Iwaizumi, Iwate

The area of present-day Iwaizumi was part of the ancient Mutsu Province, which was dominated by the Nambu clan during the Edo period, who ruled Morioka Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate.

With the Meiji period establishment of the modern municipalities system, the village of Iwaizumi was created within Kitahei District on April 1, 1889. Kitahei, Nakahei and Higashihei Districts were all merged into Minamihei District on March 29, 1896.

Iwaizumi was elevated to town status on August 1, 1922. On September 30, 1956, Imaizumi annexed the neighboring villages of Akka, Ugei, Okawa and Omoto and on April 1, 1957, annexed the village of Kogawa to reach is present borders.

In August 2016, Typhoon Lionrock hit the town with strong winds and heavy rain that caused landslides and flooding. 19 people died, including 9 people who drowned in a nursing home after a river burst its banks.

Iwaizumi is in the Kitakami Mountains of northeast Iwate prefecture, east of the prefectural capital of Morioka. It has a small coastline on the Pacific Ocean to the east. The area has numerous limestone caves, including the Ryūsendō.

Iwate Prefecture

• Fudai
• Kuji
• Kuzumaki
• Miyako
• Morioka
• Noda
• Tanohata

Iwaizumi has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) characterized by mild summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Iwaizumi is 9.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1283 mm with September as the wettest month and February as the driest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around −2.0 °C.[https://en.climate-data.org/location/48535/ Iwaizumi climate data]

{{Weather box

|collapsed = Y

|single line = Y

|metric first = Y

|location = Iwaizumi, Iwate (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1976−present)

|Jan high C = 3.6

|Feb high C = 4.5

|Mar high C = 8.8

|Apr high C = 15.6

|May high C = 20.8

|Jun high C = 23.3

|Jul high C = 26.5

|Aug high C = 27.7

|Sep high C = 24.0

|Oct high C = 18.6

|Nov high C = 12.8

|Dec high C = 6.2

|Jan mean C = -1.0

|Feb mean C = -0.5

|Mar mean C = 3.0

|Apr mean C = 8.9

|May mean C = 14.1

|Jun mean C = 17.5

|Jul mean C = 21.2

|Aug mean C = 22.3

|Sep mean C = 18.4

|Oct mean C = 12.2

|Nov mean C = 6.4

|Dec mean C = 1.3

|Jan low C = -5.0

|Feb low C = -5.0

|Mar low C = -2.0

|Apr low C = 2.7

|May low C = 8.1

|Jun low C = 12.5

|Jul low C = 17.2

|Aug low C = 18.2

|Sep low C = 14.1

|Oct low C = 7.1

|Nov low C = 1.2

|Dec low C = -2.8

|Jan record high C = 15.8

|Feb record high C = 20.5

|Mar record high C = 24.5

|Apr record high C = 31.9

|May record high C = 34.8

|Jun record high C = 36.3

|Jul record high C = 37.0

|Aug record high C = 38.5

|Sep record high C = 35.5

|Oct record high C = 29.3

|Nov record high C = 25.7

|Dec record high C = 22.0

|year record high C= 38.5

|Jan record low C = -16.0

|Feb record low C = -17.1

|Mar record low C = -13.1

|Apr record low C = -6.3

|May record low C = -2.1

|Jun record low C = 1.2

|Jul record low C = 6.8

|Aug record low C = 7.5

|Sep record low C = 4.3

|Oct record low C = -3.0

|Nov record low C = -7.2

|Dec record low C = -14.2

|year record low C= -17.1

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 51.5

|Feb precipitation mm = 40.8

|Mar precipitation mm = 63.7

|Apr precipitation mm = 70.0

|May precipitation mm = 82.4

|Jun precipitation mm = 104.6

|Jul precipitation mm = 151.3

|Aug precipitation mm = 165.0

|Sep precipitation mm = 181.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 129.2

