Fudai is a coastal mountainous community situated on the Sanriku Coastria along the Pacific Ocean in northern Iwate. The southern part of the village, an area called Kurosaki, included a part of the Rikuchu Kaigan National Park, which is now part of the Sanriku Fukkō National Park. It features an observation point to view scenic seaside cliffs.
Neighboring municipalities
Iwate Prefecture
Noda
Iwaizumi
Tanohata
Climate
Fudai has a coldhumid climate characterized by mild summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Fudai is 10.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1201 mm with September as the wettest month and February as the driest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.1 °C.
The area of present-day Fudai was part of ancient Mutsu Province, dominated by the Nambu clan during the Edo period, who ruled Hachinohe Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. With the Meiji period establishment of the modern municipalities system, the village of Fudai was created within Kitahei District on April 1, 1889. Kitahei, Nakahei and Higashihei Districts were all merged into Minamihei District on March 29, 1896. In 1953, the national and prefectural governments targeted Fudai for consolidation with its southern neighbor, Tanohata following the Law for the Consolidation of Cities, Towns and Villages. Merger talks continued intermittently between 1955 and 1960. The Tanohata delegation was not in favor of the merger, but because of the pressure from the prefecture to implement the government directive, they felt they were not at liberty to directly reject the proposal. At a party in May 1960 to celebrate the end of the long merger negotiations, the mayor of Tanohata drunkenly insulted the delegates from Fudai in a final effort to scuttle the negotiations. The party was abandoned, and no further serious attempts were made to continue with the merger.
The village was spared from the devastation brought to other coastal communities following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami thanks to a floodgate that protected the town. The floodgate was built between 1972 and 1984 at a cost of ¥3.56 billion under the administration of Kotoku Wamura, the village mayor from 1947 to 1987. Initially derided as a waste of public funds, the floodgate protected the village and the inner cove from the worst of the tsunami waves. After the 2011 tsunami, the villagers gave thanks at Wamura's grave. The village's only casualty was one missing person who went to inspect his boat in the fishing port, located outside of the wall's protection, immediately after the earthquake.
