Fukushima

Fukushima (福島市) is a Japanese city on the main island of Honshu; it is the capital city of Fukushima Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan with a population of around 300,000. Fukushima City and its surrounding area has many hot springs, which are in Iizaka, Takayu and Tsuchiyu for example. Known for it's fruit production, Fukushima is particularly proud of their peaches. The Prefectural Art Museum and Prefectural Library were constructed in 1984 at the foot of Mt.Shinobu in Fukushima City; the Prefectural Library owns over 610,000 volumes. Its Waraji Festival involves tons of dancing, parades, food stalls, and a huge waraji (Japanese sandal).

The Fukushima Daiichi plant, about 150 miles north of Tokyo, is one of Japan’s largest nuclear facilities and is normally capable of producing more than 4,500 megawatts of electricity. [1] The plant was damaged by the 2011 earthquake off the coast of Sendai.

Fukushima Prefecture, situated at the southern part of the Tohoku region about 200 kilometers from Tokyo, is the third largest prefecture in Japan. While being close to the nation's capital, traditional Japanese culture still exists there. It is an industrial prefecture with the total value of goods shipped being the highest in the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions.^[1]

Earthquake and Tsunami damage Fukushima Dai Ichi Nuclear Plant; Japanese government told people living within about 18 miles of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station to stay indoors, keep their windows closed, and stop using air-conditioning:

Earthquake and Tsunami damage, Japan-March 14, 2011. This is a satellite image of Japan showing damage after an Earthquake and Tsunami at the Dai Ichi Power Plant, Japan. This image was collected 3 minutes after an explosion.

Fukushima Prefecture's history[edit]

As Japan industrialized during the Meiji Period, Fukushima Prefecture flourished. After the Tokyo-Sendai section of the Tohoku Honsen railway line opened in 1887, the Date area of Fukushima Prefecture, which had thrived as a major center of sericulture since the late Edo Period, used the railway to transport large amounts of raw silk to coastal areas, from where they were exported. Construction of the Joban railway line was begun in 1894, and in 1898 the Mito-Iwanuma section of the line was opened, spurring industrial activity in the Hamadori district. In particular, the Joban coalfield in Iwaki City, in operation since the late Edo Period, greatly enhanced its productivity with the introduction of highly efficient modern equipment; at its peak, the coalfield supplied most of the coal consumed by the Tokyo area. The pace of prefectural development was so rapid that in 1899 the Bank of Japan selected the prefecture as the location for its first branch in the Tohoku region. The building of hydroelectric power stations was also energetically pursued to help meet the increasing energy requirements of industrial development. One example, the Tagokura Power Station, Japan's largest reservoir-type power station, was constructed in 1959 in Tadami Town, an area blessed with rich water resources. The power station has served as a vital component of the industrial infrastructure up to the present, helping speed the prefecture's economic recovery after World War II, and the region remains a major center of hydroelectric power generation. The mid-20th century saw the start of construction of nuclear power stations in the central part of the Hamadori region, and today, in terms of electric power generated, nuclear power generation is the foremost energy source.^[2]

References[edit]

1. ↑ www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/fukushima/index.html
2. ↑ www.pref.Fukushima.jp/list_e/hstrd_le.html

See also[edit]

• Sendai
• Kamakura
• Kyoto
• Nara
• Aomori
• Kobe