What is Ōfunato?
{{Infobox City Japan |Name= Ōfunato |JapaneseName= 大船渡市 |ImageSkyline= OfunatoCityHall cropped.jpg |ImageSize= 250px |ImageCaption= The Ōfunato City Hall on 9 June 2010 |MapImage= Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture ja.svg |Region= [[Tōhoku region|Tōhoku]] |Prefecture= [[Iwate Prefecture|Iwate]] |District= |Area_km2= 323.30 |PopDate= February 2014 |Population= 38,616 |Density_km2= 119 | coordinates = {{coord|39|4|4.8|N|141|43|30.8|E|region:JP|display=inline,title}} |Tree= [[Pine]] |Flower= [[Camellia]] |Bird= [[Black-tailed Gull]] |image_flag= Flag of Ofunato, Iwate.svg |SymbolImage= Emblem of Ofunato, Iwate.svg |SymbolDescription=Emblem |Mayor= |CityHallPostalCode= |CityHallAddress= 15, Sakarichō Aza Utsunosawa, Ōfunato-shi, Iwate-ken 022-8501 |CityHallLink= [http://www.city.ofunato.iwate.jp/ City of Ōfunato] }} {{nihongo| '''Ōfunato'''|大船渡市|Ōfunato-shi}} is a [[city]] in southeastern [[Iwate Prefecture|Iwate]], [[Japan]]. The city of Ōfunato was originally part of the ancient [[Mutsu Province]]. It has been settled since the [[Jōmon period]]. The modern village of Ōfunato was made within [[Kesen District, Iwate]] on April 1, 1889. In 1896, the [[1896 Sanriku earthquake|Meiji-Sanriku earthquake]] caused a 25-meter tsunami that killed 27,000 people in Sanriku. Ōfunato was promoted officially promoted to town status on April 1, 1932. In 1933, a 8.4 magnitude [[1933 Sanriku earthquake|earthquake]] stuck the town and caused a 28-meter tsunami that killed 1522 people. On April 1, 1952, the town of Sakari, and villages of Akasaki, Takkon, Massaki, Ikawa and Hikoroichi all merged with Ōfunato to form the city. On November 15, 2001, the town of [[Sanriku, Iwate|Sanriku]] (from Kesen District) also merged into Ōfunato.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city.ofunato.iwate.jp/www/contents/1079341932408/index.html|accessdate=2014-10-07|title=市の概要|publisher=City of Ōfunato (in Japanese)|archive-date=2015-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228140211/http://www.city.ofunato.iwate.jp/www/contents/1079341932408/