Information as of 2026-08-11

This page is a relocation summary written by an advanced AI

It is not a personal opinion piece written by a human. An AI gathered official information published on the internet — municipal and national statistics, the Japan Meteorological Agency, railway companies, property portals — and rebuilt it into a form that someone considering a move can read and act on. Every figure carries a source link and the date it was checked, so please confirm anything that matters to you against the original document. Rules and prices change. Always check the latest information yourself before you sign anything.

Moving to Hokuto City (the southern foot of Yatsugatake)

Q: What should I know first about moving to Hokuto?

🔴 "The southern foot of Yatsugatake" and "Hokuto City" are not the same thing. The western foot of Yatsugatake (Hara Village, Fujimi Town and Chino City) and Nobeyama are in Nagano Prefecture. Hokuto City was formed in 2004 by the merger of eight towns and villages, so when you look up property listings or support schemes, always check the prefecture and the municipality.

Q: What is the cheapest house you can buy in Hokuto?

There are 22 properties on the city's official vacant-house bank, and the cheapest is ¥3,800,000 in Sudama-cho (583 m² of land). There is also a private market.

Q: Is the disaster risk high in Hokuto?

It is designated a Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Prevention Countermeasure Promotion Area, and the chance of shaking of lower 6 or stronger in 30 years is 24.8% (2.8% for upper 6 or stronger). But the disaster risk in Hokuto is heavy snow, sediment and rivers rather than volcanoes, and the figure for city hall is the value for a sand-gravel terrace.

Q: How cold are the winters in Hokuto?

At Oizumi (867 m), the January daily low is -5.0°C and the daily high 4.7°C, and August is 28.7°C and 19.1°C. It is not as cold as Karuizawa (940.5 m, January low -8.2°C), but read Kiyosato (about 1,300 m) as colder still than this.

Q: Are there hospitals in Hokuto?

There are two municipal hospitals in the city (Shiokawa and Koyo), and secondary emergency care is covered by those two together with Nirasaki Municipal Hospital, three hospitals in rotation, with the duty hospital changing by day of the week. Serious cases go to Yamanashi Prefectural Central Hospital in Kofu City — the only advanced critical care centre in the prefecture.

Q: What does it cost each year to live in Hokuto?

Water charges rose by an average of 25.3% on 1 July 2026. Holiday-home estates carry an obligation to pay a management fee, but the amount is not published, so always check before buying. The heating season is long, and propane and kerosene are assumed.

Q: Will the house I buy sell when I want to sell it?

The city average land price is ¥14,466 per square metre, down 0.25%, close to flat, but the only district rising is Oizumi-cho (+0.74%). Nagasaka is down 0.50%, Takane 0.99% and Akeno 1.01% — the districts move in different directions, and the exit depends on where you buy.

Q: Is Hokuto's population falling?

44,658 (June 2026), down 8.5% between the 2005 and 2020 censuses, with an ageing rate of 40.0%. At the same time, in the 2026 "best countryside to live in" ranking by Inaka Gurashi no Hon it came third overall among cities of 30,000 to 50,000 people.

The north-western corner of Yamanashi Prefecture. On the plateau between Yatsugatake and Mt. Kaikomagatake lie eight towns, among them Kiyosato, Kobuchisawa and Oizumi. Two of its waters are on the Ministry of the Environment's list of Japan's 100 finest, and it calls itself a city of water. This page works through, in order, the houses actually on sale, how safe the land is, and what it costs once you live here.

To Shinjuku Station

approx. 2 hr

Azusa limited express, no transfer

One way

¥4,770

Reserved seat, ordinary season

Akiya bank

22 listings

21 for sale, 1 to rent

Summer (August daily high)

28.7℃

Oizumi; 2.6°C lower than Tokyo

Winter (January daily low)

-5.0℃

Oizumi; 6.2°C lower than Tokyo

🚗 Roadside stations3 ⛰ National and quasi-national parks3 ♨ Hot springs and day baths12 🐕 Dog runs 🚐 RV parks5

Roadside stations: Kobuchisawa, Hakushu, Minami-Kiyosato / National and quasi-national parks: Minami Alps National Park, Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park, Yatsugatake-Chushin Kogen Quasi-National Park / Hot springs and day baths: Aqua Resort Kiyosato, Kaikomagatake Ojiro-no-yu, Hakushu Shiozawa Onsen, Kenko Land Sudama, Mukawa-no-yu, Takane-no-yu, Izumi Onsen Kenko Center, Kai-Oizumi Onsen Panorama-no-yu, Masutomi Toshi Noson Koryu Center Kosen Mizugaki Land, Masutomi-no-yu, Enmei-no-yu / Dog run: dog run / RV parks: RV Park Michi-no-Eki Minami-Kiyosato, RV Park Michi-no-Eki Hakushu, RV Park HAKUSHU BASE by bigland, RV Park Yatsugatake Hotel Fuka, RV Park Flex Field
Sources: roadside stations from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism list of roadside stations (checked 2026-08-21) / national and quasi-national parks judged from Ministry of the Environment boundary data and others (details of the sources are in §17) (checked 2026-08-21) / hot springs and day baths from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) (checked 2026-08-20) / dog runs from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) (checked 2026-08-20) / RV parks from the Japan RV Association list of certified RV parks (checked 2026-08-20). 🔴 Only what is present is shown — it does not mean a town without them is worse.

Last verified 2026-08-11

CHAPTER 01First, what kind of place Hokuto is

The city was formed in 2004 by the merger of eight towns and villages. "The southern foot of Yatsugatake" and "Hokuto City" are not the same thing.

Hokuto City (Yamanashi Prefecture)The subject of this page. Eight districts: Kobuchisawa, Oizumi, Takane (Kiyosato), Nagasaka, Hakushu, Mukawa, Sudama and Akeno. Forest covers 76% of the city, and its area is 13.5% of the prefecture.

The "Yatsugatake area" crosses a prefectural borderThe western foot of Yatsugatake (Hara Village, Fujimi Town and Chino City) is in Nagano Prefecture, and so is Nobeyama (Minamimaki Village). When you look up property listings or support schemes, always check which prefecture and which municipality they belong to.

Where Hokuto is

163.4 km from Shinjuku Station, about 2 hours on the Azusa limited express, with no change. The limited express stops only at Kobuchisawa; local trains at Nagasaka and Hinoharu run roughly once an hour through the day.

Map of Hokuto City

You can zoom and pan. The marker is Hokuto City Hall (Sudama). Yatsugatake lies to the north and Mt. Kaikomagatake to the south-west, and the city spreads across a slope falling away to the south-east.
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors

The eight districts, and where the stations are

★ Kobuchisawa Station = the Azusa limited express stops here; the interchange between the Chuo Main Line and the Koumi Line Station JR Chuo Main Line JR Koumi Line (dashed) ● = district / ■ (orange) = city hall

Two lines run through the city and meet at Kobuchisawa Station. The JR Chuo Main Line (Anayama, Hinoharu, Nagasaka, Kobuchisawa) runs north to south, and the JR Koumi Line (Kobuchisawa, Kai-Koizumi, Kai-Oizumi, Kiyosato, Nobeyama) climbs eastward along the southern foot of Yatsugatake. The Azusa limited express stops at Kobuchisawa Station. The Koumi Line climbs as it goes, and Nobeyama Station in neighbouring Minamimaki Village, Nagano Prefecture, is the highest station on JR at 1,345 m. When you look at the higher districts on the southern foot of Yatsugatake, following the elevation along this line is the easiest way to place them.
Positions, directions and scale are based on real coordinates (station coordinates from OpenStreetMap, districts from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan). You can scroll sideways.
Elevation is not shown on this diagram (the representative point of a district can differ from the elevation of an actual property). A guide to each property's elevation is given in the list below.

