Tagajō

Tagajō 多賀城市
City
Tagajō City Hall
Flag Seal
Location of Tagajō in Miyagi Prefecture
Tagajō
Coordinates:
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Miyagi
Government
• -Mayor	Kikuchi Kenjirou
Area
• Total	19.65 km2 (7.59 sq mi)
Population (August 2014)
• Total	62,329
• Density	3,170/km2 (8,200/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
- Tree	Camellia sasanqua
- Flower	Iris sanguinea
Phone number	022-368-1141
Address	1-1 Chūō 2-chōme, Tagajō-shi, Miyagi-ken 985-8531
Website	Official website

Tagajō (多賀城市, Tagajō-shi) is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. As of August 2014, the city had an estimated population of 62,329 and a population density of 3170 persons per km². The total area was 19.64 square kilometres (7.58 sq mi). The city was named after Taga Castle, the capital of Mutsu Province from the Nara period.

Geography

Tagajō is in east-central Miyagi Prefecture, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east.

Neighboring municipalities

• Miyagi Prefecture
  • Sendai, Miyagi
  • Shiogama, Miyagi
  • Shichigahama, Miyagi
  • Rifu, Miyagi

History

The area of present-day Tagajō was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and has been settled since at least the Jomon period by the Emishi people. In 729 AD, during the Nara period, a large fortified settlement, Taga Castle, was established by the Yamato dynasty as a military center to establish control over the region and to protect colonists from western Japan. The fortification became the administrative capital of Mutsu province. The tsunami in 869 caused extensive flooding of the Sendai plain, destroying the town of Tagajō. Archaeological investigations have identified the remains of 8th and 9th century buildings beneath the present town, covered by sediments dated to the middle of the 10th century.

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. After the start of the Meiji period, the modern village of Tagajō was established with the creation of the municipalities system on April 1, 1889. From 1945 to 1954, a United States Army base, Camp Loper, was located in the town. Tagajō was elevated to town status on July 1, 1951. In the mid-1960s, the town was designated as an industrial development zone due to its proximity to Sendai harbor. Tagajō was designated a city on November 1, 1971. The city was seriously affected by the tsunami caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. As of April 7, 2011, 177 people were known dead, with 15 missing. 1,811 people were living in shelters.

Economy

Sony operates the Sendai Technology Center in Tagajō.

Education

• Tohoku Gakuin University – Tagajō campus

Transportation

Railway

• East Japan Railway Company (JR East) – Tōhoku Main Line
  • Rikuzen-Sannō - Kokufu-Tagajō
• East Japan Railway Company (JR East) – Senseki Line
  • Tagajō - Geba

Highway

• National Route 45

Local attractions

• site of Site of Tagajō
• Tōhoku History Museum

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Japan

Twin towns — Sister cities

Tagajō is twinned with:

• Dazaifu, Fukuoka, Japan (2005)
• Tendō, Yamagata, Japan (2006)
• Nara, Nara, Japan (2010)

Noted people from Tagajō

• Taiji Ishimori – professtional wrestler
• Yudai Chiba – actor

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• www.city.tagajo.miyagi.jp%20official%20website (Japanese)