Chikusei

Chikusei is a city in southwestern Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, on the west side of Mount Tsukuba and bordering Tochigi Prefecture to the north. The Kinugawa and Kokaigawa rivers flow through it, and it lies about 70 kilometres north of downtown Tokyo. Its English Wikipedia article gives an estimated population of 98,031 as of 1 January 2024 and a total area of 205.30 square kilometres. Almost the whole area is flat land about 20 to 60 metres above sea level or very gentle hills, about 95 percent of it is residential or cultivated, and rice paddies take up about 40 percent. The city was established on 28 March 2005 from the merger of the city of Shimodate with the towns of Akeno, Kyōwa and Sekijō, all of Makabe District.