The eight districts, by population and by the elevations that could be confirmed

District	Population	What it tells you
Takane (Kiyosato)	8,973 people	The largest district in the city. Kiyosato Kogen is at about 1,300 m (from an estate agent's description). Holiday-home estates such as Alps Highland
Nagasaka	8,678 people	Kai-Koizumi Station on the Koumi Line is at 1,044 m, seventh highest of all JR stations. The Kirara City shopping centre stands in front of Nagasaka IC. The municipal Koyo Hospital
Kobuchisawa	5,881 people	The only station where the Azusa limited express stops (station elevation 886.7 m). Holiday-home estates laid out from 1970 are gathered here
Oizumi	5,437 people	An AMeDAS observation point (elevation 867 m). The Himawari Ichiba supermarket. The only district in the city where land prices rose (+0.74%)
Sudama	5,196 people	City hall and the municipal Shiokawa Hospital. Sudama IC on the Chuo Expressway. The eastern gateway to the city
Akeno	4,222 people	Known for "the most sunshine in Japan" (not a Japan Meteorological Agency record, but a widely repeated claim that comes from observations made by a junior high school in the former village of Akeno)
Hakushu	3,468 people	The Ojiro River, one of Japan's 100 finest waters. The Suntory Hakushu Distillery. At the foot of Mt. Kaikomagatake
Mukawa	2,803 people	Farming country along the Kamanashi River. The least populated district in the city

Population = Hokuto City Basic Resident Register (1 June 2026) / elevations = the Japan Meteorological Agency AMeDAS station list and the published figures for each station / checked 2026-08-11

From 500 m to 1,300 m: a difference of 800 metres inside one city. The centre of the city sits around 500 m, while the holiday-home belt is concentrated between 900 and 1,300 m (from an estate agent's description). How cool the summer is, whether things freeze in winter and what the fuel costs are all set by elevation, so when you look at a property, check the elevation before the address.

What should I know first about moving to Hokuto?

🔴 "The southern foot of Yatsugatake" and "Hokuto City" are not the same thing. The western foot of Yatsugatake (Hara Village, Fujimi Town and Chino City) and Nobeyama are in Nagano Prefecture. Hokuto City was formed in 2004 by the merger of eight towns and villages, so when you look up property listings or support schemes, always check the prefecture and the municipality.

CHAPTER 02Eight areas, and life in each

Hokuto City was formed in 2004 by the merger of eight towns and villages. The city runs from about 500 m to over 1,300 m above sea level — a difference of 800 metres inside one city — and that difference is the difference in daily life. Before asking which district is cheapest, ask how many metres up the land is.

Takane (Kiyosato) - the largest district, the highest and the coldestWith 8,973 people, the largest in the city. Kiyosato Kogen is at about 1,300 m, and holiday-home estates such as Alps Highland stand here. Land prices are ¥10,000 per square metre (down 0.99% on the year).
Suits those who put cool summers and the view first
Worth knowing = 1,300 m is colder still than Oizumi at 867 m. The temperatures in §6 are the Oizumi figures, so read Kiyosato as lower than those

Nagasaka - the highest land prices in the city8,678 people. Land prices are ¥19,800 per square metre, the highest in the city (down 0.50%). The Kirara City shopping centre stands in front of Nagasaka IC, along with the municipal Koyo Hospital. Kai-Koizumi Station is at 1,044 m, seventh highest of all JR stations.
Suits those who want shops and a hospital close by
Worth knowing = the convenience shows straight through in the land prices

Kobuchisawa - the only station where the Azusa stops5,881 people. This is the only place in the city where the limited express stops (station elevation 886.7 m). Holiday-home estates laid out from 1970 are gathered here.
Suits those travelling to and from Tokyo, or keeping two bases
Worth knowing = no district average land price is published here. Check individual plots

Oizumi - the only district where land prices are rising5,437 people. There is an AMeDAS observation point here (elevation 867 m), and all the temperatures on this page are the Oizumi figures. The Himawari Ichiba supermarket. Land prices are ¥13,600 per square metre, the only rise in the city (+0.74%).
Suits those who care about a solid exit
Worth knowing = rising also means this is where buying costs the most right now

Sudama - city hall and the hospital, the eastern gateway5,196 people. City hall and the municipal Shiokawa Hospital, and Sudama IC on the Chuo Expressway. Land prices are ¥15,737 per square metre (down 0.87%), second highest in the city.
Suits those who want paperwork and appointments over quickly
Worth knowing = it is the centre of the city, but if it is the Yatsugatake scenery you want, this faces the other way

Akeno - known for its sunshine, the southernmost district4,222 people. It is known for "the most sunshine in Japan", but that is not a Japan Meteorological Agency record; it is a widely repeated claim that comes from observations made by a junior high school in the former village of Akeno. Land prices are ¥10,250 per square metre (down 1.01%).
Suits those who want to grow things
Worth knowing = do not mistake a well-known saying for an official record

Hakushu - the land of fine water and whisky3,468 people. The Ojiro River, one of Japan's 100 finest waters, the Suntory Hakushu Distillery, and the foot of Mt. Kaikomagatake. Land prices are ¥7,893 per square metre, the lowest in the city (down 0.19%).
Suits those who put water and mountains first, or who want to keep the budget down
Worth knowing = the whole of Hakushu-cho and Mukawa-cho lies in the Minami Alps UNESCO Eco Park, and the city has guidelines for businesses that use groundwater (§12)

Mukawa - farming country along the Kamanashi River, the least populated district2,803 people, the smallest in the city. Farming country along the Kamanashi River. Land prices are ¥10,475 per square metre (down 0.49%).
Suits those who want quiet and farmland
Worth knowing = with fewer people, community duties come round more often (§11)

Sources: population from Hokuto City's population by district (as in §1) / land prices from the district averages of the 2026 published land prices and the 2025 prefectural survey prices (as in §9) / station elevations and facilities from figures published by JR East and the operators / checked 2026-08-18

Which part of Hokuto should I live in?

The city runs from about 500 m to over 1,300 m above sea level, a difference of 800 metres inside one city. Before asking which district is cheapest, ask how many metres up the land is. Takane (Kiyosato Kogen), the largest district, is at about 1,300 m — the highest and the coldest part of the city.

CHAPTER 03Trains and cars — how you get around

Limited express	Stops only at Kobuchisawa Station (Azusa, about 2 hours to Shinjuku). If you will use the limited express in daily life, Kobuchisawa is the one place
Local trains	Nagasaka and Hinoharu have roughly one train an hour through the day (10am to 3pm). If they are to carry your commute or the school run, check the timetable first
Expressway	The Chuo Expressway runs through the city, with three junctions: Kobuchisawa IC, Nagasaka IC and Sudama IC. You can come and go from the Tokyo side and the Nagano side alike
Driving	Life is spread across eight districts, so a car is assumed. Winter tyres are essential

Source: Ekitan timetables (Nagasaka and Hinoharu) / checked 2026-08-11

✈ Airports

The nearest is Matsumoto Airport (a prefecturally managed airport), about 56.2 km in a straight line. 🔴 This is a straight-line distance. It is not a road distance or a journey time — please check each operator's timetable for how to travel.

🛣 Expressway junctions

This area has 3 junctions (IC and JCT).
Chuo Expressway Nishinomiya Route = Kobuchisawa, Nagasaka
Chubu-Judan Expressway = Sudama

Sources: airports fromNational Land Numerical Information, "Airports", FY2021 edition (category names followthe MLIT list of airports ) / expressway junctions fromthe same, "Expressways time series", 2025 edition, current data only (what is open today). Both were overlaid onthe same, "Administrative boundaries", 2026and judged by machine to fall inside this area / verified 2026-08-21

How long does it take from Hokuto to Tokyo?

163.4 km from Shinjuku Station, about 2 hours on the Azusa limited express with no change. But the limited express stops only at Kobuchisawa Station, and local trains at Nagasaka and Hinoharu run roughly once an hour through the day. Life is spread across eight districts, so a car is assumed and winter tyres are essential.

CHAPTER 04Homes actually on the market right now

There is both a city vacant-house bank and a private market (as of 2026-08-11).

The city vacant-house bank - all 22

Every property registered with the city. Listed cheapest first. The photograph shows the exterior of each. Tap to open the city's page for that property (all photographs, layout and condition).

Sort

"Nearest the station first" converts everything to minutes — a walk of ◯ min, ◯ min by bus plus ◯ min from the stop, ◯ km by car (reckoned at 30 km/h) — and compares those. Listings with no such information always appear last, whatever the sort.

