260px, Ishioka City Hall is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 70,124 in 28,892 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 325 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 33.5%. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Ishioka is located in central Ibaraki Prefecture, approximately 70 kilometers north of central Tokyo. It is bordered by Lake Kasumigaura to the south and by mountains on all other sides. The urban area of the city is in the east.

Surrounding municipalities

Ibaraki Prefecture * Kasama * Kasumigaura * Omitama * Sakuragawa *

Tsuchiura is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population in 2024 of 142,181 people in 66,629 households, and a population density of 1,157 persons per squate kilometre. The proportion of the population aged over 65 ...

Tsukuba is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As of January 1, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 256,526 in 121,001 households and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 wa ...

Climate

Ishioka 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 cold ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ishioka is 13.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1331 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Ishioka population statistics
/ref> the population of Ishioka peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

History

During the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 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 capita ...

, the

provincial capital A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

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 ...

was located in what is now part of the city of Ishioka. The area was known as , or simply as “Fuchū” for most of history and developed as a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

for

Hitachi-Fuchū Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Hitachi Province (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Fuchū Jin'ya in what is now the city of Ishioka, Ibaraki. It was also know ...

. The

domain A domain is a geographic area controlled by a single person or organization. Domain may also refer to: Law and human geography * Demesne, in English common law and other Medieval European contexts, lands directly managed by their holder rather ...

was renamed “Ishioka Domain” in 1869. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the town of Ishioka was created. Much of the town was destroyed in a fire on March 14, 1929. Ishioka was raised to city status on February 11, 1954. The new city annexed the neighboring villages of Mi and Sekigawa on December 1, 1954. On October 1, 2005, the town of Yasato (from Niihari District) was merged into Ishioka.

Government

Ishioka 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 22 members. Ishioka contributes two members to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Ibaraki 1st district Ibaraki 1st district (茨城県第1区, ''Ibaraki-ken dai-ikku'' or simply 茨城1区, ''Ibaraki-ikku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is loca ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Ishioka has a diverse economy. Agriculture includes

lotus root ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as the pink lotus, sacred lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more of ...

s, which are cultivated around Lake Kasumigaura,

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, and horticulture, such as persimmons,

mandarin orange A mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), often simply called mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. The mandarin is small and oblate, unlike the ...

s, and strawberries cultivated at the foot of

Mount Tsukuba is an mountain located at the northern-end of Tsukuba, Japan. It is one of the most famous mountains in Japan, particularly well known for its double peaks, and . Many people climb the so-called "purple mountain" every year for the panorami ...

. In addition, the countryside is one of the leading rice areas in Ibaraki prefecture. Pig farming, chicken farming, and dairy farming are also major agricultural contributors. The city has an

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

, with factories owned by Panasonic and Toyo Seikan, among others. ''

Sake Sake, , or saki, 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 indeed any East Asi ...

'' brewing is a traditional local industry, as is the manufacturing of incense sticks.

Education

Ishioka has 17 public elementary schools, eight public middle schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private middle school and one private high school.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

–

Jōban Line The 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, Miyagi. However, following ...

* –

Highway

* – Ishioka-Omitama Smart Interchange * *

Local attractions

* Hitachinokuni Sōshagū Shinto shrine

National Historic Monuments

*site of

Hitachi Kokubun-ji is a Buddhist temple located in the Fuchū neighborhood of the city of Ishioka, Ibaraki Prefecture Japan. It belongs to the Shingon-shū Chizan-ha sect, and its honzon is an image of Yakushi Nyōrai. It is the modern successor of the provincia ...

*site of Hitachi Kokufu ruins * Funazukayama Kofun * Kawaratsuka kiln ruins * Sakura Azumao Former Residence

Notable people from Ishioka

Inio Asano is a Japanese manga artist. Asano created the acclaimed manga series '' Solanin'', which was released as a feature film in Japan in April 2010, starring Aoi Miyazaki. He is also famous for the series '' Goodnight Punpun'' and '' Dead Dead Demo ...

, manga artist * Miya, musician and guitarist of Mucc * Takao Watanabe, politician *Yukke, musician and bassist of

Mucc is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1997. The classic line up of Tatsuro (singer), Tatsuro on vocals, Miya (musician), Miya on guitar, Yukke on bass, and Satochi on drums was solidified in 1999 foll ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Ibaraki Prefecture