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

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 city 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 95,384 in 40,759 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 649 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 23.6%. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kamisu is located in the extreme southeastern portion of Ibaraki Prefecture. The city forms a rough triangle, with

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

on the western side and 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 ...

on the east. The

Tone River The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It is in length (the second longest in Japan after the Shinano) and has a drainage area of (the largest in Japan). It is nicknamed Bandō Tarō (); ''Bandō'' is an obsolete alias of the Kantō ...

flows through the city.

Surrounding municipalities

Ibaraki Prefecture * Kashima *

Itako , also known as or , are blind women who train to become spiritual mediums in Japan. Training involves severe ascetic practices, after which the woman is said to be able to communicate with Japanese Shinto spirits, ''kami'', and the spirits o ...

Chiba Prefecture * Katori *

Chōshi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,174 in 27,160 households and a population density of 700 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Chōshi is located in the northeas ...

* Tōnoshō

Climate

Kamisu 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 cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kamisu is 14.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1508 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 4.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kamisu population statistics
/ref> the population of Kamisu has recently plateaued after decades of strong growth.

History

The village of Kamisu was established within Kashima District by the merger of the villages of Ikisu and Karuno on March 1, 1955. It was elevated to town status on January 1, 1970. The city of Kamisu was established on August 1, 2005, from the merger of the town of Kamisu and the town of Hasaki (also from Kashima District).

Government

Kamisu 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 ...

city council of 23 members. Kamisu contributes two members to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city 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

Kamisu has a large industrial base, with many chemical, petrochemical, specialty chemical plants, and refineries. The city is part of the Kashima Rinkai Industrial Zone. The Kashima Power Station is also located in Kamisu.

Education

Kamisu has 14 public elementary schools and eight public middle schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

*Kamisu is served by the

Kashima Rinkai Railway Kashima Rinkō Line The is a Japanese freight railway line which connects with Okunoyahama Freight Terminal in Ibaraki Prefecture. It is owned and run by the Kashima Rinkai Railway The is a railway company in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The Public-Private Partner ...

, an all-freight railway line. The city does not have any passenger railway service.

Highway

Seaport

Port of Kashima The Port of Kashima (鹿島港 Kashima-kō) is a Japanese seaport located in the cities of Kamisu and Kashima in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Port details Facing the Pacific Ocean, it runs from north to south, from Kashima to Kamisu in Ibar ...

Sister city relations

* –

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...

, USA – sister city since 1991

Local attractions

*Ikisu Jinja *Gonoike Ryokuchi Park

Notable people from Kamisu

Mitsutoshi Furuya was a Japanese manga artist. He made his debut as a manga artist in 1955 with kashi-hon manga. He started as an assistant of Osamu Tezuka in 1958, but was primarily known for starting out as an assistant of Fujio Akatsuka five years later. He w ...

, manga artist * Tsukushi – female professional wrestler * Naoya Ishigami, professional soccer player *

Keiji Suzuki is a Japanese judoka. He won the Olympic gold medal in the heavyweight (+100 kg) division in 2004. He is also a two-time world champion. He is noted for being a remarkably small judoka in the heavyweight division; he also regularly com ...

, judoka and Olympic gold medalist * Takashi Ono, judoka *

Kazuhiko Hosokawa Kazuhiko Hosokawa ( ja, 細川和彦, born 28 December 1970) is a Japanese professional golfer. Career Hosokawa has won eight tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour and featured in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings. He has also played ...

, professional golfer *

Tomi Okawa Tomi Okawa (born 26 February 1932) is a former international table tennis player from Japan. Career From 1953 to 1961 Okawa won five medals in singles, doubles, and team events in the World Table Tennis Championships. The five World Champions ...

, table tennis player *

Takashi Nagatsuka was a Japanese poet and novelist. According to prominent historian Ann Waswo, Nagatsuka Takashi was born into a landowning family. Generally, he was born in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. More specifically, his place of birth was 国生村 (Kossh� ...

, writer, poet * Akira Kazami, politician * Atsushi Koyano, scholar of contemporary literature

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Ibaraki Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Populated places established in 1955 Kamisu