Exterior of Sudama-cho, for sale no. 220

Sudama-cho, for sale no. 220¥3,800,000Elevation around here about 1,430 m / land 583 m² (176 tsubo) / building 196 m² on one floor (59 tsubo) / build year unknownSee 12 photographs →

Akeno-cho, for sale no. 186¥5,000,000Elevation around here about 580 m / land 604 m² (183 tsubo) / building 113 m² over two floors (34 tsubo) / around the Taisho eraSee 10 photographs →

Exterior of Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 249

Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 249¥5,600,000Elevation around here about 1,230 m / land 561 m² (169 tsubo) / building 66 m² (20 tsubo) / built 1987 (Showa 62), 40 years oldSee 11 photographs →

Exterior of Sudama-cho, for sale no. 232

Sudama-cho, for sale no. 232¥6,800,000Elevation around here about 580 m / land 904 m² (274 tsubo) / building 103 m² on one floor (31 tsubo) / built 1984 (Showa 59)See 11 photographs →

Exterior of Sudama-cho, for sale no. 230

Sudama-cho, for sale no. 230¥7,000,000Sediment disaster: yellow zoneElevation around here about 1,350 m / land 667 m² (202 tsubo) / building 129 m² over two floors (39 tsubo) / built 1971 (Showa 46)See 10 photographs →

Exterior of Hakushu-cho, for sale no. 180

Hakushu-cho, for sale no. 180¥7,600,000Elevation around here about 1,270 m / land 185 m² (56 tsubo) / building 54 m² on one floor (16 tsubo) / built 1992 (Heisei 4)See 10 photographs →

Exterior of Mukawa-cho, for sale no. 235

Mukawa-cho, for sale no. 235¥8,000,000Sediment disaster: red zoneElevation around here about 620 m / land 522 m² (158 tsubo) / building 179 m² over two floors (54 tsubo) / built 1951 (Showa 26)See 9 photographs →

Exterior of Mukawa-cho, for sale no. 224

Mukawa-cho, for sale no. 224¥9,800,000Elevation around here about 530 m / land 900 m² (273 tsubo) / building 236 m² over two floors (71 tsubo) / built 1977 (Showa 52)See 8 photographs →

Exterior of Takane-cho, for sale no. 156

Takane-cho, for sale no. 156¥10,000,000Elevation around here about 720 m / land 329 m² / building 42 m² on the ground floor (13 tsubo) and 43 m² on the first floor (13 tsubo) / built 2000 (Heisei 12)See 12 photographs →

Exterior of Takane-cho, for sale no. 190

Takane-cho, for sale no. 190¥11,500,000Under offerElevation around here about 720 m / land 2,421 m² (732 tsubo) / building 160 m² on one floor (48 tsubo) / around the end of the Edo periodSee 12 photographs →

Akeno-cho, for sale no. 242¥12,500,000Elevation around here about 580 m / land 805 m² (243 tsubo) / building 108 m² (33 tsubo) / built 1981 (Showa 56) (45 years old)See 12 photographs →

Exterior of Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 233

Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 233¥12,500,000Elevation around here about 1,280 m / land 495 m² (149 tsubo) / building 55 m² on one floor plus basement (16 tsubo) / built 1990 (Heisei 2)See 9 photographs →

Exterior of Sudama-cho, for sale no. 208

Sudama-cho, for sale no. 208¥15,000,000Sediment disaster: yellow zoneElevation around here about 580 m / land 1,453 m² (439 tsubo) / building 130 m² on one floor (39 tsubo) / build year unknownSee 12 photographs →

Exterior of Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 154

Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 154¥16,000,000Sediment disaster: red zoneElevation around here about 1,280 m / land 477 m² / building 257 m² on the ground floor (77 tsubo) and 148 m² on the first floor (44 tsubo) / built 1993 (Heisei 5)See 12 photographs →

Exterior of Sudama-cho, for sale no. 246

Sudama-cho, for sale no. 246¥18,800,000Elevation around here about 480 m / land 1,278 m² (386 tsubo) / building 176 m² (53 tsubo) / unknown, more than 100 years oldSee 12 photographs →

Exterior of Nagasaka-cho, for sale no. 219

Nagasaka-cho, for sale no. 219¥22,000,000Elevation around here about 630 m / land 1,298 m² (393 tsubo) / building 231 m² over two floors (70 tsubo) / about 100 years oldSee 10 photographs →

Exterior of Mukawa-cho, for sale no. 244

Mukawa-cho, for sale no. 244¥22,800,000Under offerElevation around here about 710 m / land 784 m² (237 tsubo) / building 90 m² (27 tsubo) / built 1997 (Heisei 9)See 9 photographs →

Exterior of Kobuchisawa-cho, for sale no. 237

Kobuchisawa-cho, for sale no. 237¥24,000,000Under offerElevation around here about 1,170 m / land 1,774 m² (537 tsubo) / building 213 m² on one floor (64 tsubo) / built 1991 (Heisei 3)See 12 photographs →

Exterior of Hakushu-cho, for sale no. 247

Hakushu-cho, for sale no. 247¥25,700,000Sediment disaster: yellow zoneUnder offerElevation around here about 1,280 m / land 361 m² (109 tsubo) / building 93 m² (28 tsubo) / build year unknownSee 11 photographs →

Exterior of Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 248

Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 248¥35,000,000Elevation around here about 1,280 m / land 1,175 m² (355 tsubo) / building 325 m² (98 tsubo) / built 1986 (Showa 61), more than 40 years oldSee 12 photographs →

Exterior of Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 188

Oizumi-cho, for sale no. 188¥36,000,000Elevation around here about 1,280 m / land 1,103 m² (333 tsubo) / building 206 m² over two floors plus basement (62 tsubo) / built 2009 (Heisei 21)See 12 photographs →

Takane-cho, to rent no. 152¥75,000 a monthElevation around here about 1,310 m / land 451 m² (136 tsubo) / building 70 m² (21 tsubo) / built 1988 (Showa 63)See 9 photographs →

Hokuto City vacant-house bank (official) → Breakdown: 21 for sale (4 of them under offer) plus 1 to rent. Prices, areas and build years are as given on each property page. Source: Hokuto City official vacant-house bank / checked 2026-08-12. Elevations arethe representative point of the town or oazameasured through the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan elevation API as a guide, not the elevation of the property itself. Elevation varies widely even within one town in Hokuto City, so for exact figures please useGSI Maps.

This is a market where the property sheet says plainly if the land is in a sediment-disaster warning area. The Hokuto City vacant-house bank states the risk on the property page. Which also means you have to check for yourself on private listings, where it is not written. How to check is in the next section.

The private market - the 36 houses now for sale in Hokuto City

A separate market from the city's vacant-house bank. Listed cheapest first. Tap to open the listing with photographs.

Sort

Oizumi-cho Nishiide¥1,200,000The southern foot of YatsugatakeElev. approx. 1260 m / Land 138 m² (42 tsubo) / Building 40 m² (12 tsubo) / built 1984 / Kai-Oizumi Sta. 15 min walk9 photos →

Takane-cho Higashiide¥3,500,000The southern foot of YatsugatakeElev. approx. 940 m / Land 239 m² (72 tsubo) / Building 48 m² (15 tsubo) / built 2005 / Kiyosato Sta. 36 min walk3 photos →

Oizumi-cho Yato¥3,800,000The southern foot of YatsugatakeElev. approx. 1140 m / Land 213 m² (64 tsubo) / Building 32 m² (10 tsubo) / built 1975 / Kai-Koizumi Sta. 21 min walk9 photos →

Oizumi-cho Yato¥5,000,000The southern foot of YatsugatakeElev. approx. 1140 m / Land 222 m² (67 tsubo) / Building 71 m² (21 tsubo) / built 1997 / Kai-Koizumi Sta. 28 min walk10 photos →

Hakushu-cho Yokote¥7,800,000The westElev. approx. 670 m / Land 2222 m² (672 tsubo) / Building 41 m² (12 tsubo) / built 19746 photos →

Oizumi-cho Nishiide¥8,800,000The southern foot of YatsugatakeElev. approx. 1250 m / Land 165 m² (50 tsubo) / Building 68 m² (21 tsubo) / built 1994 / Kai-Oizumi Sta. 20 min walk9 photos →

Oizumi-cho Nishiide¥9,000,000The southern foot of YatsugatakeElev. approx. 1260 m / Land 265 m² (80 tsubo) / Building 57 m² (17 tsubo) / built 1977 / Kai-Oizumi Sta., 1.5km10 photos →

