Iwami Town

Iwami (岩美町 Iwami-chou) is a seaside town located in,. It is the locale upon which Iwatobi Town is based in the anime series Free! The Iwami region lies in the western part of, a rural prefecture on the Sea of Japan, geographically remote from the larger cities, and cut off the the nearest major city of by the. This is old rural Japan, steeped in culture and traditions. Off the coast of Iwami is another area fictionalized in the anime and featured in Trial in Open Water! In real life, they are the Oki Islands (隠岐諸島, Oki-shotō, or 隠岐の島 Oki-no-shima, 隠岐群島 Oki-guntō).

Iwami Town faces the Sea of Japan to the north. As of March 1, 2008, the town has an estimated population of 12,827 and a density of 105 persons per km². The total area is 122.38 km². The surrounding landscape is dominated by low-lying hills and slopes; much of the built town and residential areas are located in flatter land between the heights. The north of the town borders onto Uradome Beach, though much of the rest of the coast consists of rough rocky outcrops and small inlets and bays. 15 km of this, collectively known as the Uradome Coast, is part of the Sanin Kaigan National Park. The Gamō River runs through the cent[er] of the town. Iwami is around 30 minutes by train from the prefectural capital of Tottori City, and is the third stop by train heading east on the Tottori-Hamasaka line. Hyōgo Prefecture and Iwami's sister town of Shin'onsen are relatively nearby as well. Weather in Iwami can be quite changeable, with summer temperatures peaking at over 30 degrees Celsius in August and dropping as low as -2 degrees in January and February. Whilst relatively tectonically stable for Japan, the area is prone to the occasional typhoon during the season.


 * Interactive Map depicting locations of interest can be found here.

Trivia

 * Many actual Iwami locations have been copied and used as detailed backgrounds for the anime.
 * Uradome Beach is the Iwatobi beachfront seen whenever Haruka Nanase and Makoto Tachibana walk to and from school.
 * Iwatobi's Shiwagawa River could be either the Garō River or the Kokufu River, as depicted in the light novel High☆Speed！, into which Haruka falls while retrieving Aki Yazaki's scarf.
 * The Oki Islands area is fictionalized as the Deserted Islands and is where both the Iwatobi and Samezuka teams hold their summer training camps.
 * Another famous anime inspired by the area is 's .Totoro_house.jpg
 * At right is a real life/anime comparison of Satsuki and Mei's home from the anime mentioned above.
 * Another well-known feature of the Tottori area are its Sand Dunes (seen below):
 * Tottori Sand Dunes.png