Koga

Koga, city, western Ibaraki ken (prefecture), east-central Honshu, Japan. It lies in the northern Kantō Plain at the confluence of the Omoi and Watarase rivers.

Koga was an important river port and was a castle town and post town on the Nikkō-kaidō (Nikkō Highway) during the Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603–1867). It became a major trade centre for the surrounding agricultural region after the rail line to the Tōhoku (northeastern Honshu) region opened in 1891. Silk manufacture, introduced in the late 19th century, has given way to heavier industries introduced from the Keihin Industrial Zone centred on Tokyo to the south. Pop. (2005) 145,265; (2010) 142,995.