Takane-cho Nagasawa¥9,400,000The southern foot of YatsugatakeElev. approx. 860 m / Land 1584 m² (479 tsubo) / Building 114 m² (34 tsubo) / built 1970 / Kai-Oizumi Sta. 57 min walk10 photos →

Nagasaka-cho Nagasakakamijo property photo

Nagasaka-cho Nagasakakamijo¥11,500,000The centre (around the stations)Elev. approx. 670 m / Land 951 m² (288 tsubo) / Building 89 m² (27 tsubo) / built 1945 / Nagasaka Sta. 27 min walk1 photos →

Oizumi-cho Yato¥12,500,000The southern foot of YatsugatakeElev. approx. 1140 m / Land 535 m² (162 tsubo) / Building 84 m² (25 tsubo) / built 1988 / Kai-Koizumi Sta. 24 min walk9 photos →

Akeno-cho Ogasahara (on a major prefectural road) property photo

Akeno-cho Ogasahara (on a major prefectural road)¥12,800,000The eastElev. approx. 440 m / Land 488 m² (148 tsubo) / Building 128 m² (39 tsubo) / built 1992 / Shimpu Sta., 3.0km10 photos →

Hakushu-cho Shirasu¥12,800,000The westElev. approx. 610 m / Land 965 m² (292 tsubo) / Building 86 m² (26 tsubo) / built 1971 / Nagasaka Sta. bus 13 min+6 min walk7 photos →

Mukawa-cho Yanagisawa¥15,300,000The westElev. approx. 600 m / Land 451 m² (136 tsubo) / Building 113 m² (34 tsubo) / built 1995 / Hinoharu Sta., 8.0km10 photos →

Mukawa-cho Yanagisawa¥15,300,000The westElev. approx. 640 m / Land 451 m² (136 tsubo) / Building 113 m² (34 tsubo) / built 1995 / Hinoharu Sta., 8.0km10 photos →

The photographs are the images carried on SUUMO. They disappear once a listing ends. Check the real condition of a property on site.

See all 36 on SUUMO → Source: SUUMO second-hand detached houses (Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture). All 36 listings were collected (from ¥1,200,000) / checked 2026-08-12. Elevations are taken by putting the per-property map coordinates on the SUUMO listing pages through the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan elevation API (rounded to 10 m). For exact elevations please useGSI Maps .

This is a market you can enter from ¥1,200,000. At the cheap end the listings are mostly small holiday homes coming back onto the market. Managed estates carry an obligation to pay a management fee, and the amount is not published, so if a property interests you, always check with the management centre.

Look on other sites too

Even for the same city, different sites carry different properties. Look at both.

At Home → All links confirmed 200 / verified 2026-08-12

What the cheap end really is: small holiday homes. Properties in the ¥1,000,000s have buildings of 26 to 43 m² and are mostly old. They come onto the market as owners leave estates laid out from 1970 (the Izumigo group alone has 54 estates and about 3,200 plots). Managed estates carry an obligation to pay a management fee, and the amount is not published, so always check with the management centre before buying.

What is the cheapest house you can buy in Hokuto?

There are 22 properties on the city's official vacant-house bank, and the cheapest is ¥3,800,000 in Sudama-cho (583 m² of land). There is also a private market.

CHAPTER 05Is the ground safe?

The disaster risk in Hokuto is heavy snow, sediment and rivers rather than the volcanoes of the Nasu or Asama type.

Is this town inside a national earthquake-preparedness zone?

For each major earthquake, national law designates the areas where preparation is to be advanced. Whether a town is designated tells you directly how the national government views the shaking and tsunami expected there.

Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area	🔴 Designated
Tokyo Inland Earthquake Emergency Measures Area	Not designated
Japan Trench / Kuril Trench Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area	Not applicable (the whole of Yamanashi Prefecture is outside this scheme)
Shaking of intensity 6-lower or above within 30 years	24.8% (2.8% for upper 6 or stronger) At the Hokuto City Hall site. The surface ground is AVS30 457 m/s, a sand-gravel terrace

🔴 This probability is for the single 250-metre grid square the town hall stands in. The Hokuto City town hall stands onsandy-gravel plateau(AVS30 457 m/s), and the 24.8% above is the value at that point. Even within Hokuto City it changes a great deal between low ground along a river and a terrace. When a listing interests you, look it up by its street address.Enter an address on the J-SHIS map and it shows the probability and the ground for that 250-metre mesh.

Look up an address on J-SHIS → Designations from the Cabinet Office list of designated municipalities (Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area／Tokyo Inland Earthquake Emergency Measures Area／Japan Trench / Kuril Trench Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area ) / probability and surface ground from theNational Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, J-SHIS earthquake hazard information API (2024 edition, average case, all earthquakes), queried at the town hall coordinates / verified 2026-08-13

Volcanoes	Of the Yatsugatake peaks, Mt. Yokodake (North Yatsugatake) is on the Japan Meteorological Agency list of active volcanoes. It is not, however, one of the volcanoes under constant 24-hour observation (Mt. Nasu and Mt. Asama are)
Heavy snow on the record	In the record snowfall of February 2014, Kofu had 114 cm, the deepest ever observed there. In Hokuto City hamlets were cut off, and someone trapped in a car died. Snow may be light in a normal year, but this is a place where record snowfall can happen
River	The Shiokawa River is designated a flood-forecast river and the Kamanashi River a water-level notification river, and the projected flooding is published
Sediment	This is a city at the foot of mountains, so every district has sediment-disaster warning areas. Some vacant-house bank property sheets state "within a warning area" (see §4)

Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency list of active volcanoes / Cabinet Office materials on the response to the February 2014 heavy snow / Hokuto City hazard map / checked 2026-08-11

When a property interests you, open these four

Overlay Hazard MapMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Enter an address and it shows flooding, landslide and liquefaction overlaid on one map. Start here.
Open →
Hokuto City web hazard mapHokuto City

The city's official web version. You can see the projected flood and sediment-disaster areas on a map.
Open →
GSI Maps — flood-control landform classificationGeospatial Information Authority of Japan

It shows whether the land before development was a gully, valley or former river channel. Even where a hazard map is uncoloured, water gathers on land that fills an old channel.
Open the area around Hokuto →
Ask the management company and the seller, in personOn site

On an estate, always ask whether the plot was made by filling in a gully and how the snow clearing went in the heavy years. What is not on a map can only be learned here.

Hazard verdicts flip from one address to the next. Within the same district, a few hundred metres can change the assessment. Always check for the one plot you are considering.

Is the disaster risk high in Hokuto?

It is designated a Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Prevention Countermeasure Promotion Area, and the chance of shaking of lower 6 or stronger in 30 years is 24.8% (2.8% for upper 6 or stronger). But the disaster risk in Hokuto is heavy snow, sediment and rivers rather than volcanoes, and the figure for city hall is the value for a sand-gravel terrace.

CHAPTER 06What summer and winter are like

Tokyo

Elev.25 m

month 8 highest31.3°C

August minimum23.5°C

month 1 highest9.8°C

January minimum1.2°C

Hokuto (Oizumi)

AMeDAS Oizumi, 867 m above sea level

month 8 highest28.7°C

August minimum19.1°C

month 1 highest4.7°C

January minimum−5.0°C

Karuizawa (for comparison)

Karuizawa Sta. Elev.940.5 m

month 8 highest26.3°C

August minimum17.1°C

month 1 highest2.3°C

January minimum−8.2°C

The twelve months of temperature, set out as they are

The left end of each bar is the average daily low for that month and the right end the average daily high (Hokuto (Oizumi), the 30-year average for 1991-2020).

month 1

-5.0〜4.7℃

month 2

-4.6〜6.0℃

month 3

-1.1〜10.1℃

month 4

4.1〜16.0℃

month 5

9.5〜20.8℃

month 6

14.2〜23.5℃

month 7

18.5〜27.3℃

month 8

19.1〜28.7℃

month 9

15.1〜24.2℃

month 10

8.8〜18.5℃

month 11

2.8〜13.1℃

month 12

-2.2〜7.6℃

-7℃6℃19℃32℃

0.0 days / 109.6 days

0.0 tropical nights (Tokyo has 17.8) and 109.6 days below freezing (Tokyo has 15.2).
These are the figures for what summer nights and winter mornings are like compared with Tokyo

Days per year	Hokuto (Oizumi)	Tokyo
Tropical nights minimum 25°C or above	0.0 days	17.8 days
Days above 35°C maximum 35°C or above	0.4 days	4.8 days
Days above 30°C maximum 30°C or above	22.9 days	52.1 days
Frost days minimum below 0°C	109.6 days	15.2 days
Days below freezing all day maximum below 0°C	3.1 days	0.0 days

Source:Japan Meteorological Agency normal values for Oizumi (by month) /the same, day counts by class (view=a2)／the same, Tokyo (all 30-year averages for 1991–2020) / verified 2026-08-14

A plateau that is warmer in summer, shallower in winter and sunnier than Karuizawa or Nasu Kogen. At Oizumi, 867 m up, the August high is 28.7°C — a little over 2°C above Karuizawa, so the days still feel like summer. The nights fall to 19.1°C. The winter low is -5.0°C, 3°C shallower than Karuizawa's -8.2°C. And the year brings 2,249 hours of sunshine, which is the kind of place that gave rise to the saying about Akeno having the most sunshine in Japan. The holiday-home belt sits between 900 and 1,300 m, though, so it is colder there than the Oizumi readings.

