Information about Ibaraki Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture (茨城県 Ibaraki-ken)

Capital	Mito
Region	Kantō
Island	Honshū
Governor	Masaru Hashimoto
Area	6,095.58 km (23rd)
- % water	4.8%
Population  (October 1, 2000)
- Population	2,985,424 (11th)
- Density	490 /km
	7
Municipalities	43
	JP-08
Website	www.pref.ibaraki.jp/ en/menu.htm
Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Rose (Rosa)
- Tree	Ume tree (Prunus mume)
- Bird	Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
Symbol of Ibaraki Prefecture Symbol of Ibaraki Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture (茨城県, Ibaraki-ken) is located in the Kantō region on Honshū island, Japan. The capital is Mito.

History

Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province. In 1288, the province of Hitachi was conquered by the Prince Subaru. In 1871, the name of the province became Ibaraki.

Geography

Ibaraki Prefecture is the northeastern part of the Kantō region, stretching between Tochigi Prefecture and the Pacific Ocean and bounded on the north and south by Fukushima Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture. It also has borders on the southwest with Gunma Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture. The northernmost part of the prefecture is mountainous, but most of the prefecture is a flat plain with many lakes.

Cities

Thirty-two cities are located in Ibaraki Prefecture:

Bando Chikusei Hitachi Hitachinaka Hitachiomiya Hitachiota Hokota Inashiki Ishioka Itako

Joso (formerly Mitsukaido) Kamisu Kasama Kashima Kasumigaura Kitaibaraki Koga Mito (capital) Moriya Naka Namegata

Omitama Ryugasaki Sakuragawa Shimotsuma Takahagi Toride Tsuchiura Tsukuba Tsukubamirai Ushiku Yuki

Towns and villages

Towns and villages in each district:

Higashiibaraki District Ibaraki? Oarai Shirosato Inashiki District Ami Kawachi Miho

Kitasouma District Tone Kuji District Daigo Naka District Tōkai

Sashima District Goka Sakai Yuki District Yachiyo

‡ Scheduled to be dissolved following mergers.

Mergers

(as of March 27, 2006)

Main article: Merger and dissolution of municipalities of Japan

• On October 16, 2004 the village of Gozenyama and the town of Yamagata from Higashiibaraki District merged with the villages of Miwa and Ogawa from Naka District forming the city of Hitachiomiya.
• On November 1, 2004 the town of Jūō in the former Taga District merged into the neighboring city of Hitachi. As a result this merger the district ceased to exist.
• On December 1, 2004 the following municipalities formerly in Kuji District merged into the expanded city of Hitachiota: Kanasagō, Satomi, Suifu
• On January 21, 2005 the towns of Naka and Urizura from Naka District merged forming the city of Naka.
• On February 1, 2005 the town of Johoku and village of Katsura from Higashiibaraki District merged with the village of Nanakai from Nishiibaraki District forming the town of Shirosato.
• Also on February 1, 2005 the town of Uchihara from Higashiibaraki District merged into the city of Mito.
• On March 22, 2005 the following towns and villages from Inashiki District merged to form the city of Inashiki: Azuma, Edosaki, Sakuragawa, and Shintone.
• Also on March 22, 2005, the town of Sashima from Sashima District merged with the former city of Iwai forming the city of Bando.
• On March 28, 2005 the town of Fujishiro from Kitasouma District merged into the expanded city of Toride.
• Also on March 28, 2005 the towns of Akeno, Kyowa, and Sekijo from Makabe District merged with the former city of Shimodate forming the city of Chikusei.
• Also on March 28, 2005 the towns of Chiyoda and Kasumigaura from Niihari District merged, forming the city of Kasumigaura.
• On August 1, 2005 the towns of Hasaki and Kamisu from Kashima District merged to form the new city of Kamisu.
• On September 2, 2005 the towns of Asou, Kitaura and Tamatsukuri from Namegata District merged to form the new city of Namegata. Namegata District was dissolved as a result of this merger.
• On September 12, 2005 the towns of Sanwa and Souwa from Sashima District merged with the city of Koga to form the new city of Koga.
• On October 1, 2005, the remaining municipalities from Makabe District merged with the town of Iwase from Nishiibaraki District merged to form the new city of Sakuragawa. Makabe District was dissolved as a result of this merger.
• On October 1, 2005 the town of Yasato from Niihari District merged with the city of Ishioka to form the new city of Ishioka.
• On October 11, 2005 the town of Hokota and the villages of Asahi and Taiyō (all from Kashima District) merged to form the new city of Hokota. Kashima District was dissolved as a result of this merger.
• On January 1, 2006 the village of Chiyokawa from Yuki District merged with the city of Shimotsuma to form the new city of Shimotsuma.
• On January 1, 2006 the town of Ishige from Yuki District merged in to the city of Mitsukaido. Mitsukaido changed the name to Joso at the sametime.
• On February 20, 2006 the village of Niihari from Niihari District merged into the city of Tsuchiura.
• On March 19, 2006 the municipalities of Iwama and Tomobe (both from Nishiibaraki District) merged with Kasama to form the new city of Kasama. Nishiibaraki District was thereby dissolved.
• On March 27, 2006 the towns of Ogawa and Minori (both from Higashiibaraki District) merged with the village of Tamari from Niihari District to form the new city of Omitama. Niihari District was dissolved as a result of this merger.
• On March 27, 2006 the town of Ina and the village of Yawara (both from Tsukuba District) merged to form the new city of Tsukubamirai. Tsukuba District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

Future mergers

• The town of Ibaraki from Higashiibaraki District is scheduled to merge into the city of Mito during December 2007.

