Tsuchiura

Tsuchiura is a city in southwestern Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, lying on the western shore of Lake Kasumigaura, the second largest lake in the country, about 60 kilometres north of Tokyo and next to the science city of Tsukuba. In 2024 it had about 142,000 residents on nearly 123 square kilometres, with a small foreign-born community. People have lived in the area since the Paleolithic period, and the Edo period brought a castle town under the Tsuchiura Domain, prospering on the Mito Kaido highway and a canal to Edo Bay. A modern town was established in 1889, a railway arrived in 1895 and city status followed in 1940. The city was once the commercial centre of southern Ibaraki, produces lotus root, and is known for Tsuchiura Castle and the Tsuchiura National Fireworks Competition.