is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The city was founded on March 30, 1953. , the city has an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 41,460 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 170 people per km². The total area is .

Mergers

On March 1, 2005, the town of Yoshii (from Shitsuki District), and the town of Bisei (from Oda District) were merged into Ibara.

Education

Although the population of Ibara is small, it boasts 6

JET Programme The , or , is a Japanese government initiative that brings college (university) graduates—mostly native speakers of English—to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and Sports Education Advisors (SEAs) in Japanese kindergartens, elementa ...

ALTs. The ALTs team teach with Japanese English teachers at the primary, middle school, and secondary levels.

Attractions

In Bisei one can visit the famous astronomical observatory, known as Bisei Tenmondai, as well as Chuusei Yume-ga-Hara, a sort of themepark devoted to showing what a typical

Medieval Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventi ...

ese mountain village looked like. There you can enjoy making traditional crafts such as indigo dying,

Shakuhachi A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

(Japanese flute), and various children's games. Tenmondai and Yume-ga-Hara are conveniently located next to one another. Bisei takes its name from the stars (Bisei means Beautiful Stars). Ibara prides itself on its art museum, the Denchu Art Museum, located near the city office, honors

Hirakushi Denchū was a Japanese sculptor. He was noted for his traditional Japanese wood sculptures, especially realistically rendered painted wooden portrait sculptures, often incorporating Buddhist themes.Roberts, Laurance P. ''A Dictionary of Japanese Artists: ...

(1872–1979), who was born in Nishiebara-mura (What is now Ibara) and became a famous sculptor. Many of his works are on display in the art museum named after him. There is another art museum by the name of Hanatori in

Takaya Sharp Takaya Electronics Industry Co. Ltd. is a computer equipment manufacturer mostly owned by Sharp Corporation. Description Some products have been sold directly to original equipment manufacturer An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) ...

, a suburb of Ibara. Each year, internationally minded residents and the ALTs host the International Food Festival in front of the Ibara City Station offering visitors a chance sample various ethnic foods. Typically, ALTs will showcase foods from their home countries, but some ALTs elect to provide selections from their ethnic background instead. Ibara also has three video stores, several large supermarkets, and every August hosts a music festival called Sound Wood (organized by a local entrepreneur).

Transportation

In order to get to Ibara, one can either take the Ibara Tetsudo, a rail line that connects Kannabe (in

Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...

) to Soja (in

) and passes through Ibara; or, one can take a bus from a large number of locations in the Ibara/Kasaoka Region, as well as from Fukuyama in Hiroshima Prefecture.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Ibara is twinned with: *

Uozu, Toyama is a Cities of Japan, city in the eastern part of Toyama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 42,224 in 16,811 households and a population density of 210 persons per km². Its total area was . Geography Uozu lies in be ...

, Japan (1982) * Ōtawara, Tochigi, Japan (1984)

Famous people

Ikeda Nagaoki , formally "Ikeda Chikugo Province, Chikugo no kami Nagaoki", was the governor of small villages of Ibara, Okayama, Ibara, Bitchū Province (Okayama Prefecture), Japan, during the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was, at 27, the head of the Se ...

Kanzō Uchiyama was the proprietor of the Uchiyama Bookstore, whose frequent visitors were both Chinese and Japanese intellectuals before World War II. Uchiyama was a Christian. Early life Kanzo Uchiyama was born in 1885, in the village of Yoshii in Shitsu ...

References

External links

*
Ibara City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Okayama Prefecture