Otawara, Tochigi
Encyclopedia
is a city
located in eastern Tochigi
Prefecture
, Japan
which is in the northern part of the Kantō region
north of Tokyo
. Otawara is approximately 40 kilometers north of Utsunomiya
, the capital of Tochigi, and approximately 50 km east of the historic city of Nikkō
. The city's name may also be spelled "Ohtawara" as indicated by the official city website.
Ōtawara has an estimated population of 77,954 as of December 1, 2009, and an area of approximately 354 square kilometers.
(1603-1867) as a castle town. Ōtawara Prefecture was born in 1871 and afterwards it was integrated into Tochigi Prefecture. The town was known as Ōtawara in 1889. On December 1, 1954, the town of Ōtawara and the villages of Chikasono and Kaneda combined to form Ōtawara City.
On December 31, 1954, part of Nozaki Town was merged into the city. On April 1, 1955, part of Nishinasuno Town merged with the city. On November 5, 1955, the town of Sakuyama merged into the city. On October 1, 2005, Yuzugami Village and Kurobane Town to form the present day Ōtawara City.
Otawara is home to several historical and cultural assets.
The oldest surviving example of writing in Japan is in Kasaishi Shrine (笠石神社). It dates to the 690s AD.
The Shino Kura Hall is a thatched
roof style building dating to approximately the late 1850s or early 1860s, the end of the Edo Period
. The Hall displays old equipment and other artifacts dating to that time period such as large carts, a foot threshing machine
, a packsaddle, and a milk machine. The Hall also serves handmade soba noodles using home-grown buckwheat.
Also located in Otawara are several ancient samurai
burial mounds dating to approximately 1692. Little is know specifically of the samurai who are buried there however.
The local performing arts center for Ōtawara and the nearby city of Nasushiobara
is called Harmony Hall where concerts and theater performances are held.
There are three libraries in the Otawara City library system, the Tabara Hiroshi Library, Kurobane Library, and the Yudukami Library.
design course. Otawara has a large sports and recreation complex called the North Tochigi Prefecture Gymnasium. The gymnasium has a main arena for general sports and cultural events and includes two basketball and three volleyball courts, 10 badminton courts, 20 ping-pong tables, one handball court, 10 tennis courts, two wrestling and karate rings. The arena can seat up to 1,500 spectators. In addition, there is a separate smaller arena, martial arts area, and training rooms. Several other gymnasiums, community pools, and sports fields are located throughout the Otawara area.
The city is home to corporations such as Toshiba
Medical Systems Corporation which sells medical equipment worldwide including CT Scans and other medical imaging equipment and Mochida Pharmaceutical
Co. Ltd. which specializes in the sales of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and skincare products. Tochigi Nikon Corporation, a member of the Nikon Group that designs and manufactures optical products, electronic imaging equipment, semiconductor manufacturing equipment and optical lenses, is also located in Ōtawara.
A Tōbu department store lies a kilometer away from the city hall. There are also clothing stores, a Yamada Denki
electronics store, home improvement stores, grocery stores, and numerous restaurants.
. National Route 400 runs through the city.
on the Tōhoku Main Line is the only railway station that lies within the city limits; the most-used stations are Nishi-Nasuno Station
on the Tōhoku Main Line and Nasushiobara Station
on the Tōhoku Shinkansen
, both of which are in the neighboring city of Nasushiobara
.
Cities of Japan
||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...
located in eastern Tochigi
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
Prefecture
Prefectures of Japan
The prefectures of Japan are the country's 47 subnational jurisdictions: one "metropolis" , Tokyo; one "circuit" , Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures , Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures . In Japanese, they are commonly referred to as...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
which is in the northern part of the Kantō region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
north of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Otawara is approximately 40 kilometers north of Utsunomiya
Utsunomiya, Tochigi
is the capital and most populous city of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. In October 2010 the city had an estimated population of 510,416 and a population density of 1,224.49 people per square kilometer. The total area is 416.84 km². had a population of 888,005 in the 2000 Census...
, the capital of Tochigi, and approximately 50 km east of the historic city of Nikkō
Nikko, Tochigi
is a city in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Approximately 140 km north of Tokyo and 35 km west of Utsunomiya, the capital of Tochigi Prefecture, it is a popular destination for Japanese and international tourists...
. The city's name may also be spelled "Ohtawara" as indicated by the official city website.
Ōtawara has an estimated population of 77,954 as of December 1, 2009, and an area of approximately 354 square kilometers.
Climate
Ōtawara has an average temperature of 1.2 degrees Celsius in January up to 23.1 degrees Celsius in August and an annual average temperature of 12.5 degrees Celsius. Ōtawara averages approximately 158.7 centimeters of rainfall per year with the wettest months being June through September.Geography
About 50% of Ōtawara is covered by rice fields with about 12% being mountains and forests. The elevation of Ōtawara is 217.76 meters.History
The modern city was founded on December 1, 1954. Ōtawara Castle was built in the year 1545 and it prospered during the Edo periodEdo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
(1603-1867) as a castle town. Ōtawara Prefecture was born in 1871 and afterwards it was integrated into Tochigi Prefecture. The town was known as Ōtawara in 1889. On December 1, 1954, the town of Ōtawara and the villages of Chikasono and Kaneda combined to form Ōtawara City.
