Tsukuba, Ibaraki
Encyclopedia
Ibaraki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is Mito.-History:Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province...
, 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...
. It is known as the location of the , a planned city developed in the 1960s.
As of 2008, the city has an estimated population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 207,394 and a population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 730 persons per km². Its total area is 284.07 km².
Mount Tsukuba
Mount Tsukuba
Mount Tsukuba is an mountain located near Tsukuba, Japan. It is one of the most famous mountains in Japan, particularly well-known for its double peaks, Nyotai-san and Nantai-san . Many people climb the so-called "purple mountain" every year for the panoramic view of the Kantō plain from the...
, particularly well-known for its toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
-shaped Shinto shrine, is located near the city. Also found there is the Tsukuba Circuit
Tsukuba Circuit
The Tsukuba Circuit is a motorsport race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is long. There is a small chicane corner that is used for motorcycle racing only and increases the total length to...
, a popular short racetrack which hosts the D1 Grand Prix
D1 Grand Prix
The , abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled Professional Drift, is a production car drifting series from Japan. After several years of hosting amateur drifting contests, Option magazine & Tokyo Auto Salon founder Daijiro Inada, and drifting legend Keiichi Tsuchiya hosted a professional level drifting...
and other motorsports events.
Tsukuba is a twin city
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
of Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
, Milpitas, California
Milpitas, California
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is a suburb of the major city of San Jose, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of State Route 237 and generally between Interstates 680 and 880 which run roughly north/south...
, and Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
in the United States of America.
History
Tsukuba Science City represents one of the world's largest coordinated attempts to accelerate the rate of and improve the quality of scientific discovery. The city was closely modeled on other planned cities and science developments, including Brasilia, Novosibirsk's Akademgorodok, Bethesda, and Palo Alto. The city was founded by the merger of Ōho, Sakura, Toyosato, and Yatabe.Beginning in the 1960s, the area was designated for development. Construction of the city centre, the University of Tsukuba
University of Tsukuba
is located in the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan. The University has 28 college clusters and schools with a total of around 15,000 students...
and 46 public basic scientific research laboratories began in the 1970s. The city became operational in the 1980s to stimulate scientific discovery. Its constituent municipalities were administratively united in 1987. By the year 2000, the city's 60 national research institutes and two universities had been grouped into five zones: higher education and training, construction research, physical science and engineering research, biological and agricultural research, and common (public) facilities. These zones were surrounded by more than 240 private research facilities. Among the most prominent institutions are the University of Tsukuba (1973; formerly Tokyo University of Education); the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization
KEK
, known as KEK, is a national organization whose purpose is to operate the largest particle physics laboratory in Japan, which is situated in Tsukuba of Ibaraki prefecture. Established in 1997. The term "KEK" is also used to refer to the laboratory itself, which employs approximately 900 employees...
(KEK); the Electrotechnical Laboratory; the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory; and the National Institute of Materials and Chemical Research. The city has an international flair, with about 3,000 foreign students and researchers from as many as 90 countries living in Tsukuba at any one time.
Over the past several decades, nearly half of Japan's public research and development budget has been spent in Tsukuba. Important scientific breakthroughs by its researchers include the identification and specification of the molecular structure of superconducting materials, the development of organic optical films that alter their electrical conductivity in response to changing light, and the creation of extreme high-pressure vacuum chambers. Tsukuba has become one of the world's key sites for government-industry collaborations in basic research. Earthquake safety, environmental degradation, studies of roadways, fermentation science, microbiology, and plant genetics are some of the broad research topics having close public-private partnerships.
Tsukuba hosted the Expo '85
Expo '85
Expo '85, officially called , was a world's fair held in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan between Sunday, March 17 and Monday, September 16, 1985. The theme of the fair was "Dwellings and Surroundings - Science and Technology for Man at Home"...
world's fair
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
in 1985, which is commemorated by a full-scale, working rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
in the city park. Attractions at the event included the 85 metres (278.9 ft) Technocosmos
Technocosmos
Technocosmos, later renamed Technostar, was an tall giant Ferris wheel, originally built for the Expo '85 World Fair in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. It carried almost 3 million passengers during the exposition....
, which at that time was the world's tallest Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
.
During the Fukushima I nuclear accidents in 2011, evacuees from the accident zone reported that municipal officials in Tsukuba refused to allow them access to shelters in the city unless they presented certificates from the Fukushima government declaring that the evacuees were "radiation free".