There is no normal value for snow depth anywhere in the city. The Oizumi AMeDAS station does not observe snow. People say snow is light here, but in February 2014 record snowfall cut hamlets off (§5). The surest way to learn what snow is really like is to ask the management company for the estate you are considering what happened in 2014.

Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency normal values (1991-2020) for Oizumi, Tokyo and Karuizawa / checked 2026-08-11

How a winter morning changes with the elevation band

Hokuto City runs from about 500 m up to peaks of 2,000 m. The city's own landscape plan says "the difference in elevation is as much as 1,500 to 2,500 m". Even within "Oizumi-cho", Yato with the AMeDAS station is at 867 m while Kai-Oizumi Station is at 1,158 m — a difference of about 290 m. Read the elevation, not the town name.

Elevation band	Winter temperatures	Roads, and what your car needs
270-350 m For reference: Kofu 273 m, Nirasaki 341 m. They are outside the city, but they are where you go down to shop and see a doctor	The January daily low is -2.1°C in Kofu and -3.2°C in Nirasaki. Mornings below freezing number 59 days in Kofu and 78 in Nirasaki, and there are no days that stay below 0°C all day	Kofu has 23 cm of snowfall in a year and a maximum depth of 15 cm. In an ordinary winter this belt has almost nothing to worry about from snow
500-900 m Sudama, Akeno, Mukawa, Hakushu, Nagasaka and Kobuchisawa. The Oizumi AMeDAS station is at Yato, 867 m	January daily low -5.0°C (Oizumi, 867 m). From December to March, mornings are below freezing in a normal year. There are 101 mornings below freezing a year, and 1.6 days a year that stay below 0°C all day	🔴 The 8.7 km of the Chuo Expressway between Sudama IC and Nagasaka IC is one of the 13 sections in Japan where the government can require chains. When the restriction is in force, even studless tyres will not get you through without chains. On city roads, the designated routes are cleared once snow reaches 10 cm
1,000-1,300 m Kai-Koizumi 1,044 m, Kai-Oizumi 1,158 m, Kiyosato 1,274 m. Most of the holiday-home estates are in this belt	At Nobeyama (1,350 m), the same elevation just across the border, the January daily high is 0.1°C, mornings below freezing number 159 days a year, and 27 days a year stay below 0°C all day. The holiday-home belt of Hokuto City is nearer to this than to the Oizumi readings	Prefectural Route 618 (Kannondaira-Shimokubo) and Prefectural Route 620 (Tennyosan Park) are closed for the winter (in the 2025 season from 3pm on 28 November to 3pm on 24 April). The Yatsugatake Kogen Line (Prefectural Route 11) is not closed and is the prefecture's top priority for snow clearing

"Little snow" and "no ice" are two different things. Yamanashi Prefecture spreads anti-freezing agent when the forecast low is around 3°C. It watches mountain curves, the shaded mouths of tunnels and bridge decks before the temperature even reaches freezing. The Yamanashi Prefectural Police likewise say: "Even where there is no snow, meltwater and frost can freeze on bridges and in shaded places and make them slippery, so fit studless tyres or take other anti-skid measures early."

In a heavy year the order of magnitude changes. Kofu's normal maximum snow depth is 15 cm, but on 15 February 2014 it reached 114 cm (the deepest ever observed; the second deepest is 49 cm). Karuizawa recorded 99 cm the same day. Do not judge by the normal values alone.

In the house itself, the thing to prepare is the water pipes. Hokuto City warns that "frozen water pipes are a worry in winter" and advises lagging the exposed parts of taps (if they do freeze, use lukewarm water; boiling water bursts the pipe). Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency normal values (1991-2020) and yearly values for Oizumi, Nirasaki, Kofu and Nobeyama (days below freezing and days that stay below 0°C are 10-year averages of the observed values for 2016-2025) / the records from Japan Meteorological Agency, the 1st to 10th highest values ever observed at Kofu / Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, sections where chains may be required / Yamanashi Prefecture, winter road closures (PDF) / the same, snow clearing plan (PDF) (top-priority routes and the criteria for spreading anti-freezing agent) / Hokuto City, about snow clearing / the same, frozen water pipes / Yamanashi Prefectural Police, driving in snow / station elevations from the Kiyosato Tourism Association / checked 2026-08-13

How cold are the winters in Hokuto?

At Oizumi (867 m), the January daily low is -5.0°C and the daily high 4.7°C, and August is 28.7°C and 19.1°C. It is not as cold as Karuizawa (940.5 m, January low -8.2°C), but read Kiyosato (about 1,300 m) as colder still than this.

CHAPTER 07Shops, hospitals, schools

Shopping

Supermarkets	Himawari Ichiba (Yato, Oizumi-cho, 9:30-19:30) / Ogino Nagasaka (in the Kirara City shopping centre in front of Nagasaka IC, 9:30-20:00)
Home centres	J-Mart Nagasaka (Kirara City) / Komeri Hard & Green Sudama and Mukawa

Sources: the official store pages of Himawari Ichiba and Ogino / home centres from their store search / checked 2026-08-11

Hospitals — where you are taken if you collapse in the night

Across the city	Two municipal hospitals: Hokuto Municipal Shiokawa Hospital (Sudama) and Hokuto Municipal Koyo Hospital (Nagasaka)
Secondary emergency care	Shiokawa and Koyo take turns with Nirasaki Municipal Hospital, three hospitals in rotation. Which one is on duty changes with the day of the week
Tertiary emergency care (serious cases)	Yamanashi Prefectural Central Hospital (Kofu City) — the only advanced critical care centre in the prefecture. Kofu is about 29 km from Kobuchisawa by JR route distance
Distance	Serious cases are taken outside the city, to Kofu. Drive it yourself from the place you are considering and time it

Sources: Hokuto City (municipal hospitals and emergency cover) / Nirasaki City / Yamanashi Prefectural Central Hospital / checked 2026-08-11

Schools - there is even a public combined junior and senior high school in the city

Primary and lower-secondary	9 primary schools and 9 lower secondary schools (spread across the eight districts)
Upper secondary	Prefectural Hokuto High School (a general course with a science and mathematics stream, plus an integrated course) is in the city
Combined junior and senior high	Municipal Koryo Junior and Senior High School — the first public combined junior and senior high school in Yamanashi Prefecture, designated a Super Science High School. A municipally run senior high school is unusual anywhere in Japan
Private	Teikyo Daisan High School (Kobuchisawa) and others

Sources: Hokuto City (school list) / the official sites of Hokuto High School and Koryo High School / checked 2026-08-11

Are there hospitals in Hokuto?

There are two municipal hospitals in the city (Shiokawa and Koyo), and secondary emergency care is covered by those two together with Nirasaki Municipal Hospital, three hospitals in rotation, with the duty hospital changing by day of the week. Serious cases go to Yamanashi Prefectural Central Hospital in Kofu City — the only advanced critical care centre in the prefecture.

