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 24,061 in 8890 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 516 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 29.1%. The total area of the town is .

Geography

Sakai is located in the flatlands in the very western portion of Ibaraki Prefecture, bordered by Chiba Prefecture to the west. 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 ...

runs east to west at the southern end of the town, which is located about 50 to 60 kilometers from central Tokyo.

Neighboring municipalities

Ibaraki Prefecture * Koga, Ibaraki *

Bandō, Ibaraki file:SakasaiJo MonomiYagura.jpg, 260px, Sakasai Castle is a Cities of Japan, city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 51,577 in 18,441 households and a population density of 419 persons per km2. The perc ...

Goka, Ibaraki 260px, Nakanoshima Park is a town located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 8,162 in 2987 households and a population density of 353 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 34.7%. ...

Chiba Prefecture *

Noda, Chiba is a city located in the northwestern corner of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 154,114 in 69,191 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city is famous ...

Climate

Sakai has a Humid continental climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sakai is 14.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1321 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sakai has remained relatively steady over the past 70 years.

History

In the Edo period, the village of Sakai was part of the '' jōkamachi'' of

Sekiyado Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Shimōsa Province (the northern portion of Chiba Prefecture and southern portion of Ibaraki Prefecture in modern-day, Japan). It was centered on Sekiyad ...

on the opposite bank of the Tone River, and was a port for river traffic to and from

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

. The area was part of Shimōsa Province and was transferred to Ibaraki Prefecture in 1875 after the start of the Meiji period. The town of Sakai was proclaimed with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889.

Government

Sakai has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 12 members. Sakai, together with neighboring Bandō and Goka, contributes two members to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Ibaraki 7th 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 r ...

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 Sakai in primarily agricultural, with rice, lettuce and cabbage as the main cash corps. The town has three industrial parks.

Education

Sakai has five 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

The town does not have any passenger railway service.

Highway

* – Sakai-Koga Interchange *

Noted people from Sakai

Kishirō Nakamura is a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as an independent. A native of Sakai, Sashima District, Ibaraki Prefecture and a graduate of Nihon University, he was elected to the House of Re ...

, politician * Hiroshi Tomihari, printmaker

Sister city

* Marikina, Metro Manila, Philippines–2017

References

External links

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