250px, Lake Hinuma is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

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 town had 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 31,596 in 12,052 households 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 . The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 34.9%. The total area of the town is .

Geography

Located in central Ibaraki Prefecture, south of prefectural capital of Mito, Ibaraki is located in the flatlands near the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, and almost encompasses Lake Hinuma, the 30th largest body of freshwater in Japan.

Surrounding municipalities

Mito Mito may refer to: Places *Mito, Ibaraki, capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Mito, Aichi, a Japanese town *Mito, Shimane, a Japanese town * Mitō, Yamaguchi, a Japanese town * Mito District, a district in the province of Concepción, Per ...

Omitama 280px, Lake Kasumigaura from Omitama is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,776 in 18,311 households and a population density of 337 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged ove ...

* Kasama * Hokota * Ōarai

Climate

Ibaraki has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ibaraki is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1367 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Ibaraki population statistics
/ref> the population of Ibaraki has remained relatively steadily for the past 40 years.

History

The villages of Nagaoka, Kawane, Kaminoai and Ishizaki were created within Higashiibaraki District and the village of Numasaki was created within Kashima District with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Nagaoka was elevated to town status on February 11, 1955 and merged with Kawane and Kaminoai to form the town of Ibaraki the same day. Ibaraki annexed neighboring Ishizaki on March 5, 1958. The town was set to merge with

, on December 8, 2007, but following the election of a new mayor in April 2007, these plans were abandoned.

Government

Ibaraki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

town council of 16 members. Ibaraki, together with neighboring Hokota and Ōarai, contributes two members to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Ibaraki 2nd district , the House of Representatives of Japan is elected from a combination of multi-member districts and single-member districts, a method called Parallel voting. Currently, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member districts (called proportional ...

of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

The economy of Ibaraki is primarily agricultural.

Education

* Ibaraki has four public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

* Ibaraki does not have any passenger train service.

Highway

* – Ibarakimachi-Nishi Interchange, Ibarakimachi Junction, Ibarakimachi-Higashi Interchange * – Ibaraki Kuko Kita Interchange, Ibarakimachi Interchange *

Local attractions

* Hinuma Hydrangea Festival * Ibaraki Festival

Noted people from Ibaraki

Hideaki Tomiyama represented Japan in wrestling at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and won the gold medal in the bantamweight division. He later coached the 2004 Athens Olympics wrestling team. He is currently the head coach of the Nihon University , abb ...

, Olympic gold medalist in wrestling *

Kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

, drummer of

Malice Mizer Malice Mizer (stylized as MALICE MIZER) was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from August 1992 to December 2001. Formed by guitarists Mana and Közi, their earlier music and themes were characterized by their strong French and classical ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Ibaraki Prefecture Ibaraki, Ibaraki