CHAPTER 08What it costs you every year after you buy

Water	An average rise of 25.3% took effect on 1 July 2026. It was made to end a loss-making structure in which water cost ¥200 per cubic metre to supply but was sold at ¥152, and the tariff table is published on the city's official site
Holiday-home estate management fees	On the Izumigo estates the "Yatsugatake Management Centre" looks after the roads, street lights, snow clearing and rubbish collection, and there is an obligation to pay a management fee. The amount is not published, so always check before you buy
Heating	The January mean temperature is -0.2°C at Oizumi (867 m), and the holiday-home belt above 900 m is colder still. The heating season is long, and propane and kerosene are assumed
by car	A city where a car is assumed and two cars are realistic. Winter tyres are essential

Sources: Hokuto City official site (water tariff revision) / C'est la vie Resort Izumigo / checked 2026-08-11

There is money coming the other way too - a relocation grant of up to ¥1,000,000 plus an addition for children. Someone living in or commuting to the 23 wards of Tokyo who moves to Hokuto City and either takes work in the prefecture, teleworks or starts a business receives ¥1,000,000 for a household of two or more, ¥600,000 for a single person, plus ¥1,000,000 for each child under 18. You must apply within a year of moving and intend to live here for at least five years. Source: Hokuto City official site (relocation grant) / checked 2026-08-11

What does it cost each year to live in Hokuto?

Water charges rose by an average of 25.3% on 1 July 2026. Holiday-home estates carry an obligation to pay a management fee, but the amount is not published, so always check before buying. The heating season is long, and propane and kerosene are assumed.

CHAPTER 09What happens when you want to sell

The city average is close to flat. But the districts are moving in different directions.

District	Average land price (yen per square metre)	Year on year
Nagasaka-cho	19,800	−0.50%
Sudama-cho	15,737	−0.87%
Oizumi-cho	13,600	+0.74% (the only rise in the city)
Mukawa-cho	10,475	−0.49%
Akeno-cho	10,250	−1.01%
Takane-cho	10,000	−0.99%
Hakushu-cho	7,893	−0.19%
City average	14,466	−0.25%

The 2026 published land prices plus the 2025 prefectural survey prices. No district average is published for Kobuchisawa-cho. Source: Tochidai Data (a compilation of the national published land prices and land price survey) / checked 2026-08-11

This is a city where the exit depends on where you buy. The city average is -0.25%, close to flat, but the only district rising is Oizumi. And the fact that the private market carries properties in the ¥1,000,000s means the way in is low for a buyer and slow for a seller. Think of it as a quiet market, between Karuizawa (+12.5%) and Nasu (transaction prices down 15.9%).

Will the house I buy sell when I want to sell it?

The city average land price is ¥14,466 per square metre, down 0.25%, close to flat, but the only district rising is Oizumi-cho (+0.74%). Nagasaka is down 0.50%, Takane 0.99% and Akeno 1.01% — the districts move in different directions, and the exit depends on where you buy.

CHAPTER 10Who lives here, and how many

Population (Hokuto City)

44,658 people

2026-06

Households

22,513 households

1 households 2.0 people

Change over 15 years

−8.5%

Census, 2005 to 2020

Ageing rate

40.0%

2020 census

An ageing rate of 40.0% sits between Karuizawa (33.3%) and Nasu Town (projected to pass 50%). The population continues its gentle decline, and the city is working to attract people with a relocation grant of up to ¥1,000,000 plus an addition for children. In the 2026 edition of the "best countryside to live in" ranking by Inaka Gurashi no Hon (Takarajimasha), it came third overall among cities of 30,000 to 50,000 people. Sources: Hokuto City Basic Resident Register and the census / Takarajimasha official release / checked 2026-08-11

The information on this site is gathered by an AI that visits primary sources — municipalities, the Japan Meteorological Agency, national statistics — on a regular cycle, and it is updated with a source and a date of verification attached.

Share of foreign residents

2.12%national average 3.26%

Of the 44,973 people living in Hokuto City, 952 are foreign residents. That is below the national average of 3.26%.
Nationally, foreign residents are 3.26% of the population (4,031,159 of 123,767,642). There are 34 municipalities in Japan where the share passes one in ten.

Source: calculated by this site from the municipality-level tables of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "Population, population change and households based on the Basic Resident Register" (as of 1 January Reiwa 8, published 2026-07-29). The ministry's publication page / verified 2026-08-17

Is Hokuto's population falling?

44,658 (June 2026), down 8.5% between the 2005 and 2020 censuses, with an ageing rate of 40.0%. At the same time, in the 2026 "best countryside to live in" ranking by Inaka Gurashi no Hon it came third overall among cities of 30,000 to 50,000 people.

CHAPTER 11Community life and the year's events

What marks community life in Hokuto is that which community you join depends on the land. On a holiday-home estate it is the management company; in a hamlet it is the ku, the neighbourhood association. Within the same city, what is asked of you is completely different.

Where you live	Who you deal with, and what it costs
Holiday-home estates	On the Izumigo estates the "Yatsugatake Management Centre" looks after the roads, street lights, snow clearing and rubbish collection, and there is an obligation to pay a management fee. The amount is not published, so always check before you buy (§8)
Hamlets (ku)	Here it is the ku. In practice that means rubbish, road repair, looking after the watercourses and taking your turn at the festival. The dues and the duties differ from district to district, so the only way to find out is to ask the seller or the head of the ku when you view
How often your turn comes round	The city's ageing rate is 40.0% and the population is down 8.5% in 15 years (§10). In smaller districts such as Mukawa with 2,803 people and Hakushu with 3,468, being block leader or taking your turn at the festival comes round sooner

Hokuto is a city with many incomers. That is exactly why there are ways in. The city runs a migration and settlement site, takes bookings for relocation consultations on weekdays and at weekends, holds consultation sessions in Tokyo, and runs the "Hokuto exchange meeting", where residents and people considering a move walk the foot of Yatsugatake together. There are also regional revitalisation corps members. Rather than joining a ku straight away, meeting people at these first is the surest short cut (§14).

What comes round every year

Before the festivals, Hokuto has an annual calendar set by the climate. There are 109.6 days below freezing a year — on three days in ten, the morning is below zero (§6). November means winter tyres and protecting the water pipes, and December to March means clearing snow, and those are themselves the dealings you have with your district or your management company. On a managed estate it is covered by the fee; in a hamlet it is shared work — and that difference is the difference in how close community life is.

Sources: who manages what from C'est la vie Resort Izumigo (as in §8) / population and ageing rate from Hokuto City and the 2020 census (as in §10) / the consultation desk and the exchange meeting fromHokuto City migration and settlement information/ the number of days at each temperature from the Japan Meteorological Agency normal values for Oizumi (as in §6) / checked 2026-08-18

Is community life demanding in Hokuto?

Which community you join depends on the land. On a holiday-home estate it is the management company (on the Izumigo estates the Yatsugatake Management Centre looks after the roads, street lights, snow clearing and rubbish collection); in a hamlet it is the ku, and in practice that means rubbish, road repair, looking after the watercourses and taking your turn at the festival.

CHAPTER 12Things nearby that move land prices

Land in Hokuto carries three rules and conditions that most cities do not have. All three are the kind you regret not knowing before you buy, and they show through in the prices.

1. Solar power - the city is holding it back by ordinance and guideline

Hokuto City has an "Ordinance on harmony between solar power installations and the natural environment" and a guideline of the same name. Operators are placed under a duty to choose an appropriate site, to plan in harmony with the local environment and to explain themselves to residents, and the city carries out investigation and guidance where it judges this necessary. Installation requires meeting the city's permission criteria, and a notification under the landscape ordinance as well. In other words, this is a city that has put rules in the way of panels suddenly appearing next door — and where you are buying a view, that works to protect the price.

2. Groundwater - the whole of Hakushu and Mukawa is a UNESCO Eco Park

The city has an "Ordinance on the proper extraction of groundwater in Hokuto City", requiring anyone sinking a well to extract groundwater properly and to protect the source. Following the registration of the whole of Hakushu-cho and Mukawa-cho as part of the Minami Alps UNESCO Eco Park on 12 June 2014, the city also drew up "Guidelines on sinking wells for groundwater extraction", effective 1 April 2018. Anyone starting a new business in Hakushu-cho or Mukawa-cho that uses groundwater in production must follow these guidelines as well as the ordinance. Being a land of famous water is itself a constraint on how the land may be used — that is the character of Hakushu and Mukawa.

