is a town located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,867 in 6,881 households and a population density of . The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 34.0%. The total area of the town is . The Japan Atomic Energy Agency operates a research center in Ōarai with a number of nuclear research reactors, including the Jōyō and High-temperature engineering test reactor facilities. Geography Located on the coast of central Ibaraki Prefecture, Ōarai is located in the flatlands near the Pacific Ocean, and borders Lake Hinuma, the 30th largest body of freshwater in Japan. The Naka River flows through the town. Ōarai and Sun Beach bathing beaches were first to introduce barrier-free bathing beaches for the disabled in Japan. Surrounding municipalities Ibaraki Prefecture Mito Hitachinaka Hokota Ibaraki Climate Ōarai has a Humid continental climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cold winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ōarai is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōarai has declined steadily over the past 70 years. History The villages of Isohama and Ōnuki within Higashiibaraki District and the village of Natsumi within Kashima District were created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Ōnuki was elevated to town status on January 26, 1894. Ōnuki and Isohama merged on November 3, 1954 to create the town of Ōarai. A portion of Natsumi was annexed by Ōarai on July 23, 1955. In 1928, Nisshō Inoue, the founder of the far-right militant organization , relocated to Ōarai, where he established , which served as a youth training center advocating a militarist revolution in Japan, eventually resulting in the 1932 League of Blood Incident. Since 1998 the chief of a factory association in Oarai has invited Japanese descendants and migrants from North Sulawesi, Indonesia, to work for seafood industries. A majority of the Indonesians inhabitants was later arrested for being undocumented. Government Ōarai has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 12 members. Ōarai, together with neighboring Hokota and Ibaraki, contributes two members to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of