Mizusawa

(Ōshū-shi. At that time, Mizusawa had an estimated population of 60,239 and a population density of 621.53 persons per km2. The total area was 96.92 km2 (37.42 sq mi). Mizusawa developed as a castle town along the Ōwu Highway during the Tokugawa period. The city was a commercial hub for agricultural (rice, apples, and dairy products,) as well as for traditional cast metalware produced in the Kitakami valley. The total land usage is 17.1% for rice fields, 4.4% for fields, and 3.9% for residential areas, and 3.9% for residential areas, and the proportion of farmland is high.

Mizusawa was home to one of the six International Latitude Observatories, where Hisashi Kimura was chief astronomer. It is now home to National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, while the original observatory has been converted into a museum honoring Kimura.