 265.10 km².

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.

• Rivers: Abukuma River, Hirose River

Neighboring municipalities

• Fukushima Prefecture
  • Sōma
  • Fukushima
  • Kunimi
  • Kawamata
  • Koori
  • Iitate
• Miyagi Prefecture
  • Shiroishi
  • Marumori

History

The area of present-day Date was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and was the ancestral home of the Date clan, which rose to prominence from the Kamakura period, and which ruled Sendai Domain during the Edo period. The area of present-day Date was part of the holdings of Sendai Domain. After the Meiji Restoration, the area was organized as part of Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province, and administratively into numerous villages with the establishment of the municipalities system on April 1, 1898. On April 1, 1940, the village of Nagaoka became the town of Date. The modern city of Date was established on January 1, 2006, from the merger of the towns of Hobara, Date (former), Date, Ryōzen, Tsukidate and Yanagawa (all from Date District). The central locality is Hobara. A whole body skeleton of Paleoparadoxia was excavated in Yanagawa on August 21, 1984. The skeleton is named the “Yanagawa Specimen”. Date is about 60 kilometres (37 miles) 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 schoolchildren, to remain indoors.

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 CD and DVD production plant in the Yanagawa Industrial Zone in Date, Fukushima.

Education

• Fukushima Prefectural Hobara High School
• Fukushima Prefectural Yanagawa High School
• Seiko Gakuin High School
• 6 junior high schools
• 22 elementary schools

Transportation

Railway

• JR East - Tōhoku Main Line
  • Date
• AbukumaExpress – Abukuma Express Line
  • Takako - Kamihobara - Hobara - Ōizumi - Niida - Nitta - Yanagawa - Yanagawa Kibōnomori Kōen-mae - Tomino - Kabuto

Highway

• Japan National Route 4
• Japan National Route 115
• Japan National Route 349
• Japan National Route 399

Local attractions

• Ryōzen Shrine
• site of Yanagawa Castle, the original home of the Date clan

International relations

• - Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA since May 15, 1992

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (Japanese)