is a village located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 3,244, and a population density of 21 persons per km² in 1,398 households. The total area of the village is . Geography Tanohata is a coastal mountainous community situated on the rocky ria Sanriku Coast along the Pacific coast of Iwate. Parts of the village are within the borders of the Sanriku Fukkō National Park. Neighboring municipalities Iwate Prefecture Iwaizumi Fudai Climate Tanohata has a cold humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) characterized by mild summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Tanohata 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. Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Tanohata peaked around the year 1960 and has declined steadily over the past 60 years. History The area of present-day Tanohata 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 Tanohata was created within Kitahei District on April 1, 1889. Kitahei, Nakahei and Higashihei Districts were all merged into Minamihei District on March 29, 1896. The area is prone to tsunami, with damage recorded as early as the 869 Sanriku earthquake. The 1611 Sanriku earthquake also caused major damage and the 1896 Sanriku earthquake destroyed most of the village, as did the 1933 Sanriku earthquake. 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 ("the great Shōwa mergers"). 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 tsunami following the