Ibaraki Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture
	Ibaraki Prefecture
Japanese:	茨城県
	Ibaraki-ken
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
	Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Rose (Rosa)
- Tree	Ume tree (Prunus mume)
- Bird	Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
- Fish	{{{Fish}}}
	File:Symbol of Ibaraki Prefecture.svg; Symbol of Ibaraki Prefecture
	Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject Japan

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For the city, see Ibaraki, Osaka.

Ibaraki Prefecture (茨城県, Ibaraki-ken^?) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region on Honshū island. The capital is Mito.

History

Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province. In 1871, the name of the province became Ibaraki. The name of the prefecture is also occasionally misspelled "Ibaragi."

Geography

Map of Ibaraki Prefecture.

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:

Higashiibaraki District

Ibaraki

Ōarai

Shirosato

Inashiki District

Ami

Kawachi

Miho

Kitasōma District

Tone

Kuji District

Daigo

Naka District

Tōkai

Sashima District

Goka

Sakai

Yūki District

Yachiyo

Mergers

Main article: List of mergers in Ibaraki Prefecture

Future mergers

Economy

Industries in the prefecture include nuclear and other energy, chemical, and precision machine. 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

Ibaraki is known for natto, or fermented soybeans, in Mito, watermelons in Kyōwa (recently merged into Chikusei), and chestnuts in the Nishiibaraki region.

Ibaraki is famous for the martial art of Aikido 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 still remain.

There are castle ruins in many cities, including Mito, Kasama, and Yūki.

Kasama is famous for Shinto and art culture and pottery.

The capital Mito is home to Kairakuen, one of a trinity of Japan's most celebrated gardens, and famous for plum forest of over 3,000 plum trees of over 100 varieties.

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Ibaraki.

Football (soccer)

Volleyball

Hitachi Sawa Rivale (Hitachinaka)

Tourism

Transportation and access

Railways

East Japan Railway Company

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.