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)
	; Symbol of Ibaraki Prefecture
	Template ■ Discussion ■ Parameter ■ 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.

[edit] History

Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province. In 1871, the name of the province became Ibaraki.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Cities

Thirty-two cities are located in Ibaraki Prefecture:

[edit] Towns and villages

Towns and villages in each district:

Higashiibaraki District

Ibaraki ‡

Ōarai

Shirosato

Inashiki District

Ami

Kawachi

Miho

Kitasouma District

Tone

Kuji District

Daigo

Naka District

Tōkai

Sashima District

Goka

Sakai

Yuki District

Yachiyo

‡ Scheduled to be dissolved following mergers.

[edit] Mergers

Main article: List of mergers in Ibaraki Prefecture

[edit] Future mergers

[edit] 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.

[edit] Demographics

Ibaraki's population is increasing modestly as the Greater Tokyo region spreads out.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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]

[edit] Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Ibaraki.

Football (soccer)

Volleyball

Hitachi Sawa Rivale (Hitachinaka)

[edit] Tourism

[edit] Prefectural symbols

[edit] 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.