Kashima City

Kashima (鹿嶋市Kashima-shi? ) is a port city in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The city is featured on the manga and anime series "Kashimashi".

As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 66,249 and apopulation density of 708.02 persons per km². The total area is 93.57 km². Kashima was formerly a town in Kashima District and became a city after merging with the neighboring village of Ōno on September 1, 1995.

Kashima is the home of the J. League's most successful team to date, the Kashima Antlers. Its home field, Kashima Soccer Stadium, was used as a site during the World Cup in 2002. The city is also the site of the Kashima Shrine, a Shinto temple which is considered the birthplace of many influential styles of swordplay (Kenjutsu) in Japan. It's one of the oldest shrines in eastern Japan, founded in 660 BC according to legend, and the real date is estimated from historical studies as the 4th century.

Kashima is the central city of the Kashima Industrial Zone, and it has a large industrial park with about 1500 factories, especially petrochemical and steel plants. The Japanese Government created this zone in 1963, and the development was mostly completed in 1973.