Place:Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan

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NameKesennuma
TypeCity
Coordinates38.9°N 141.567°E
Located inMiyagi, Japan
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

is a city in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,803 and a population density of in 26,390 households. The total area of the city is . Large sections of the city were destroyed by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and major fires on March 11, 2011.

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History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The area of present-day Kesennuma was part of ancient Mutsu Province and has been settled since at least the Jōmon period by the Emishi people, as evidenced by numerous shell middens found in coastal areas. During the later portion of the Heian period, the area was ruled by the Northern Fujiwara. During the Sengoku period, the area was contested by various samurai clans before the area came under the control of the Date clan of Sendai Domain during the Edo period, under the Tokugawa shogunate. The town of Kesennuma was established on June 1, 1889 within Motoyoshi District, Miyagi with the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

Kesennuma City was formed on June 1, 1953, when the town of Kesennuma annexed the neighboring town of Shishiori and village of Matsuiwa. On April 1, 1955, the city annexed the villages of Niitsuki, Hashikami and Oshima. On March 31, 2006, the town of Karakuwa and on September 1, 2009 the town of Motoyoshi (both from Motoyoshi District) were likewise incorporated into Kesennuma.

On March 11, 2011, large parts of the city were destroyed by the tsunami which followed the Tōhoku earthquake. The island of Ōshima and its 3,000 residents, included in the city limits, was isolated by the tsunami which damaged the ferry connections. After the tsunami, spilled fuel from the town's fishing fleet caught fire and burned for four days. As of 22 April 2011, the city had confirmed 837 deaths with 1,196 missing.

In August 2013, residents decided to scrap a fishing boat - the Kyotoku Maru No 18 - which was swept inland by a giant wave during the 2011 tsunami. There had been plans to preserve the boat as a monument, as it had become a symbol of the tsunami.

In 2014, Kesennuma was designated as Japan's first "slow town".

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