is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 53,153 in 20,953 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 543.4 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 32.4%. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Naka is located in north-central Ibaraki Prefecture, with the Naka River and Kuji River flowing through the city.

Surrounding municipalities

Ibaraki Prefecture *

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

* Hitachinaka * Hitachiōmiya * Hitachiōta * Mito * Shirosato * Tōkai

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Naka peaked around the year 2000 and has declined slightly since.

History

On March 31, 1955 the town of Sugaya and villages of Godai, Nakata, Kanzaki, Toda, Yoshino and Kizaki were merged to become the town of Naka (within Naka District). The town was the 4th largest population within the prefecture, following the town of Kamisu (from Kashima District), the town of Sōwa (from Sashima District), and the town of Ami (from Inashiki District). On January 21, 2005 Naka absorbed the town of Urizura (from Naka District) to become the city of Naka.

Government

Naka 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 18 members. Naka contributes one member to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Ibaraki 4th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Kiuchi Brewery (木内酒造) is a brewery in Naka. It was established in 1823 as a

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

and

Shōchū is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, or brown sugar, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes, or even carrots. Typ ...

producer.

Renesas Electronics is a Japanese semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo. The name "Renesas" is a contraction of "Renaissance Semiconductor for Advanced Solutions." The company was established in 2002 as Renesas Technology through the merger of the semi ...

has a 300mm fab in Naka, Ibaraki prefecture. This semiconductor factory makes chips for the automotive manufacturing industry.

Education

Naka has nine public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education. The Ibaraki Women's Junior College is also located in Naka.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

– Suigun Line * - - - - - -

– Suigun Line - Hitachi-Ōta Branch * - -

Highway

* – Naka Interchange * * *

Sister and friendly cities

* Oak Ridge,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Local attractions

* Ibaraki Botanical Garden * The

Japan Atomic Energy Agency The Japan Atomic Energy Agency is a Japanese atomic energy company. While it inherited the activities of both Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, JNC and Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, JAERI, it also inherited the nickname of J ...

operates a

fusion power Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices d ...

research facility in the town, which houses the JT-60, one of the premiere

tokamak A tokamak (; ) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field generated by external magnets to confine plasma (physics), plasma in the shape of an axially symmetrical torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement fusi ...

fusion reactors in the world. * Kasamatsu Park and Stadium * Kiuchi Brewery * Shizu Jinja * Shizumine Furusato Park

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Ibaraki Prefecture Naka, Ibaraki