3. Elevation - 800 metres of difference splits both the prices and the way you live

What to look at	Hokuto City in practice
Difference in elevation	The city runs from about 500 m to over 1,300 m. Kiyosato Kogen is at about 1,300 m, Kai-Koizumi Station at 1,044 m (seventh highest of all JR stations), Kobuchisawa Station at 886.7 m and the Oizumi AMeDAS station at 867 m
How it relates to price	The highest land prices are in Nagasaka, ¥19,800 per square metre, and the lowest in Hakushu, ¥7,893 — 2.5 times apart. But the only district rising is Oizumi (+0.74%, §9)
How it relates to daily life	109.6 days below freezing a year, and 0.0 tropical nights (Oizumi, 867 m, §6). The higher you go, the wider that gap becomes. The length of the heating season is money out every year (§8)
Water	An average rise of 25.3% from 1 July 2026. It was made to end a loss-making structure in which water cost ¥200 per cubic metre to supply but was sold at ¥152 — the cost of piping water across a large area, brought into the open (§8)

Choosing land in Hokuto means choosing an elevation. For the same budget, Hakushu buys 2.5 times the space of Nagasaka. But the higher you go, the more heating, snow clearing and water come back at you every year. Always compare "what it costs to buy" and "what it costs each year" on the same sheet (§8).

Source:Hokuto City "Guideline on harmony between solar power installations and the natural environment"／the same city's "Well drilling and groundwater extraction"(Ordinance on the proper extraction of groundwater in Hokuto City / Guidelines on sinking wells for groundwater extraction, 1 April 2018) / land prices as in §9, temperatures as in §6, water as in §8 / checked 2026-08-18

Are there rules in Hokuto I should know about before buying?

Hokuto City has an "Ordinance on harmony between solar power installations and the natural environment" and a guideline, and installation requires meeting the city's permission criteria and filing a notification under the landscape ordinance. The city has put rules in the way of panels suddenly appearing next door — where you are buying a view, that works to protect the price.

CHAPTER 13What this place makes

What a place earns its living from shows up both at your dinner table and in your work once you live there. The amount raised through the hometown tax scheme is a rough measure of how many products a place has that people all over Japan choose.

¥2,308,180,000

Hometown tax donations received in the 2025 financial year (76,413 donations).
117th of the 1,788 municipalities in Japan, and 7th within Yamanashi Prefecture

We have not yet been able to describe this place's local specialities

I (the AI) searched the official Hokuto City website and the tourism and produce association sites the municipality points to, but could not find an officially published list of local specialities (checked 20 August 2026).
This site is built by checking sources one by one, so that the AI does not introduce anything that is not true. As no sourced information could be found, nothing is listed yet. This does not mean there are no local specialities; please bear with us.

🔴 To municipalities and local organisations
If you would like this filled in,please tell us the official page . We will put it here with a source and the date it was checked.

For municipalities and local organisations (get in touch here) →

You can support a town without living there

Even if a move is still some way off, you can be involved from today through the hometown tax scheme. Your donation goes straight to the municipality, and you choose what it is spent on. A way to give something back to a place you got to know here.

Support Hokuto City through hometown tax donation →

Source:Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "Survey on the state of the hometown tax scheme (conducted FY Reiwa 8)", the table of amounts and numbers received (provisional FY Reiwa 7 settlement), tallied by this site. The rank is out of all 1,788 municipalities in that table / verified 2026-08-14

What does Hokuto earn its living from?

Hometown tax donations received in the 2025 financial year came to ¥2,308,180,000 (76,413 donations), 117th of the 1,788 municipalities in Japan and 7th within Yamanashi Prefecture.

CHAPTER 14A message from Hokuto City

How the people receiving you think about it. Hokuto City has a dedicated migration and settlement site, "Hokuto City, a town that puts you at ease", and its desk is called "Iijan, Hokuto City. [Migration and settlement consultation desk]".

What is on offer	Detail
Booking a relocation consultation	Bookings are taken on weekdays and at weekends alike. Being able to talk at a weekend is practical for anyone weighing this up while working
Consultation sessions in Tokyo	The city holds consultation sessions in Tokyo. You can meet them before going out there
The Hokuto exchange meeting	The city holds events such as walking the foot of Yatsugatake together with residents. A place to meet people before you meet a property
A relocation guidebook	The city has a booklet
Akiya bank	22 on the city's official bank (§4). New listings are published in the site's news section as they come
Migration support grant	Up to ¥1,000,000, plus ¥1,000,000 for each child (§8). It is for people living in or commuting to the 23 wards of Tokyo, and the application must be made within a year of moving
Regional revitalisation corps	The city hosts corps members, and their blogs are published
Satellite offices	The city has a dedicated site for these. It is set up for moving here while keeping your job

The city also publishes interviews with people who have moved here. "The whole town is a viewpoint", "It is interesting that you are allowed to fail", "People here are relaxed about children being outdoors" — the words of people who actually moved, set out as they said them.

Hokuto City migration and settlement information, "Hokuto City, a town that puts you at ease" →

Source:Hokuto City migration and settlement information(the consultation booking, news, useful information and interviews with people who have moved) / the relocation grant and the vacant-house bank have the same sources as §8 and §4 / checked 2026-08-18

Does Hokuto welcome people moving in, and where do you go to ask?

It has a dedicated migration and settlement site, "Hokuto City, a town that puts you at ease", and the desk is called "Iijan, Hokuto City. [Migration and settlement consultation desk]". Consultations are taken on weekdays and at weekends, and the city also holds sessions in Tokyo. The relocation grant is up to ¥1,000,000 plus an addition for children.

CHAPTER 15A year in Hokuto

Temperatures, and what they mean day to day. 109.6 days a year - three days in ten - the morning temperature falls below 0°C, and the year in Hokuto turns on that fact. The temperatures are normal values for Oizumi (867 m), and Kiyosato (about 1,300 m) should be read as colder still.

Month	Hokuto that month	Temperature (minimum to maximum)
month 1	The coldest month of the year. The average daily low is -5.0°C. Frozen pipes and icy roads are part of daily life	−5.0〜4.7℃
month 2	The bottom of the cold holds. Days that stay below 0°C number 3.1 a year — most of them fall now	−4.6〜6.0℃
month 3	Mornings are still below freezing. From late in the month the snow goes on the flat, but above 1,000 m it is still winter	−1.1〜10.1℃
month 4	At last the mornings rise above 0°C. The cherry blossom comes up from the flat, later the higher you go	4.1〜16.0℃
month 5	One of the most comfortable months. Work on the fields begins	9.5〜20.8℃
month 6	The rainy season. Disaster in Hokuto is not volcanoes but heavy snow, sediment and rivers (§5). The month to check the slope and the gully behind a property on a map	14.2〜23.5℃
month 7	People start arriving to escape the heat. Days above 30°C number 22.9 a year (Tokyo has 52.1)	18.5〜27.3℃
month 8	Even in the hottest month the average daily high is 28.7°C. And tropical nights number 0.0 a year — you can sleep without air conditioning	19.1〜28.7℃
month 9	The mornings turn sharply cold. 15.1 to 24.2°C, a month out of step with Tokyo	15.1〜24.2℃
month 10	The autumn colour comes down off Yatsugatake. Mornings are 8.8°C — the month people start putting the heating on	8.8〜18.5℃
month 11	Winter tyres, and protecting the water pipes. Whatever is left undone this month causes trouble in December	2.8〜13.1℃
month 12	The way into winter. The estates go onto their snow-clearing footing. Whether it is covered by the management fee or done yourself changes what it costs you (§8)	−2.2〜7.6℃

Come once in January or February before you move. The great appeal of Hokuto is how cool the summers are (0.0 tropical nights), but what decides daily life is the 109.6 days below freezing. Deciding on a summer visit and then coming unstuck in the first winter is the commonest mistake made here.

Sources: all temperatures fromJapan Meteorological Agency normal values for Oizumi (Hokuto City, 867 m)(the 30-year average for 1991-2020) and the same source's counts of days by threshold / the same sources as §6. These are not the values for higher districts such as Kiyosato or Kobuchisawa / checked 2026-08-18

What is a year in Hokuto like?

109.6 days a year - three days in ten - the morning temperature falls below 0°C. In January the daily low is -5.0°C, frozen pipes and icy roads are part of daily life, and 3.1 days a year stay below 0°C. The snow goes on the flat in late March, but above 1,000 m it is still winter.

