■Outline

 Ami Town is located in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture on the shores of Lake Kasumigaura, the second largest lake in Japan. The town is 30km from Narita International Airport and is within 60km of down town Tokyo. In addition it has two interchanges for the Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway. It has been developing as a pleasant town balanced between an urban and a rural area.
　With this good location, Ami Town has promoted various kinds of activities to build “a town filled with people’s smiles”. Your comments and suggestions for the town are greatly welcomed.

■Number of households

18,049 （As of April, 2011)

■Industry

(The percentage of the population in each industry /As of 2005)

Agriculture and Fishery	4.7%
Manufacturing, Construction and Electrical Industry	27.2%
Transport, Communication, Commerce and Service	67.4%

■Educational Facilities

Elementary School	8（0）
Junior High School	4（1）
Senior High School	1（1）

※The number of Private schools is put in （　）.
　

National University	1
Prefectural University	1

■Principal Agricultural Products

■International Friendship

Sister City	The City of Superior, Wisconsin, United States of America (Agreement established on April 11, 1997)
Friendship City	Linkei ken in Gui Lin City of Liuzhou, People's Republic of China

■Area by Use

◆Nature

Lake Kasumigaura: 　Ami Town faces Lake Kasumigaura. The shores have a marvelous view of Mt.Tsukuba. The lake also provides good fish for the people of the town.

Wooded Areas: 　The area of woods in the town is 1200hectares, which is precious asset for the region. The town has been striving to conserve this valuable natural resource.

◆Industry

Agriculture: 　The basic industry of the town is agriculture. It is aiming to establish “eat local foods” the system that the products produced in Ami Town are preferably consumed in Ami Town. Principal products are watermelons, lotus roots and “yacons” that originally came from Latin America.

Commerce : 　In addition to many smaller enterprises and stores, there are shopping malls and an outlet mall in the town.

Manufacturing : 　Diverse companies are operating in the three industrial parks (Fukuda, Tsukuba-minami-daiichi and Ami-tobu).

◆History

Ami Town had a military facility for “Yokaren (Naval trainees to be aviators) during the war time. Its history is well-known nationwide and “Yokaren Peace Memorial Museum” is sending precise history about it to the whole country.

◆Universities・Hospitals

There are two universities (Ibaraki University/the agricultural department and Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences) and two hospitals (Tokyo Medical University Ibaraki Medical Center and Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences Hospital) in the town. Each of them is making great contributions to build quality of the town.

◆International Friendship

Ami International Exchange Association takes the leadership to promote international friendship at the grass roots level. Ami Town is a sister city to the City of Superior, Wisconsin, United States of America and a friendship city to the City of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China. These three cities send and receive delegations including junior high school students by turns. Ami International Exchange Association

◆Annual Events

Spring :

Cherry-blossom viewing. You can enjoy the glory of cherry blossoms everywhere such as at Self-Defense Ordnance School, Ibaraki University street, Sawayaka street and Ami Sports Park.

Summer :

My Ami Festival. You can enjoy the opportunity of carrying a potable shrine, bon dancing, entertainment shows and other cultural events.

Autumn :

Sawayaka Fair. This fair is held as a PR event of the town combined with “Ami Commerce and Industry Festival” by the Chamber of Commerce and “Soryo Festival” by Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences. Also various kinds of cultural activities are introduced as a part of “Lifelong Study Festival”.

Winter :

Ami town marathon. Many people take part in and enjoy this marathon race.

◆Town policy

Ami Town has promoted two policies, one is “to build a town committed to health and welfare” and the other is “to build a town committed to lifelong study”, in cooperation with volunteers for many years. The town is proud of their results, and is going to work harder to make the town better.