260px, Yanagida Kunio Memorial Museum 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 ...

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 15,073 in 6163 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 605 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 46.6%. The total area of the town is .

Geography

Tone is located in the flatlands in the very southern portion of Ibaraki Prefecture, bordered by Chiba Prefecture to the south. 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 ...

, along with the Shin-Tone River and Kogawa River pass through the town.

Neighboring municipalities

Ibaraki Prefecture * Ryūgasaki *

Toride file:Oohorinowatashi 001.JPG, 260px, Ohori-no-watashi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 104,329 in 44,755 households and a population density of 1492 persons per km². The p ...

* Kawachi Chiba Prefecture * Abiko *

Inzai file:Inzai city hall.JPG, 260px, Inzai City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 105,463 in 42,388 households and a population density of 850 persons per km². The total are ...

* Sakae

Climate

Tone 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 Kitaibaraki is 14.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1345 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Tone population statistics
/ref> the population of Tone peaked around 1990 and has steadily declined since.

History

The area of present-day Tone was part of Kitasōma District in

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area modern Chiba Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shimōsa''" in . It lies to the north of the Bōsō Peninsula (房総半島), whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from ...

, as the boundary between Shimōsa and

Hitachi Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hitachi fudoki''" in . It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Shimōsa Province, S ...

had been established I the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

as the

. However, by 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 ...

, the course of the river had shifted, leaving the area of present-day Tone on the northern bank of the river. This area was transferred to Ibaraki Prefecture in 1875. It was organized into the town of Fukawa and the villages of Fumi, and Momma within Kitasōma District, Ibaraki Prefecture with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The modern town of Tone was founded by the merger of Fukawa with Fumi and Momma on January 1, 1955.

Government

Tone 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 ...

town council of 12 members. Tone, together with neighboring Ryūgasaki, contributes two members to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Ibaraki 3rd district 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

Tone was a small agricultural community until the creation of

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

s which transformed the area into a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for Tokyo metropolis. However, due to poor transportation connections and an aging population, the population of the town is now in decline and property prices have suffered severe declines. Discussions for a merger with neighboring Ryūgasaki were suspended in 2005, partly due to the town's high debt burden and increasingly poor revenue base.

Education

* Japan Wellness Sports University * Tone has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by town city government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

Tone does not have any passenger railway line. The nearest station is on the Abiko branch line of the

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 ...

’s

Narita Line The Narita Line ( ja, 成田線, ) is the name for a combination of three railway lines located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The main line connects Sakura Station and Matsugishi Station (as ...

Highway

The town is not served by any national highway. Primary access is by Chiba Prefectural Route 4 and 170, and by Ibaraki Prefectural Route 11, 68 and 209.

Local attractions

* Yanagida Kunio Memorial Museum

Noted people from Tone

* Jun Sadogawa, manga artist

References

External links

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