Kamaishi, Iwate

Iwate Prefecture

• Ōtsuchi to the north
• Tōno to the west
• Sumita to the west
• Ōfunato to the south

The area of present-day Kamaishi was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and has been settled since at least the Jōmon period. The area was inhabited by the Emishi people, and came under the control of the Yamato dynasty during the early Heian period. During the Sengoku period, the area was dominated by various samurai clans before coming under the control of the Nambu clan during the Edo period, who ruled Morioka Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. Before the discovery of magnetite in 1727, Kamaishi was little different from any of the other small fishing communities along the coast. However, it was not until 1857, and the construction of the first small blast furnace, that any real changes could be seen. In the 1850s, the feudal domains of Japan were engaged in an arms race to develop the first Western-style armaments, particularly large guns. The Nanbu Domain constructed blast furnaces of a foreign design in Kamaishi under the direction of military engineer Takatō Ōshima. Ten furnaces were built in all but some were owned by private corporations. The first of these furnaces was lit on December 1, 1857; a day honored as the start of modern iron production in Japan.

In the Meiji period establishment of the modern municipalities system, the town of Kamaishi was established within Minamihei District, Iwate on April 1, 1889. Minamihei and Nishihei Districts merged to form Kamihei District in 1896. Kamaishi attained city status on May 5, 1937, and expanded in 1955 with the absorption of the neighboring villages of Kasshi, Unosumai, Kurihashi from Kamihei District and the village of Tōni from Kesen District.

In 1875, the newly established Meiji government bought all of the furnaces and created the Kamaishi Iron Works. They also put Ōshima and a German engineer in charge of its modernization. The German director imported two large steam-driven blast furnaces of the latest design from Britain and set up a railway with 15 miles of track and a locomotive purchased from Manchester to deliver the ore. Production began in 1880 but had to be stopped soon after due to a lack of charcoal. An attempt to resume operations in 1882 by replacing charcoal with coke failed and the plant was closed.

There were cholera outbreaks in Kamaishi in July 1882 and April 1884. The first left 302 people dead and warnings about the drinking water were posted throughout the prefecture.

In 1885, a new foundry was established which used coal from Hokkaido and iron ore from China.

The 1896 Sanriku earthquake struck on June 15 at 7:32 pm while families were celebrating Boy's Festival on the beach. The earthquake measured magnitude 8.5 while the tsunami on the Iwate coast reached as high as 24 meters in places – the highest ever recorded in Japan at the time. The city of Kamaishi was completely destroyed. The French Catholic missionary Henri Lispard was also swept out to sea and died when the wave struck.

A devastating earthquake and tsunami affected Kamaishi in March 1933

As an important foundry town, Kamaishi played a significant role in the Japanese war effort and was targeted by the U.S. Navy during World War II. On 14 July 1945, under the command of Rear Admiral John F. Shafroth Jr., the battleships USS South Dakota (BB-57), USS Indiana (BB-58), and USS Massachusetts (BB-59), the heavy cruisers USS Chicago (CA-136) and USS Quincy (CA-71), and nine destroyers bombarded the Japan Ironworks and warehouses, along with nearby oil tanks and vessels, to great effect. This was the first naval bombardment of the Japanese mainland. Rear Admiral John F. Shafroth Jr.'s battleships and cruisers, joined by two Royal Navy light cruisers, attacked again on 9 August.[7] The mill was also the site of the Sendai Prisoner of War Camp,[8] and 32 Allied prisoners were killed in the raids. A second naval bombardment followed on 8 August, specifically targeting the civilian portion the city. A total of 694 civilians and 30 Japanese military personnel were killed in the bombardment.

Kamaishi played its part in Japan's post-war boom, continuing its reputation as a steel town, a reputation reflected in the name of its rugby team - the Kaminashi Nippon Steel Rugby Club. In 1960, the town was crippled by a tsunami generated by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. However, following the closure of the steel mills in 1988, the economy of city collapsed, and almost half its population moved away. Kamaishi is now known more for commercial fishing than heavy industry. On September 30, 2010, Foreign Policy magazine used Kamaishi as an example of Japan's relative decline in the "Lost Decade".

Kamaishi was heavily damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami,[9] in which 1,250 city residents were killed or are missing;[10] at least 4 of the town's 69 designated evacuation sites [11] and three of the town's 14 schools were inundated. Of the 2,900 students who attended the town's schools, five elementary or junior high school students were killed or are missing.[12]

Tsunami waves as tall as 14 ft (4.3 m) surmounted the 1,950 m (6,400 ft) long and 63 m (207 ft) deep Kamaishi Tsunami Protection Breakwater,[13] which had been completed in March 2009, after three decades of construction, at a cost of $1.5 billion.[13] It was once recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's deepest breakwater.[14] The subsequent decision to rebuild the breakwater at a cost of over 650 million dollars was criticised as "a waste of money that aims to protect an area of rapidly declining population with technology that is a proven failure".[15]

Numerous news videos were broadcast of the city, which can be recognized by a large green crane in the background and water rushing against tall buildings at the edge of the city.

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Kamaishi Line

• Rikuchū-Ōhashi - Dōsen - Matsukura - Kosano - Kamaishi

Sanriku Railway – Rias Line

• Tōni - Heita - Kamaishi

• Sanriku Expressway
• Kamaishi Expressway
• National Route 45
• National Route 283

• Port of Kamaishi