|Nov precipitation mm = 52.6

|Dec precipitation mm = 58.1

|year precipitation mm= 1151.3

|Jan rain days = 4.9

|Feb rain days = 5.6

|Mar rain days = 8.0

|Apr rain days = 8.5

|May rain days = 9.2

|Jun rain days = 9.6

|Jul rain days = 12.2

|Aug rain days = 11.6

|Sep rain days = 11.7

|Oct rain days = 8.5

|Nov rain days = 6.9

|Dec rain days = 6.0

|Jan snow cm = 77

|Feb snow cm = 77

|Mar snow cm = 45

|Apr snow cm = 4

|May snow cm = 0

|Jun snow cm = 0

|Jul snow cm = 0

|Aug snow cm = 0

|Sep snow cm = 0

|Oct snow cm = 0

|Nov snow cm = 2

|Dec snow cm = 33

|year snow cm= 243

|Jan snow days = 10.1

|Feb snow days = 9.7

|Mar snow days = 4.5

|Apr snow days = 0.3

|May snow days = 0

|Jun snow days = 0

|Jul snow days = 0

|Aug snow days = 0

|Sep snow days = 0

|Oct snow days = 0

|Nov snow days = 0.3

|Dec snow days = 4.2

|Jan sun = 134.8

|Feb sun = 138.7

|Mar sun = 174.6

|Apr sun = 186.7

|May sun = 190.7

|Jun sun = 161.6

|Jul sun = 132.7

|Aug sun = 146.1

|Sep sun = 131.8

|Oct sun = 143.7

|Nov sun = 133.6

|Dec sun = 124.4

|year sun= 1807.2

|source 1 = JMA{{cite web

| url = https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/rank_a.php?prec_no=33&block_no=0218&year=&month=&day=&view=h0

|script-title=ja:観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）

| publisher = JMA

| access-date = February 19, 2022}}

|source 2 = JMA{{cite web

| url = https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_amd_ym.php?prec_no=33&block_no=0218&year=&month=&day=&view=p1

|script-title=ja:気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値）

| publisher = JMA

| access-date = February 19, 2022}}}}

Per Japanese census data,[https://www.citypopulation.de/Japan-Iwate.html Iwaizumi population statistics] the population of Iwaizumi peaked in around the year 1960 and has declined steadily over the past 60 years, and is now less than half of what it was in the year 1970, and less than it was a century ago.

{{Historical populations

| 1920 | 15,286

| 1930 | 17,326

| 1940 | 22,894

| 1950 | 24,751

| 1960 | 27,813

| 1970 | 22,177

| 1980 | 18,267

| 1990 | 15,164

| 2000 | 12,845

| 2010 | 10,804

| 2020 | 8,726

|align = none

|footnote =

}}

Iwaizumi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral village council of 10 members. Iwaizumi, together with the city of Miyako and the villages of Fudai, Tanohata and Yamada, collectively contributes three seats to the Iwate Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the village is part of Iwate 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

The local economy is based on agriculture and to a lesser extent on commercial fishing.

Iwaizumi has five public elementary schools and three public junior high schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education.

Sanriku Railway – Kita-Rias Line

• {{STN|Iwaizumi-Omoto|x}}

The JR East Iwaizumi Line, which connected Iwaizumi with Moichi Station on the Yamada Line suspended operations on 31 July 2010, due to a landslide. The line was officially closed on April 1, 2014, owing to low public demand.

• {{jct|country=JPN|Exp|E45|dab1=SK}}
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|45}}
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|340}}
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|455}}

• Akkadō – cave system
• Ryūsendō – cave system

• {{flagicon|USA}} Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA, sister city since August 1990{{cite news|last=Krejci|first=Anna|title=Dells-Iwaizumi mark 20 years of sister city relations|url=http://www.wiscnews.com/lifestyles/announcements/article_5fda8140-de17-11df-b44c-001cc4c03286.html|access-date=July 20, 2013|newspaper=Wisconsin Dells Events|date=October 22, 2010}}

• Kin Endate – amateur astronomer
• Rika Miura – actress
• Shunsuke Sato – video game composer

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category-inline}}

• [http://www.town.iwaizumi.lg.jp/ Official Website] {{in lang|ja}}

{{Iwate}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Towns in Iwate Prefecture

Category:Populated coastal places in Japan