PROFILE OF ＡＭＩ TOWN

Standing at the dawn of the third millenium

　Ami, Asahi, Kimihara and Funashima were merged to form the town of Ami in 1955 and so it celebrates its 45th anniversary this memorable year of 2000, at the dawn of the third millenium. 
　In building a town for the 21st century, it is important to govern together with citizens' participation, making the best use of the town's characteristics as decentralization and merging of municipalities proceeds.
　Ami Town aims to provide both a place of work and a good living environment, with the right balance between work, living, leisure and studying. It encourages people to make better use of their leisure time, improve friendships and to offer a place to cultivate oneself - indeed, a place where everyone can enjoy working and living in comfort, surrounded with water and beautiful greenery. 
　This guidebook introduces the present state of the town and the vision for the future. I sincerely hope it will help us to create a better town and understanding of it. 
　Society and the economy are changing rapidly and we must address the various problems that confront us. I intend to face these challenges and achieve progress through the united efforts of the whole town, and I hope you will assist us in our shared goals.

Kawata Koji 
Mayor of Ami

ＡＭＩ　−　Ａ　ＴＯＷＮ　ＷＨＥＲＥ　ＤＲＥＡＭＳ　ＤＡＲＥ　ＴＯ　ＧＲＯＷ

e-mail ami@town.ami.lg.jp

■Ｏｕｔｌｉｎｅ

 The town of Ami is located in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture on the shores of Lake Kasumigaura, the second largest in Japan. It is 6 miles from Tsukuba Science City and 18 miles from Narita International Airport. Since this verdant town is within 38 miles of downtown Tokyo, its population has been rapidly growing. It is expected to reach the milestone of 50,000 in the very near future and will therefore become eligible for designation as an official city.
 The climate is warm throughout the year, with its annual precipitation amounting to about 48 inches.
 In the future, as the town becomes linked to the Tokyo area by the Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway and various other means including the improvement of new access roads, it should under go a vibrant but balanced development in employment, housing, education and recreation.

■Ａｒｅａ 25 square miles (16,250 acres)

■Population 46,844  （As of April,2002)

■Number of households

16,143 （As of April,2002)

■Ｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙ

(The percentage of the population in each industry)

Agriculture and Fishery	10.0%
Manufacturing, Construction and Electrical Industry	34.4%
Transport, Communication, Commerce and Service	55.6%

■Ｅｄｕｃａｔｉｏｎａｌ　Ｆａｃｉｌｉｔｉｅｓ

Elementary School	8
Junior High School	3
Senior High School (Private)	1

University

National	1
Prefectural	1

■Ｐｒｉｎｃｉｐａｌ　Ａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌ　Ｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｓ

Watermelon	Lotus roots

■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

1996 Total Area 16,250 acres	Rice field	Vegetable field	Housing	Forest	Miscellaneous	Others
	2,326	4,889	2,353	3,484	2,376	817

■Ｆｕｔｕｒｅ

The people of Ami see a bright future for their town.
The town of Ami is moving to build a town where dreams dare to grow by implementing the following plans and policies:

◆Building a community committed to the preservation of nature.

With hundreds of cherry blossom trees strategically planted throughout the town, the people of Ami can enjoy the glory of  pale pink blossoms, everywhere.

　

◆Building a well-balanced community.

The biggest target for future development is to build a community that carefully balances its functions as a place to live, to work, to study and to play.

　

　

◆Building a community committed to public welfare, involvement and communication.

Ami has been striving to build a town of health and welfare in closer cooperation with the related medical, health care and welfare organizations so that every citizen from the elderly and handicapped to the underprevileged pre-schoolers can live free from anxiety.

In addition, Ami Town made the “International Exchange Promotion Plan" in 1995 toward the internationalization of the town and its people.
On the basis of this plan, the International Exchange Association was established in November, 1997. This association　now takes the the leadership in the promotion of international exchange at the grass roots level in order to deepen the mutual understanding and improve communication between Ami residents and foreigners from many different countries.

　

◆Building a community committed to cultural advancement.

“My Ami Festival"

The “My Ami Festival" brings the whole town out for the biggest event of the year. The festival combines the best of traditional arts and modern popular culture. Every year, this festival takes place in the first weekend in August.

　

“The local art of the Hyottoko dance in Kimijima". 

About 140 years ago, an epidemic devastated the children of the Kimijima district.
The grieving people of the village were determined to drive the hoodoo away by holding the splendid Tenno Festival.
In this festival, the “Hyottoko dance" was performed in harmony with the tones of flutes and drums. Ever since, this traditional art has been passed down from generation to generation in Ami.

　

Ami Town is moving ahead, step by step, building a modern community that is at home with nature and at peace with the world.

Ami International Exchange Association