- Mergers
On December 31, 1954, part of Nozaki Town was merged into the city. On April 1, 1955, part of Nishinasuno Town merged with the city. On November 5, 1955, the town of Sakuyama merged into the city. On October 1, 2005, Yuzugami Village and Kurobane Town to form the present day Ōtawara City.
Cultural and historical assets
The oldest surviving example of writing in Japan is in Kasaishi Shrine (笠石神社). It dates to the 690s AD.
The Shino Kura Hall is a thatched
Thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
roof style building dating to approximately the late 1850s or early 1860s, the end of the Edo Period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
. The Hall displays old equipment and other artifacts dating to that time period such as large carts, a foot threshing machine
Threshing machine
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine , was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails,...
, a packsaddle, and a milk machine. The Hall also serves handmade soba noodles using home-grown buckwheat.
Also located in Otawara are several ancient samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
burial mounds dating to approximately 1692. Little is know specifically of the samurai who are buried there however.
The local performing arts center for Ōtawara and the nearby city of Nasushiobara
Nasushiobara, Tochigi
is a city located in northern Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Nasushiobara is the northernmost city in the Kantō region of Japan, bordering Fukushima Prefecture to the north, as well as nationally famous Nikkō City and the town of Nasu within Tochigi....
is called Harmony Hall where concerts and theater performances are held.
There are three libraries in the Otawara City library system, the Tabara Hiroshi Library, Kurobane Library, and the Yudukami Library.
Sports and recreation
The largest sporting event the city hosts is the Tabara Hiroshi Marathon which is held annually on November 23, Labor Day. There are ten golf courses in the Ōtawara area. The golf courses include both public courses and private country clubs such the New St. Andrews Golf Club which is a Jack NicklausJack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
design course. Otawara has a large sports and recreation complex called the North Tochigi Prefecture Gymnasium. The gymnasium has a main arena for general sports and cultural events and includes two basketball and three volleyball courts, 10 badminton courts, 20 ping-pong tables, one handball court, 10 tennis courts, two wrestling and karate rings. The arena can seat up to 1,500 spectators. In addition, there is a separate smaller arena, martial arts area, and training rooms. Several other gymnasiums, community pools, and sports fields are located throughout the Otawara area.
Economy
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
Medical Systems Corporation which sells medical equipment worldwide including CT Scans and other medical imaging equipment and Mochida Pharmaceutical
Mochida Pharmaceutical
is a Japanese pharmaceutical company.One of its products is the antidepressant setiptiline ....
Co. Ltd. which specializes in the sales of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and skincare products. Tochigi Nikon Corporation, a member of the Nikon Group that designs and manufactures optical products, electronic imaging equipment, semiconductor manufacturing equipment and optical lenses, is also located in Ōtawara.
A Tōbu department store lies a kilometer away from the city hall. There are also clothing stores, a Yamada Denki
Yamada Denki
is one of the largest consumer electronics retailer chains in Japan. Some of its stores also sell other products, such as books.-Overview:The company was founded in 1973 as a privately-owned store. Yamada Denki Co., Ltd. was established in 1983...
electronics store, home improvement stores, grocery stores, and numerous restaurants.
Education
The city has 23 municipal elementary schools and 12 municipal junior high schools as well as a common prefectural high school. The International University of Health and Welfare is located in Ōtawara. The university was established in 1995, with the aim of training experts in the field of health and welfare.Road
Ōtawara is accessed via the Nishinasuno-Shiobara interchange of the Tōhoku ExpresswayTohoku Expressway
The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned by Japan Expressway Holding and Debt Repayment Agency and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.-Naming:Tōhoku refers to the Tōhoku region, the northernmost region on the island of Honshū....
. National Route 400 runs through the city.
Rail
Nozaki StationNozaki Station (Tochigi)
is a train station in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.- Adjacent stations :...
on the Tōhoku Main Line is the only railway station that lies within the city limits; the most-used stations are Nishi-Nasuno Station
Nishi-Nasuno Station
is a train station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.-Adjacent stations:...
on the Tōhoku Main Line and Nasushiobara Station
Nasushiobara Station
is a JR East railway station located in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.-History:* November 24, 1898: Higashi-Nasuno Station is opened* October 12, 1909: Station is a part of the Tōhoku Main Line...
on the Tōhoku Shinkansen
Tohoku Shinkansen
The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture for a total length of 674 km, Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island Honshu. It has two spur lines, Yamagata...
, both of which are in the neighboring city of Nasushiobara
Nasushiobara, Tochigi
is a city located in northern Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Nasushiobara is the northernmost city in the Kantō region of Japan, bordering Fukushima Prefecture to the north, as well as nationally famous Nikkō City and the town of Nasu within Tochigi....
.
External links
- Ōtawara City official website
- http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E7%94%B0%E5%8E%9F%E5%B8%82