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| Ibaraki Prefecture | |||||||||
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| Capital | Mito | ||||||||
| Region | Kantō | ||||||||
| Island | Honshū | ||||||||
| Governor | Masaru Hashimoto | ||||||||
| Area (rank) | 6,095.58 km² (23rd) | ||||||||
| - % water | 4.8% | ||||||||
| Population (October 1, 2000) | |||||||||
| - Population | 2,985,424 (11th) | ||||||||
| - Density | 490 /km² | ||||||||
| Districts | 7 | ||||||||
| Municipalities | 43 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166-2 | JP-08 | ||||||||
| Website | www.pref.ibaraki.jp/ en/menu.htm |
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| Prefectural Symbols | |||||||||
| - Flower | Rose (Rosa) | ||||||||
| - Tree | Ume tree (Prunus mume) | ||||||||
| - Bird | Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) | ||||||||
 Symbol of Ibaraki Prefecture |
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| Template ■ Discussion ■ Parameter ■ WikiProject Japan | |||||||||
Ibaraki Prefecture (茨城県 Ibaraki-ken?) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region on Honshū island. The capital is Mito.
Contents |
History
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2008) |
Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province. In 1871, the name of the province became Ibaraki.
Geography
Ibaraki Prefecture is the northeastern part of the Kantō region, stretching between Tochigi Prefecture and the Pacific Ocean and bounded on the north and south by Fukushima Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture. It also has borders on the southwest with Gunma Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture. The northernmost part of the prefecture is mountainous, but most of the prefecture is a flat plain with many lakes.
Cities
Thirty-two cities are located in Ibaraki Prefecture:
Towns and villages
Towns and villages in each district:
‡ Scheduled to be dissolved following mergers.
Mergers
Future mergers
Economy
Ibaraki's industries include energy, particularly nuclear energy, production, as well as chemical and precision machining industries. The Hitachi company was founded in the Ibaraki city of the same name.
Demographics
Ibaraki's population is increasing modestly as the Greater Tokyo region spreads out.
Culture
Famous foods of Ibaraki include natto, of Mito, the watermelons produced in Kyowa (recently merged into Chikusei), and the chestnuts grown in the Nishiibaraki region.
Ibaraki is famous for the martial art of Aikido which was founded by Ueshiba Morihei, also known as Osensei. Ueshiba spent the latter part of his life in the town of Iwama, now part of Kasama, and the Aiki Shrine and dojo he created remain there to this day.
There are castle ruins in many cities, including Mito, Kasama, and Yuki.
Kasama is also famous for its Shinto and art culture, and pottery.
The capital Mito is home to Kairakuen, one of a trinity of Japan's most celebrated gardens, and famed for its plum forest of over 3,000 plum trees of over 100 varieties.
Politics
In a Japan times article on August 28, 2007 activist Debito Arudou criticized the Ibaraki Prefectural Government over a poster, which, according to Arudou, scapegoated foreigners. The poster showed six Japanese police in riot gear pushing a lone foreigner to the ground. The poster carries writing telling Japanese to be on the lookout for foreigners violating their visa conditions; Arudou stated that it stigmatized foreigners in general.[1]
Sports
The sports teams listed below are based in Ibaraki.
Football (soccer)
Volleyball
Tourism
Prefectural symbols
Pronunciation
The prefecture is often mispronounced "Ibaragi". However, the correct pronunciation is "Ibaraki." According to the author of "Not Ibaragi, Ibaraki" (いばらぎじゃなくていばらき ibaragi ja nakute ibaraki) [1], this is most likely due to a mishearing of the softening of the 'k' sound in Ibaraki dialect. It is mispronounced to such a degree that it has nearly become standard.
References
External links
- Official Ibaraki Prefecture homepage
- The E-Ibaraki Report: articles and commentary of foreigners living in Ibaraki, produced by the International Affairs Division, Ibaraki Prefecture
- Ibaraki Japan
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| Cities | |||
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| Bando | Chikusei | Hitachi | Hitachinaka | Hitachiōmiya | Hitachiōta | Hokota | Inashiki | Ishioka | Itako | Jōsō | Kamisu | Kasama | Kashima | Kasumigaura | Kitaibaraki | Koga | Mito (capital) | Moriya | Naka | Namegata | Omitama | Ryūgasaki | Sakuragawa | Shimotsuma | Takahagi | Toride | Tsuchiura | Tsukuba | Tsukubamirai | Ushiku | Yūki | |||
| Districts | |||
| Higashiibaraki | Inashiki | Kitasōma | Kuji | Naka | Sashima | Yūki | |||
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References
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 6 October 2008, at 06:09.
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