Mito

Mito, capital, Ibaraki ken (prefecture), eastern Honshu, Japan. It lies in the northeastern part of the Kantō Plain on the left bank of the Naka River.

During the Heian period (794–1185) Mito developed around a Yoshida shrine, and its first castle was built during the Kamakura period (1192–1333). The city changed hands several times during the 15th and 16th centuries; in 1609 it became a fief of the Mito branch of the Tokugawa family, one of the three branches of that clan (san-ke) from which the shogun could be chosen. The Kasawara Aqueduct was constructed by the scholar and ruler Tokugawa Mitsukuni in 1663 and is still in use.

During the Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603–1867) Mito was an important commercial and cultural centre, known for its administrative and agrarian reforms. Its political support of the reestablishment of secular imperial rule led to the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Since the opening of the Mito railway in 1889, the city has been a major transport centre. Industrialization was slow before the 1960s, consisting mainly of traditional manufactures including furniture, paper, and handicrafts. Since then, new industries have begun operation in the city, manufacturing electrical machinery, iron and steel products, and chemicals.

Mito Park, in the city centre, contains the ruins of the Tokugawa castle; the Kodokan, an educational institution founded in the 19th century; and Shintō and Confucian shrines. Kairakun Garden (Tokiwa Park) is one of Japan’s most-visited landscape gardens, graced with numerous plum trees. Pop. (2005) 262,603; (2010) 268,750.