Tomiya, Miyagi

Tomiya (富谷市, Tomiya-shi) is a city located in central Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 May 2020, the city had an estimated population of 52,433, and a population density of 1,100 persons per km² in 19,535 households. The total area of the city is 49.18 square kilometres (18.99 sq mi).

Tomiya 富谷市
City
Left: Okameyama Shinrin Park; Right: View from Symphony Tower, Uchigasaki Shozo, Kame Sugi
Flag Seal
Location of Tomiya in Miyagi Prefecture
Tomiya
Coordinates: 38°24′N 140°53′E
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Miyagi
Area
• Total	49.18 km2 (18.99 sq mi)
Population  (May 31, 2020)
• Total	52,433
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- Tree	Pine
- Flower	Chrysanthemum
Phone number	022-345-1111
Address	30 Tomiyasaka Matsuda, Tomiya-shi, Miyagi-ken 981-3392
Website	Official website

Tomiya City Hall

Geography

Tomiya is located in central Miyagi Prefecture, bordered by the Sendai metropolitan area to the south.

Neighboring municipalities

Miyagi Prefecture

• Rifu
• Sendai
• Taiwa

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by cool summers and long cold winters (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Tomiya is 12.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1251 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Tomiya has expanded rapidly over the past 50 years.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1970	4,912	—
1980	13,930	+183.6%
1990	24,611	+76.7%
2000	35,909	+45.9%
2010	47,042	+31.0%
2020	51,651	+9.8%

History

The area of present-day Tomiya was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and has been settled since at least the Jōmon period by the Emishi people. During 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. During the Edo period, Tomiya was a post town on the Ōshū Kaidō highway connecting Edo with northern Japan.

The village of Tomiya was created on April 1, 1889 with the post-Meiji restoration establishment of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on April 1, 1963 and raised to city status on October 10, 2016.

Government

Tomita has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 20 members. Tomita, together with Kurokawa District collectively contributes two seats to the Miyagi Prefectural legislature. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Miyagi 4th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Tomiya has a mixed economy with five industrial parks, but is also noted for its production of blueberries and bean sprouts. The city is also a bedroom community for the neighboring metropolis of Sendai.

Education

Tomiya has eight public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Miyagi Prefectural Board of Education. The prefectural also operations one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

Tomiya does not have any passenger railway service.

Highway

• Tōhoku Expressway – Tomiya Junction
• Sendai-Hokubu Road – Tomiya Junction – Tomiya Interchange
• National Route 4

Mascots

Tomiya has two mascots, Buruberi Musume (ブルベリッ娘, lit: Blueberry Girl) and Burupiyo (ブルピヨ). The characters where created in 2016, alongside the city's founding. Buruberi Musume is a girl and Burupiyos gender is unknown. Tomiya makes a lot of merchandise of the mascots, including stickers on the Japanese social media LINE.

External links

Media related to Tomiya, Miyagi at Wikimedia Commons

• Official Website (in Japanese)