Transportation
On August 24, 2005, a rail service called the Tsukuba Express, or simply "TX", opened. Operated by the Metropolitan Intercity Railway CompanyMetropolitan Intercity Railway Company
The is a third sector railway company. It was established in March, 1991, to construct the Tsukuba Express . Municipalities along the planned line, and private corporations, invested in it.-External links:...
, it provides Tsukuba with a rapid connection to Akihabara Station
Akihabara Station
is a railway station locatedin Tokyo's Chiyoda ward. It is at the center of the famous Akihabara shopping district specializing in electronic goods.-Lines:JR East:* Keihin-Tōhoku Line* Yamanote Line* Chūō-Sōbu LineTokyo Metro:...
in Tokyo. It takes 45 minutes to travel between Tsukuba Station and Akihabara Station.
The bus station, located in the same area as the TX, offers intracity transport as well as travel to stations in nearby towns and to major stations throughout Kantō
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....
.
Tsukuba is also located on the Joban Expressway
Joban Expressway
The , abbreviated , is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.-Naming:Jōban is a kanji acronym consisting of two characters...
, the express tollway which runs between Tokyo and Mito
Mito, Ibaraki
is the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan and has a central location, moderately offset towards the coast in that prefecture. As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 263,748 and a total area is 217.45 km², giving a population density of 1,212.91 persons per km²...
.
The closest major airport is Narita International Airport
Narita International Airport
is an international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is located east of Tokyo Station and east-southeast of Narita Station in the city of Narita, and the adjacent town of Shibayama....
, connected to Tsukuba with a regular bus service (the travel time is approximately 1 hour 40 minutes). Haneda Airport is also accessible from the city via a bus that carries people daily from the airport to the city's center. A new domestic airport is being built in nearby Omitama, Ibaraki
Omitama, Ibaraki
is a city located in Ibaraki, Japan. The city was formed on March 27, 2006 from the merger of the towns of Ogawa and Minori, both from Higashiibaraki District, and the village of Tamari, from Niihari District...
which will connect with Sapporo, Hokkaido
Sapporo, Hokkaido
is the fourth-largest city in Japan by population, and the largest city on the island of Hokkaido. It is the capital of Hokkaidō Prefecture, located in Ishikari Subprefecture, and an ordinance-designated city of Japan....
, Naha, Okinawa
Naha, Okinawa
is the capital city of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa.Naha is a coastal city located on the East China Sea coast of the southern part of Okinawa Island, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands...
, Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, and Fukuoka
Fukuoka
Fukuoka most often refers to the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture.It can also refer to:-Locations:* Fukuoka, Gifu, a town in Gifu Prefecture, Japan* Fukuoka, Toyama, a town in Toyama Prefecture, Japan...
.
Research institutes in Tsukuba
- Geographical Survey Institute
- Japan Aerospace Exploration AgencyJapan Aerospace Exploration AgencyThe , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the...
(JAXA) - KEKKEK, known as KEK, is a national organization whose purpose is to operate the largest particle physics laboratory in Japan, which is situated in Tsukuba of Ibaraki prefecture. Established in 1997. The term "KEK" is also used to refer to the laboratory itself, which employs approximately 900 employees...
- National Food and Research Institute (NFRI)
- National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and TechnologyNational Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and TechnologyThe , or AIST, is a Japanese research facility headquartered in Tokyo, and most of the workforce is located in Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki, and in several cities throughout Japan. The institute is managed to integrate scientific and engineering knowledge to address socio-economic needs...
(AIST) - National Institute for Environmental StudiesNational Institute for Environmental StudiesThe National Institute for Environmental Studies was established in 1974 as a focal point for environmental research in Japan...
- National Institute for Materials ScienceNational Institute for Materials Scienceis an Independent Administrative Institution and one of the largest scientific research centers in Japan.- History :The growth and development of today's scientific research center has passed through several phases in a number of locations:...
(NIMS) - National Institute for Rural Engineering
- Tsukuba Botanical GardenTsukuba Botanical GardenThe is a major botanical garden located near the University of Tsukuba at 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is open daily except Mondays; an admission fee is charged....
- University of TsukubaUniversity of Tsukubais located in the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan. The University has 28 college clusters and schools with a total of around 15,000 students...
Name in kanji
is one of a small number of hiragana cities in Japan whose names are written in hiraganaHiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
rather than kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
(Chinese characters). When written in kanji, it is rendered "筑波."
External links
- Tsukuba Alien Times Tsukuba's English newsletter since 1987
- Tsukuba City (official English website)
- Tsukuba City (official Japanese website)
- Tsukuba Wiki
- Tsukuba International Forum Tsukuba Community