Tsuchiura

City, Ibaraki ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the western shore of Lake Kasumi. A castle was constructed on the city site during the Muromachi period (1338 - 1573), and Tsuchiura grew to be a flourishing centre of land and sea transportation. Fishing was also highly developed. The Joban Line (railway) was opened through Tsuchiura in 1896, and in 1920 a Japanese naval base and related machinery