Mishima-shi

In the latest Population Census the population is about one hundred eight thousand (107,783 in 2020). Its trajectory is a gentle decline within a near-flat range. From 110,519 in 2000, after rising slightly once to 112,241 in 2005, it came down gently through 111,838 in 2010 and 110,046 in 2015 to 107,783 in 2020.

Looking inside the figures, the form of a provincial city lying between Tokyo and Nagoya appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 15.7% in 2000 to 29.4% in 2020 — nearly doubling in twenty years and approaching three in ten. The household-with-children share is 20.7% in 2020, and the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.86 in fiscal 2023 — a comparatively high level whose own tax revenue can cover over eight-tenths of expenditure. The figure of the City of Water, keeping its population nearly flat while deepening its aging and keeping its fiscal stamina comparatively high, appears in the numbers. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without going back over the history of the springs and the highway.

Mishima’s skeleton is set by the water flowing through the underground of this land opening at the foot of Mount Fuji, and by the highway piercing it east and west. The old layer is the water. The lava that flowed down in an eruption of Mount Fuji about ten thousand years ago reached as far as the present urban area and hardened. Fuji’s snowmelt water, after soaking into the ground, flows down over a long time along the gaps in this lava and wells up as clear water here and there in the city. This rich spring water made this land "the City of Water," called so of old. In the ritsuryo era the provincial capital of Izu Province was placed here, and later the shrine of this land, as the first shrine of Izu Province, gathered the faith of the people.

And this city was also a key point on the highway. In the Edo era, the Tokaido joining east and west held, to the east of this city, the crossing of the Hakone pass, known as a hard place. As the post town before and after that steep pass, Mishima had many travelers stay, and together with the springs it made the city bustle. In addition to the east-west highway, a road heading north to Kai and a road heading south to the southern tip of Izu also extended, making this land a knot of traffic. Where Fuji’s snowmelt water flows along Fuji’s lava and wells up, and where a post town opened at the foot of the hard place — this city’s shape stands upon the history of springs and highway held by the geography of Fuji’s foot.

What characterizes Mishima is that, while holding the history of springs and highway, it has kept its population nearly flat and gently declining while deepening its aging. From 110,519 in 2000 to 107,783 in 2020, it has fallen by only about three thousand in twenty years. Lying between Tokyo and Nagoya, with the Shinkansen stopping here, this city has also taken on the character of a residence for those who commute to the metropolitan area. The location of a key point of traffic, continuing from the days of the highway, has kept the population from greatly collapsing, as it can be read. That the share aged 65 and over approached three in ten at 29.4% in 2020 is an expression of the residing generations aging together within the gentle decline.

On the other hand, the household-with-children share is 20.7% in 2020, and the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.86 is a level whose own tax revenue can cover over eight-tenths of expenditure, comparatively high for a provincial city. The location of a key point of traffic, and the establishments and the income of the residents supported by it, give thickness to the tax source, as it can be read. The City of Water now keeps its population nearly flat while deepening its aging, and keeps its fiscal stamina comparatively high. The population is nearly level, the aging approaches three in ten, and the fiscal stamina is comparatively high. These look like separate numbers, but they line up as the result of a single location — a key point of traffic where even the Shinkansen stops — holding residences and establishments in place.

Mishima holds several functions of its own. One is the history of water welling up into the urban area along the gaps in Fuji’s lava, holding the old layer called "the City of Water." Another is the character of a Tokaido post town opening at the foot of the hard pass, keeping the history of a key point of traffic where it had east-west travelers stay. And its position, where roads branch east to Kai and south to Izu, gives this city the peculiar structure of a knot of traffic.

Mishima is a city where water flowing along Fuji’s lava and a key point of the highway overlap. From the clear streams welling up at Fuji’s foot, to the land of the Izu provincial capital, and to the post town at the foot of the hard place — the geography of "Fuji’s snowmelt water flowing along Fuji’s lava" called the springs, and the hard pass called the post town, and set the city’s skeleton. The snowmelt water fallen on Fuji flows along the gaps in the lava over decades, welling up with a sound here and there in the city. Beside those clear streams, the Izu provincial capital was once placed, and the post town lined up at the foot of the Tokaido’s hardest place. The sound of water resounds from this city’s very oldest stratum.