is the capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It is located in the northern part of the Nakadōri or central region of the prefecture. , the city had an estimated population of 275,850 in 122,130 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is .Fukushima City official profile
The present-day city of Fukushima partially consists of most of the former Shinobu and Date Districts and a portion of the former Adachi District. The city is located in the Fukushima Basin's southwest area and nearby mountains.
There are many onsen on the outskirts of the city, including the resort areas of Iizaka Onsen, Takayu Onsen, and Tsuchiyu Onsen. Fukushima is also the location of the Fukushima Race Course, the only Japan Racing Association horse racing track in the Tōhoku region of Japan.
History Early history In ancient Japan, the area now known as Fukushima City was called . The mountain in the middle of the city, present-day Mt. Shinobu, was also formerly called .
During the Jōmon period, for around 2,000 years there was a large settlement on the eastern bank of the Abukuma River. This area has since been excavated and named the Miyahata Site.
In the 5th century AD, was appointed by the to be the , giving him control over the Fukushima Basin.
Under the Nara period's Ritsuryō system, stations were established along the Seven Circuits so that officials could change horses. One of the stations, the Tōsandō, passed through the area of present-day Fukushima, and Minekoshi Station was established on the route. Minekoshi Station was located south of the Surikami River and north of the Matsukawa River, which at the time flowed to the south of Mt. Minekoshi. The area south of the Matsukawa River was then, as it still is now, known as . Thus it is believed that the station was located north of the area around the present-day prefectural office, in the .
The implementation of the Ritsuryō system also resulted in administrative changes, with the area of present-day Fukushima and Date being combined to form the district of Shinobu. This was the northernmost point of the Mutsu Province and held responsibility for preventing the southern expansion of the Emishi, a people who lived in northern Honshū.
After 718, and the widening influence of the Yamato Imperial Court, Mutsu Province was expanded northwards into present-day Miyagi Prefecture. Along with this redrawing of boundaries, present-day Fukushima Prefecture was separated from the new Mutsu Province (approximately present-day Miyagi) and split between the newly formed provinces of Iwaki in the east and Iwase in the west. However, by 724 Mutsu Province was unable to deal on its own with the economic costs of holding back the Emishi, so Iwaki and Iwase provinces were merged back into Mutsu.
In the first half of the 10th century, the Date district was separated from the Shinobu district. As a reform to the tax on rice, labor, and textiles, there was a nationwide effort from the Imperial Court to split up districts so they each had approximately the same population. This was accomplished both through administrative changes and forced population relocations. With Mutsu Province viewed as reclaimed land by the Imperial Court, the area saw a significant amount of reorganization.
In the late Heian period, almost the entirety of the Tōhoku region was ruled by the Northern Fujiwara clan. Relatives of the Northern Fujiwara clan, the was given domain over nearly the entirety of present-day Fukushima Prefecture's centrally located Nakadōri area and eventually expanded their control to include Aizu to the west as well. It is said that the Shinobu Satō clan is one of the reasons for the Satō surname spreading throughout and eventually becoming the most common surname in Japan.
Kamakura to Edo period In 1180, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, was accompanied by Shinobu district residents and on his way south to Kantō to fight the Taira clan in the Genpei War.
In 1413, shut himself inside in defiance of the Kamakura kubō. This is the first known historical mention of Daibutsu Castle, which was near the confluence of the Abukuma and Arakawa rivers at the present-day location of the Fukushima Prefectural Offices. It is said that the castle was named after the , a Vairocana Buddha statue kept within the castle. The castle was also known as . It is believed that in this time period the area's name was changed from Minekoshi to to reflect the concentration of political power in the area.
During the Azuchi–Momoyama period, in 1591 Gamō Ujisato gained control of the Shinobu and Date districts, and under him took control of , which was in the southwest of present-day Fukushima. The following year he moved from Ōmori Castle to Suginome Castle. It is said that, inspired by the recent renaming of to the more joyous-sounding , he changed the name of his new residence to . This castle, like many others in Japan, was later demolished at the beginning of the Meiji period.
In 1600, Date Masamune and Honjō Shigenaga, who was under the Uesugi clan and head of Fukushima Castle at the time, fought the . At the time, the Matsukawa River flowed in a different riverbed than it does now, as the current Matsukawa River is north of Mt. Shinobu, while the Matsukawa River at the time of the battle flowed south of Mt. Shinobu. It is said that the Battle of Matsukawa's battlefield extended from the southern base of Mt. Shinobu and extended into the center of modern-day Fukushima. In 1664 the Uesugi clan lost control of the Shinobu district, and the area became directly ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate.
In 1702, the Fukushima Domain was established and governed from Fukushima Castle, and in 1787, the was established in the present-day Sakurashimo area in the western part of Fukushima. This domain was later abolished in 1823.
