Yabuki, Fukushima

Yabuki 矢吹町
Town
Yabuki Town Hall
Flag Seal
Location of Yabuki in Fukushima Prefecture
Yabuki
Coordinates:
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Fukushima Prefecture
District	Nishishirakawa District
Area
• Total	60.37 km2 (23.31 sq mi)
Population (November 2014)
• Total	17,913
• Density	297/km2 (770/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
- Tree	Pinus densiflora
- Flower	Cymbidium goeringii
Phone number	0248-42-2111
Address	101 Ippongi Fujinuma, Yabuki-machi, Nishishirakawa-gun, Fukushima-ken 969-0236
Website	Official HP

Yabuki (矢吹町, Yabuki-machi) is a town located in Nishishirakawa District, Fukushima Prefecture, in northern Honshū, Japan. As of November 2014, the town had an estimated population of 17,913 and a population density of 297 persons per km². The total area was 60.37  km².

Geography

Yabuki is located in the flatlands of south-central Fukushima prefecture.

• Rivers: Abukuma River

Neighboring municipalities

• Fukushima Prefecture
  • Shirakawa
  • Kagamiishi
  • Ishikawa
  • Nakajima
  • Izumizaki

History

The area of present-day Yabuki was part of ancient Mutsu Province and the area has many burial mounds from the Kofun period. The area formed part of the holdings of Shirakawa Domain during the Edo period, and had a number of post stations on the Mito Kaidō and the Ōshū Kaidō. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province.

Yabuki Village was formed on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the municipalities system, initially as part of Ishikawa District, and then from Nishishirakawa District from . It was elevated to town status on December 26, 1926. The Imperial Japanese Army established an airfield in Yabuki in 1928, which became a major pilot training base in 1937. It was bombed by American forces in August 1945 during World War II. During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, over 1800 structures were severely damaged or destroyed, corresponding to approximately 30 percent of the town, the largest percentage of any municipality not affected by a tsunami.

Economy

The economy of Yabuki is primarily agricultural.

Education

• Yabuki Middle School
• Fukushima Prefectural Konan-Minami High School

Transportation

Railway

• JR East – Tōhoku Main Line
  • Yabuki

Highway

• Tōhoku Expressway
• Japan National Route 4

Local attractions

• Ayuri Hot Springs

Noted people from Yabuki

• Kiyoshi Nakahata – baseball player
• Asami Chiba - runner

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (Japanese)