Chikusei (筑西市; -shi) is a city located in Ibaraki, Japan. The city was founded March 28, 2005 from the merger of the city of Shimodate with three towns from Makabe District. As of March 1, 2005 population data, the city has an estimated population of 113,819 and the density of 554 persons per km². The total area is 205.35 km². Source: [wikipedia: chikusei, ibaraki]