19th century On November 17, 1868, , the head of the Fukushima Domain, surrendered to the Satchō Alliance and handed over control of Fukushima Castle to . The Fukushima Domain was abolished the following year. In line with the abolition of domains and introduction of the prefecture system, the first iteration of Fukushima Prefecture came into being on August 29, 1871. The prefecture at the time consisted of the Shinobu, Date, and Adachi districts.
With permission from the Ministry of the Treasury, on September 10, 1871, the village of changed its name to the town of . Fukushima Prefecture was absorbed into Nihonmatsu Prefecture on November 2, making Nihonmatsu Prefecture consist of approximately the entirety of the Nakadōri area. On November 14, Nihonmatsu Prefecture's name was changed to Fukushima Prefecture. Fukushima City was named the prefecture's capital.
Nearly five years later, on August 21, 1876, Fukushima Prefecture merged with (consisting of the coastal Hamadōri area) and (consisting of Aizu in the west), thus creating present-day Fukushima Prefecture. Fukushima continued to serve as the prefecture's capital. In 1879, the Shinobu district's government offices were moved to Fukushima.
On November 3, 1881, , which generally followed a portion of the old Ushū Kaidō, was opened and linked Fukushima to Yonezawa, approximately 45 km to the northwest. On December 15, 1887, the section of the Tōhoku Main Line running through Fukushima, connecting Kōriyama Station in the south to Iwakiri Station in the north, was opened. In Fukushima, this saw the opening of Fukushima Station and Matsukawa Station.
In 1888, there was a large-scale merger of municipalities. In the Date district, the village of absorbed the village of , the villages of and merged to form the village of , the villages of and merged to form the village of . In the Adachi district, the village of absorbed the village of . In the Shinobu district, the village of became the town of . The Shinobu district reduced one town and 70 villages down to two towns and 26 villages.
1890 saw the opening of the , which was the predecessor of Fukushima Medical University. On March 19, 1893, Mt. Azuma's Mt. Issaikyō peak erupted, and on May 15, 1899, Fukushima was linked to Yonezawa by rail via the opening of the , part of the present-day Ōu Main Line. The opening of Niwasaka Station corresponded with the opening of the line. Also in 1899, a Bank of Japan branch was established in Fukushima, the bank's first branch in the Tōhoku region.
Modern history On April 1, 1907, the town of Fukushima officially became the city of . It was the second municipality in the prefecture and 59th in the nation to become a city. At the time, Fukushima had a population of 30,000.
On April 14, 1908, the opened a light rail system that connected to via . Also in 1908, the opened.
On June 28, 1918, the Fukushima Race Course held its first horse race. On August 30 of the same year, rice riots occurred in the city.
On April 13, 1924, the Fukushima Iizaka Electric Tramway, precursor to the present-day Iizaka Line, began service linking Fukushima Station to Iizaka Station (present-day Hanamizuzaka Station). Three years later, in 1927, the line was extended further north to its present-day terminus of Iizaka Onsen Station. 1927 also saw the opening of and with it the prefecture's first elevator. In 1929 the Fukushima City Library closed and the opened in its place, taking over the Fukushima City Library's collections and facilities. 1929 also saw the beginning of bus service within the city.
In 1937, a section of the village of was absorbed into Fukushima, and in 1939 took over , changed its name to , and moved its head office to Fukushima. This was the precursor to the present-day .
In 1941, NHK opened its first broadcast station in the city. Near the end of World War II, in which Japan had initiated wars with a number of Pacific powers to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, on July 20, 1945, a United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombed the Watari area.
Post-Second World War In 1946, Toho Bank moved its head office to Fukushima, on June 18, 1947 became Fukushima Medical University, and on March 7, 1948, the Fukushima Prefecture Police Department was dismantled and the Fukushima City Police formed.
On April 27, 1948, at 12:04 am, a train on the Ōu Main Line bound for Ueno derailed upon exiting a tunnel between Akaiwa and Niwasaka stations, killing three crew members. Upon inspection of the crash scene it was determined that someone had removed from the track two connecting plates, six spikes, and four bolts. The perpetrator was never found. This became known as the Niwasaka incident.
On August 17, 1949, at 3:09 am the Matsukawa incident occurred. In a scene highly reminiscent of the scene from the previous year's Niwasaka incident, a train bound for Ueno derailed, killing three crew members. Inspection of the tracks revealed that connecting plates and spikes had been removed. Furthermore, a section of rail had been moved from the track. No one was ever convicted of the crime. 1949 also saw the opening of Fukushima University.
In 1952, a new city hall was opened in the neighborhood. The Seventh National Sports Festival of Japan was also held in the city, and in 1954 the present-day Fukushima Prefectural Office's main wing was completed and the Fukushima City Police were integrated into the Fukushima Prefecture Police. In March 1959 NHK began television broadcasts. Later that year, on May 11, the Bandai-Azuma Skyline tourist roadway opened.
In January 1966, the Kitamachi Route 4 bypass was completed, and on May 29 the on Route 13 was opened.