Iida, Nagano

Encyclopedia : I : II : IID : Iida, Nagano

Iida (飯田市; -shi, pronounced "ee-dah') is a city located in southern Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 107,011, with a density of 328.91 persons per km² and a total area 325.35 km². Located on the Iida Line, an old local train line that runs through the valley of the Tenryu River in the southern Japan Alps, Iida lies 90 minutes northeast of the major city of Nagoya by automobile via the Chuo Expressway. The same expressway also provides access to Tokyo, about four hours to the east.

An old castle town of strategic importance in the Edo Period, Iida escaped the bombings that damaged many other Japanese cities during World War II; however, most of central Iida was destroyed by a massive fire that swept through the central section of the city two years after the end of the war, in 1947. Established as a city on April 1, 1937, Iida is now known for its streets lined with apple trees, which were part of a revitalization project initiated by its citizens after the fire. For more than 25 years the city of Iida has also hosted the annual Iida Puppetry Festival, a major international event that is the largest in Japan, with over 200 traditional and contemporary troupes from all over Japan and abroad participating in the annual four-day festival in early August. Iida's connection to the traditional Japanese puppet theater commonly known as ningyō jōruri or Bunraku goes back more than 300 years. Four traditional puppet troupes call Iida home: the Imada Puppet Troupe, Kuroda Puppet Troupe, the Furuta Puppets, and the Waseda Puppets.

Another important festival in Iida is Oneri Matsuri, which is held every seven years (the last being 2004), a massive four-day event, most famous for the shi-shi lion dance.

The nearest metropolis to Iida is Nagoya, easily accessible by bus. The larger cities of Matsumoto and Nagano in central and northern Nagano Prefecture are also accessible by bus and train.

Iida has adopted the apple as its symbol. One of the city's largest festivals is the Ringon Matsuri (Apple Festival), held every year in early August, and Iida's Ringo Namiki-dori (a street lined with apple trees) is tended by students of the city's Higashi Middle School. The area around Iida is well known for extensive peach and apple orchards, as well as the production of many other agricultural products.

External links

[Iida official website] in Japanese

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.