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 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, Tochigi Prefecture ...

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 n ...

. , 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 usi ...

of 73,805 in 29,362 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 RosenberPopu ...

of 307 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 32.2%. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kasama is located in the central Ibaraki Prefecture, bordering on

Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to th ...

to its extreme northwest. Kasama is surrounded by mountains on all sides.

Surrounding municipalities

Ibaraki Prefecture *

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 ...

* Ishioka *

Sakuragawa 260px, Cherry Blossoms of Sakuragawa is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 39,072 in 13,721 households and a population density of 217 persons per km². The percentage of the population ag ...

* Omitama *

Ibaraki Ibaraki may refer to any of the following places in Japan: * Ibaraki Prefecture, one of the 47 prefectures of Japan **Ibaraki, Ibaraki, a town in Ibaraki Prefecture **Ibaraki Airport, an airport in Omitama, Ibaraki **Ibaraki dialect, the dialect sp ...

* Shirosato

* Motegi

Climate

Kasama has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by hot summers and mild winters with rare snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kasama is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

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

History

Kasama was once a castle town for

Kasama Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Hitachi Province (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kasama Castle in what is now the city of Kasama, Ibaraki. It was ruled by a number o ...

and post-station during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. It continued to prosper as a shrine town of Kasama Inari Shrine in the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

(1868–1912). Stone quarrying was its main activity. Utensils for the

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

, flower vases, and ''

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; 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 in ...

'' containers made from the Kasama ware pottery continued to the economy. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, the town of Kasama was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, within Nishiibaraki District. The town of Shishido, a former castle town of

Shishido Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Hitachi Province (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Shishido Jin'ya in what is now part of the city of Kasama, Ibaraki. It was ruled for mu ...

, was likewise established within Nishiibaraki District on the same day. In 1955, Shishido merged with the neighboring villages of Kitakawane and Ohara to form the town of Tomobe. Kasama was elevated to city status on August 1, 1958. On March 19, 2006, Kasama absorbed the towns of Tomobe and Iwama (both from Nishiibaraki District), and the new city hall was located at the former Tomobe Town Hall. Tomobe became the new city's administrative center, since it was more populous than the former Kasama town. The former town of Iwama is known for having been the residence of

Ueshiba Morihei was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher/Old Teacher (old as opposed to ''waka (young) sensei'')". The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba st ...

, founder of

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in aroun ...

, from 1942 until his death. Popular singer and songwriter Sakamoto Kyu also lived in Kasama as a child. Twice daily, chimes announce the time of day to the tune of his songs. His song " Ue o muite arukō" also plays at Tomobe train station to announce departures.

Government

Kasama 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 multi ...

city council of 22 members. Kasama contributes two members to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is split between the Ibaraki 1st district and the

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 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 paral ...

Economy

Kasama has a mixed industrial base of light manufacturing and food processing. The main agricultural crops are rice and chestnuts. The area is also famous for stone quarrying of a form of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

called ''mikage-ishi'', widely used in construction and for grave stones.

Education

Kasama has ten 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.

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 ar ...

–

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, ...

* -

– Mito Line * - - - -

Highway

* – Iwama Interchange, Tomobe Junction * – Kasama-Nishi Interchange, Kasama Parking Area, Tomobe Interchange, Tomobe Junction * *

Local attractions

*Ruins of

Kasama Castle is a Japanese castle located in Kasama, central Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Kasama Castle was home to a junior branch of Makino clan, ''daimyō'' of Kasama Domain, but castle and domain went through many changes in ...

* Kasama Inari Shrine, one of the main Inari shrines in Japan *Shofuku-ji, one of the

Bandō Sanjūsankasho The ("The Bandō 33 Kannon Pilgrimage") is a series of 33 Buddhist temples in Eastern Japan sacred to Goddess Kannon. Bandō is the old name for what is now the Kantō region,Donald Richie used in this case because the temples are all in the Pref ...

temples *Shishido Jin’ya * Kasama Nichido Museum of Art (笠間日動美術館) which opened on November 11, 1972 houses a collection which includes Degas,

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

, and

Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

. *Ibaraki Prefectural Ceramics Museum * Kasama-yaki ceramics *The house of calligrapher and ceramicist Kitaoji

Rosanjin was the pseudonym for a noted artist and epicure during the early to mid-Shōwa period of Japan. His real name was , but he is best known by his artistic name, Rosanjin. A man of many talents, Rosanjin was also a calligrapher, ceramicist, engr ...

(北大路魯山人) is located in Kasama, and it has become a museum.

Notable people from Kasama

* Morihiro Saito, aikido teacher *

Kimura Buzan (3 July 1876 – 29 November 1942) was a Japanese ''Nihonga'' painter associated with the Nihon Bijutsuin. Life Born in 1876 in Kasama, Ibaraki, the eldest son of a samurai in the Kasama Domain, as a child he studied with a ''Nanga'' mas ...

, Nihonga painter *

Nasa Hataoka is a Japanese professional golfer. She has won six times on the LPGA Tour and six times on the LPGA of Japan Tour. Amateur career Hataoka was born on 13 January 1999, named after the United States space program, NASA. As an amateur, she won ...

, professional golfer *

Yamashita Rin was a painter of icons for the Japanese Orthodox Church. She was one of the first independent Japanese female artists, the first recognized female ''yōga'' painter. She studied in Russia, and her work can be found in over forty churches across ...

, female icon painter * Zatoichi, fictional blind masseuse swordsman

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Cities in Ibaraki Prefecture