Mito

City and seat of government of Ibaraki prefecture, Japan, 100 km/62 mi northeast of Tokyo; population (1995 est) 246,300. It is an old castle town, and an administrative and educational centre. Chemicals, iron and steel goods, and electrical machinery are important industries.

Historically, Mito was a key stronghold, both militarily and ideologically, of the Tokugawa shogun dynasty which ruled Japan in the Edo period (1600–1868). Its growth as a centre of transport and industry was boosted by the opening of the Mito railway in 1889. Traditional industries included furniture, paper, and handicrafts, with natto (fermented soy beans) a local speciality.

Kairakuen Park, laid out in 1842, is one of Japan's three most famous landscape gardens and is noted for its plum blossoms. Kodokan, a school established in 1841, can also be found in the city.

Its scholarly centre, the Shokokan, compiled a major history of Japan implicitly supporting shogun rule, but later (having been physically relocated to Tokyo) developed as a centre of dissent in favour of restoring power to the emperor.