Iwate, Iwate

Iwate 岩手町
—  Town  —
Location of Iwate in Iwate
Iwate
Coordinates: 39°58′21″N 141°12′45″E
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Iwate
District	Iwate
Area
• Total	360.55 km2 (139.21 sq mi)
Population (2003)
• Total	18,264
• Density	51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Website	Town of Iwate

Iwate (岩手町, Iwate-machi) is a town located in Iwate District, Iwate, Japan, 40° latitude.

As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 18,264. The total area is 360.55 km².

Built at the source of the Kitakami River (北上川), the town was founded in 1960, when the four villages of Numakunai (沼宮内), Kawaguchi(川口), (御堂) and (一方井) merged. Found on Route 4, the main highway of northern Japan, Iwate machi is famous for its blueberry production; a local farmers' market square produces blueberry ice cream.

The town is also home to the Stone Sculpture Museum. Since 1973, there has been an annual stone sculpture contest, with the winner being added to the display outside the town hall. The sports center's astroturf pitch, laid in 1993, was the first in the prefecture. The success of the town's hockey club dates back to 1970, and since then both the town and high school have had a consistently strong team. The high school always places highly in the all-Japan inter-high championships.

Its station on the Tohoku Shinkansen, built in 2003, is one of the least used stations in all of Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Iwate machi's symbols

• flower: gentian / autumn bell flower (竜胆)
• bird: Japanese Pheasant (Phasianus versicolor) (雉)
• tree: the hall pine (御堂松)

External links

Media related to Iwate, Iwate at Wikimedia Commons

• Iwate official website (Japanese)