280px, Lake Kasumigaura from Omitama 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 48,776 in 18,311 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 337 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 30.0%. The total area of the city is . The city has two mosques.

Geography

Omitama is located in central Ibaraki Prefecture, in the low-lying flatlands north of Lake Kasumigaura.

Surrounding municipalities

Ibaraki Prefecture *

Ishioka 260px, Ishioka City Hall is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 72,351 in 28,291 households and a population density of 336 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was ...

Namegata is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,144 in 11,412 households and a population density of 144.5 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 35.9%. The total area of ...

* Hokota * Kasama * Ibaraki

Climate

Omitama 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 Omitama is 13.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1357 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Omitama population statistics
/ref> the population of Omitama peaked around the year 2000 and has declined slightly since.

History

The city of Omitama was established on March 27, 2006, from the merger of the towns of

Ogawa Ogawa (written: lit. "small river" or in hiragana) is the 30th most common Japanese surname. Less common variants are (also "small river") or ("tail river"). Notable people with the surname include: *, American poet *, Japanese footballer * ...

and Minori (both from Higashiibaraki District), and the village of Tamari (from Niihari District). The new city took its name from portions of the three older town and village names from which it was formed, ''Ogawa'', ''Minori'', ''Tamari''.

Government

Omitama 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 20 members. Omitama contributes one member 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

Agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy, with

cash crops A cash crop or profit crop is an agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") in subsiste ...

including

chives Chives, scientific name ''Allium schoenoprasum'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae that produces edible leaves and flowers. Their close relatives include the common onions, garlic, shallot, leek, scallion, and ...

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

, melons, rice and lotus roots. Omitama is also the home of Ibaraki Airport, which opened in March 2010 after consideable public investment. Its original intention was to attarct Low Cost Carriers to an operating centre North of Tokyo. To dat it has had some suucess by atrracting Skymark Airlines, Spring Airlines and TigerAir to offer limited domestic and international routes to Xian, Taipei and Shanghai

Education

Omitama has 11 public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is 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 ...

–

Jōban Line The Jōban Line ( ja, 常磐線, ) is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line officially begins at Nippori Station in Arakawa, Tokyo before the line officially ends at Iwanuma Station in Iwanuma, ...

Highway

* – Minori Parking Area * *

Airport

Ibaraki Airport is an airport in the city of Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It also serves as an air base for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) under the name Hyakuri Air Base, and is the closest fighter base to Tokyo. The airport was known as p ...

Military facilities

Hyakuri Air Base is an airport in the city of Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It also serves as an air base for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) under the name Hyakuri Air Base, and is the closest fighter base to Tokyo. The airport was known as p ...

, a

Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfa ...

base.

Sister city relations

Abilene, Kansas Abilene (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and the G ...

, USA

Local attractions

Noted people from Omitama

Yuya Niwa is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a former member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Niihari District, Ibaraki and graduate of Keio University he was elected for the fir ...

, politician * Jun Yanagisawa, professional football player

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Ibaraki Prefecture Omitama