Yamatsuri, Fukushima

Yamatsuri 矢祭町
Town
Yamatsuri Town Hall
Flag Seal
Location of Yamatsuri in Fukushima Prefecture
Yamatsuri
Coordinates: 36°52′16.8″N 140°25′29″E / 36.871333°N 140.42472°E / 36.871333; 140.42472
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Fukushima
District	Higashishirakawa
Government
• Mayor	Makoto Kobari
Area
• Total	118.27 km2 (45.66 sq mi)
Population  (March 2020)
• Total	5,702
• Density	48/km2 (120/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- Tree	Japanese Red Pine
- Flower	Azalea
- Bird	Oriental turtle dove
Phone number	0247-46-3131
Address	66 Tatemoto, Higashitate, Yamatsuri-machi, Higashishirakawa-gun, Fukushima-ken 963-5118
Website	Official website

Yamatsuri (矢祭町, Yamatsuri-machi) is a town located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 March 2020^[update], the town had an estimated population of 5,702 across 2,095 households,^[1] and a population density of 48 persons per km². The total area of the town was 118.27 square kilometres (45.7 sq mi).

Yamatsuri is located in the southernmost portion of Fukushima prefecture, bordering on Ibaraki Prefecture to the south and Tochigi Prefecture to the west. Mt. Yamatsuri is in the center of the town, and the Kuji River flows from north to south. To the east of the town are the Abukuma Mountains.

• Mountains: Yamatsuriyama (382.7 m), Yamizosan (1021.8 m)
• Rivers: Kuji River, Yamatsurigawa

• Fukushima Prefecture
  • Hanawa
  • Tanagura
• Ibaraki Prefecture
  • Daigo
  • Hitachiōta

Yamatsuri has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Yamatsuri is 11.7 °C (53.1 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,428 mm (56.2 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.3 °C (77.5 °F), and lowest in Yamatsuri, at around −0.9 °C (30.4 °F).^[2]

Per Japanese census data,^[3] the population of Yamatsuri has been declining over the past 60 years.

The area of present-day Yamatsuri was part of ancient Mutsu Province. The area formed part of the holdings of Tanagura Domain, in the early Edo period, but mostly became tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa Shogunate after 1729. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Higashishirakawa District within the Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province. The villages of Toyosato, Takagi and Ishii were created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On March 31, 1955, Toyosato and a portion of the village of Takagi merged to form the village of Yamatsuri. It was elevated to town status on January 1, 1963.

The economy of Yamamtsuri is primarily agricultural.

Yamatsuri has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

• JR East – Suigun Line
  • Yamatsuriyama - Higashidate - Minami-Ishii - Iwaki-Ishii

• National Route 118
• National Route 349

• City of Rockdale, New South Wales, Australia

• Media related to Yamatsuri, Fukushima at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website (in Japanese)