(right),
Inashiki and
Kawachi areas Sakura Festival 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 a border on the southwest with
Saitama Prefecture. The northernmost part of the prefecture is mountainous, but most of the prefecture is a flat plain with many lakes and is part of
Kantō Plain.
Natural parks , 15% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as
Natural Parks, namely
Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park, and nine Prefectural Natural Parks. Also, Ibaraki has one Prefectural Geopark. The Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park, also includes the northeast area of Chiba Prefecture.
Mountains The northern third of the prefecture is mountainous and in the center is the Tsukuba Mountains (筑波 山地). Its main mountains are:
mount Yamizo with an elevation of 1022 m on the border with Fukushima and Tochigi prefectures (
tripoint), mount Takasasa with 922 m,
mount Tsukuba with two peaks Nyotai-San at 877 m and Nantai-San at 871 m, mount Osho at 804 m, mount Hanazono at 798 m, and
mount Kaba at 709 m.
Water system The main rivers that flow through the prefecture include the
Tone,
Naka (Ibaraki), and
Kuji rivers, all of which flow into the
Pacific Ocean. Before the seventeenth century, the lower reaches of the Tone were different from its current layout, and the Tone ran south and emptied into
Tokyo Bay, and tributaries such as the Watarase and Kinu rivers had independent water systems. The main tributaries of the Tone River basin are the
Kinu River and Kokai River, which flow from north to south in the western part of the prefecture. The Shintone and Sakura rivers flow into Lake Nishiura. The
Edo River flows into Tokyo Bay; its source currently rises as an arm of the Tone River. In the past, the course of the Edo River was different, its source was corrected and diverted to the Tone River in the 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate to protect the city of
Edo (now Tokyo) from flooding. The Tone River, in addition to the Edo River, is part of the southern border of Ibaraki Prefecture with Chiba Prefecture, and the
Watarase River, Tone River, Gongendō River, and
Naka River (Saitama) in the southwestern border of Ibaraki with Saitama Prefecture. The Watarase River has become a small boundary of the southern border between Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures. From ancient times to the beginning of the Edo period, the lower reaches of the Tone River did not exist and the mouth of the Tone was in Tokyo Bay. On the plain was the
Katori Sea, which existed in ancient times, the
Lake Kasumigaura and other lagoons in present-day Chiba prefecture are remnants of that sea. Katori Sea was connected to the Kashima-nada (Pacific Ocean). Lake Kasumigaura is currently divided into three lakes: Nishiura, Kitaura, Sotonasakaura. In addition, in the prefecture there are freshwater lagoons such as Hinuma,
Senba, and Ushiku.
Fukuoka Dam, is a dam that spans the Kokai River in
Tsukubamirai, it is one of the three largest dams in the Kantō region. Ryūjin Dam in
Hitachiōta, is a beautiful dam on the Ryūjin River with a large pedestrian suspension bridge above the dam lake.
Cities Thirty-two (32) cities are located in Ibaraki Prefecture: •
Mito (capital city of the prefecture) •
Bandō •
Chikusei •
Hitachi •
Hitachinaka •
Hitachiōmiya •
Hitachiōta •
Hokota •
Inashiki •
Ishioka •
Itako •
Jōsō •
Kamisu •
Kasama •
Kashima •
Kasumigaura •
Kitaibaraki •
Koga •
Moriya •
Naka •
Namegata •
Omitama •
Ryūgasaki •
Sakuragawa •
Shimotsuma •
Takahagi •
Toride •
Tsuchiura •
Tsukuba •
Tsukubamirai •
Ushiku •
Yūki Towns and villages These are the towns and villages in each
district, 10 towns and 2 villages in 7 districts: •
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 == Economy ==