Aizuwakamatsu

Aizuwakamatsu is a city in Fukushima Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan. On 1 January 2021 it had an estimated 118,159 residents living in 50,365 households across 382.97 square kilometres. The area was part of ancient Mutsu Province and was settled from prehistoric times, and the Aizu-Otsuka Kofun within the city dates from the 4th century. The first castle was begun in 1384, and in 1592 Gamo Ujisato started building a new castle, during which time the town took the name Wakamatsu, meaning young pine. Under the Hoshina and Matsudaira lords the Aizu Domain flourished through the Edo period until the castle fell in the Boshin War. The modern municipality grew from Wakamatsu Town, created in 1889, and became a city in 1899.