Economy

Ibaraki's industries include energy, particularly nuclear energy, production, as well as chemical and precision machining industries. The Hitachi company was founded in the Ibaraki city of the same name.

Demographics

Ibaraki's population is increasing modestly as the Greater Tokyo region spreads out.

Culture

Famous foods of Ibaraki include natto, of Mito, the watermelons produced in Kyowa (recently merged into Chikusei), and the chestnuts grown in the Nishiibaraki region.

Ibaraki is famous for the martial art of Aikido which was founded by Ueshiba Morihei, also known as Osensei. Ueshiba spent the latter part of his life in the town of Iwama, now part of Kasama, and the Aiki Shrine and dojo he created remain there to this day.

There are castle ruins in many cities, including Mito, Kasama, and Yuki.

Kasama is also famous for its Shinto and art culture.

Politics

In a Japan times article on August 28, 2007 Activist Debito Arudou criticized the Ibaraki Prefectural Government over a poster, which, according to Arudou, scapegoated foreigners. The poster showed six Japanese police in riot gear pushing a lone foreigner to the ground. The poster carries writing telling Japanese to be on the lookout for foreigners violating their visa conditions; Arudou stated that it stigmatized foreigners in general.^[1]

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Ibaraki.

Football (soccer)

• Kashima Antlers (Kashima)
• Mito HollyHock (Mito)
• Ryutsu Keizai University F.C. (Ryugasaki)

Volleyball

• Hitachi Sawa Rivale (Hitachinaka)

Tourism

• Kairakuen Park
• Mount Tsukuba
• Kashima Shrine

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

The prefecture is often mispronounced "Ibaragi". However, the correct pronunciation is "Ibaraki." According to the author of "Not Ibaragi, Ibaraki" (いばらぎじゃなくていばらき ibaragi ja nakute ibaraki) [1], this is most likely due to a mishearing of the softening of the 'k' sound in Ibaraki dialect. It is mispronounced to such a degree that it has nearly become standard.

It is also sometimes jokingly referred as part of "Chibaragi", a combination of Chiba, Ibaraki, and Tochigi together. (From a Tokyo metropolitan point of view, all three are sometimes disparagingly considered to be nondescript suburbs or empty countryside, thus indistinguishable.) Similarly, Tokyo suburbs Gunma and Saitama are jokingly called "Guntama" and especially "Dasaitama," dasai meaning "uncool."

References

External links

• Official Ibaraki Prefecture homepage
• The E-Ibaraki Report: articles and commentary of foreigners living in Ibaraki, produced by the International Affairs Division, Ibaraki Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture
Cities
Bando | Chikusei | Hitachi | Hitachinaka | Hitachi-Omiya | Hitachiota | Hokota | Inashiki | Ishioka | Itako | Joso | Kamisu | Kasama | Kashima | Kasumigaura | Kitaibaraki | Koga | Mito (capital) | Moriya | Naka | Namegata | Omitama | Ryugasaki | Sakuragawa | Shimotsuma | Takahagi | Toride | Tsuchiura | Tsukuba | Tsukubamirai | Ushiku | Yūki
Districts
Higashiibaraki | Inashiki | Kitasouma | Kuji | Naka | Sashima | Yūki
See also: Towns and villages by district [ edit]

•  • [ e] Regions and administrative divisions of Japan

Regions Hokkaidō Tōhoku Kantō Chūbu (Hokuriku • Kōshin'etsu • Tōkai • Chūkyō) Kansai Chūgoku Shikoku Kyūshū Ryūkyū Prefectures Aichi Akita Aomori Chiba Ehime Fukui Fukuoka Fukushima Gifu Gunma Hiroshima Hokkaidō Hyōgo Ibaraki Ishikawa Iwate Kagawa Kagoshima Kanagawa Kōchi Kumamoto Kyoto Mie Miyagi Miyazaki Nagano Nagasaki Nara Niigata Ōita Okayama Okinawa Osaka Saga Saitama Shiga Shimane Shizuoka Tochigi Tokushima Tokyo Tottori Toyama Wakayama Yamagata Yamaguchi Yamanashi Designated cities Special wards of Tokyo Chiba Fukuoka Hamamatsu Hiroshima Kawasaki Kitakyushu Kobe Kyoto Nagoya Niigata Osaka Saitama Sakai Sapporo Sendai Shizuoka Yokohama

Coordinates:

References