CHAPTER 16The people who run this city

When you are thinking about moving, who is running this place now, and where they are trying to take it, is something the person about to live here wants to know more than the person already living here. This chapter sets out only what Hokuto City publishes itself, with sources. 🔴 As of 22 August 2026, following the official site, I (the AI) could find five of the six things below. The mayor of Hokuto City is Kunihiko Oshiba (confirmed on the city's profile page).

What is published	Published	What you can read
About the mayor	The mayor's room	Name, career, greeting
Policy address	The mayor's policy statements	What they say they will do this year
List of council members	List of council members	Who the members are, and their groupings
Council broadcasts and recordings	Could not find one	Whether you can watch the council in session
Searchable minutes	City council minutes	Whether you can search past debates by wording
Master plan	Comprehensive plan	How many years ahead this town has decided

The mayor of Hokuto CityKunihiko Oshiba. The page carrying that name was last updated2024-11-28.Reiwa 6 (2024), month 11is when the career summary says he took office.
🔴 Age and gender have not been guessed from the name.Only what is published is reproduced here, as published.Hokuto City introduction page →

How much of the council can you see?A list of members, live or recorded broadcasts of full sessions, and searchable minutes — where these three are published, you can read a town's debates for yourself before you ever move there.
🔴 The names, photographs and social media of individual council members are not carried on this site. We point you to where you can read them.
Once you have moved, when your own turn to decide comes round is something those three will tell you.

How many years ahead has been decidedIn Hokuto City,Comprehensive plan. A master plan usually sets outwhat the town has decided to do and by whenand ,where it intends to halt its population decline. 🔴 The period and the population target are not copied out on this site — plans get revised, and a misreading changes the meaning.Please check the official text from the link below.Comprehensive plan →

🔴 What I will not do in this chapter1. I will not guess gender or age from a name. Only what is published appears here. 2. I will not write that anything is good or bad. Only what is being put forward, and where it comes from. 3. I will not compare election candidates.
🔴 And mayors change. This site always records the date it checked (2026-08-22), and reopens the original page each time to confirm by machine that the name is still there. If you notice something has nonetheless gone out of date, please let us know.

Source: allofficial site (Hokuto City ), followed on 2026-08-22. What this site counted wasonly whether something is published or not ; the content has not been judged / verified 2026-08-22

Who runs Hokuto City now?

The mayor of Hokuto City is Kunihiko Oshiba (confirmed on the city's profile page on 22 August 2026). What this site looks at is the profile of the mayor, the policy statement, the list of council members, the council broadcasts, the minutes search and the comprehensive plan - six things. 🔴 No judgement is made about whether any of it is good or bad. Only whether it is published or not.

CHAPTER 17Where to go on a day off

What does not show in the numbers of a house search, but goes straight to how satisfied you are after you move, is the day off. This chapter counts, on the same scale as every other area, the places you can go on a day off and the places family and friends can stay in Hokuto (Oizumi). This is a city with the Minami Alps National Park, the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park and others. The area currently has 12 hot springs and day baths, 1 amusement park, zoo or aquarium, and 3 roadside stations. 🔴 All the counts are what is registered in the map data (OpenStreetMap) — in practice there may be more.

What	Number counted, and names
⛰ National and quasi-national parks	Minami Alps National Park, Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park and Yatsugatake-Chushin Kogen Quasi-National Park
♨ Hot springs and day baths	Aqua Resort Kiyosato / Tennyo-no-yu, Kaikomagatake Ojiro-no-yu, Hakushu Shiozawa Onsen / Fossa Magna-no-yu, Kenko Land Sudama / Shingenko Jindate-no-yu, Mukawa-no-yu, Takane-no-yu, Izumi Onsen Kenko Center, Kai-Oizumi Onsen Panorama-no-yu, 12 in all
🏯 Castles and castle sites	Yato Castle
🎡 Amusement parks, zoos and aquariums	Omurasaki Nature Park
🖼 Museums, galleries and memorial halls	the Suntory Whisky Museum, the Philia Museum of Art, the Yatsugatake Taiun Calligraphy Museum, the Hokuto City Kobuchisawa Local Museum, the Hokuto City Nagasaka Local Museum, the Hokuto City Sudama History Museum, the Oizumi Museum of History and Folklore and the Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Museum, 25 in all
⛩ Shrines and temples	25 shrines and 7 temples. Those with a Wikipedia entry are Misogi Shrine, Hishi Shrine, Netsuna Shrine, Miwa Shrine and Suwa Shrine
🚗 Roadside stations	Kobuchisawa, Hakushu and Minami-Kiyosato (3)
🐕 Dog runs	Dog run
🛣 Expressway service and parking areas	Yatsugatake PA (northbound) (🍽 restaurant ☕ cafe 🔌 EV charging) / Yatsugatake PA (southbound) (🍽 restaurant ☕ cafe 🎁 souvenirs and local produce 🔌 EV charging)

Somewhere to stay — for family and friends, and for your own travels

What	Number counted
🏨 Hotels and ryokan	27
🏠 Guesthouses and hostels	12
⛺ Campsites and auto-campsites	Hakushu Kanko Campsite Ojiro, Dainichi Hut, Fujimidaira, Mizugakiyama Nature Park, Ojiro-no-mori Meisui Park "Berga" and Mizugakiyama Mori-no-Noen Campsite, 12 in all
🏕 Glamping	Not found among the campsite or hotel names
🚐 RV parks (overnight in your vehicle)	RV Park Michi-no-Eki Minami-Kiyosato, RV Park Michi-no-Eki Hakushu, RV Park HAKUSHU BASE by bigland, RV Park Yatsugatake Hotel Fuka, RV Park Flex Field

This table is the result of me (an AI) putting the same question to the map data for every area (areas are retrieved in batches, so the verification date on some pages is a day apart). Facilities not registered on the map are not counted. "Not found" does not mean "there are none" — nor that the town is any the lesser for it.

Sources: the counts and names of facilities fromOpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL) / RV parks fromJapan RV Association, list of certified "Kuruma-tabi" RV parks / roadside stations fromMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, list of "michi-no-eki" roadside stations / expressway service and parking areas, and the shops inside them, also from OpenStreetMap (judged by machine on whether they fall within the site outline) / national parks judged from the boundary data of the Ministry of the Environment Biodiversity Center overlaid on National Land Numerical Information (administrative boundaries); for quasi-national parks the municipalities concerned were confirmed at the link behind the park name / verified 2026-08-20

Are there places to go on a day off, and places to stay?

This is a city with the Minami Alps National Park, the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park and others. Counting from the map data (OpenStreetMap) and the lists of the Japan RV Association and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, there are 12 hot springs and day baths, 1 amusement park, zoo or aquarium, 3 roadside stations and 27 hotels and ryokan. Facilities not on the map are not counted, so in practice there may be more (see §17).

What I (an AI) was able to find on this town's official site

This site reads the official websites of every area it covers against the same 30 items, out of 100, measuring how quickly someone thinking of moving can reach the information they need. What was measured is the official website of Hokuto City, and the total was 47 points (measured 20 August 2026).

"Not found" does not mean "there is none." It means I followed the official site and could not find it. Tell us the published page and the next measurement will reflect it.

Area	Score	What was found
Getting started with a move	14 / 20	There is a relocation and settlement page / an advice desk (department, phone number, opening hours) / support schemes give amounts and conditions, and 1 more
Housing	4 / 15	There is an akiya bank
The money side of living here	11 / 15	Water and sewerage charges are readable from a rate table; child-raising support is specific about amounts and scope; there are explanations of national health insurance tax and fixed asset tax
Disaster information	5 / 20	Hazard maps are published by district, in a machine-readable form (a map system or text PDF), and there is more than one way of giving warning
Industry and local produce	5 / 10	Hometown tax results are published year by year; there are support schemes for businesses and industry
Transport	4 / 10	There is a community bus timetable
Can an AI read it?	4 / 10	Each page carries an update date, and open data is published

See all 30 items and the pages used to judge them

3 / 3　There is a relocation and settlement page
Migration and settlement　Go and see → 0 / 3　There is a dedicated relocation site
Only pages within the official site 3 / 3　A contact point (department, telephone, opening hours)
3 of department, telephone and opening hours were stated　Go and see → 5 / 5　Support schemes state amounts and conditions
Both amounts and conditions　Go and see → 3 / 3　There is trial housing or a trial-stay scheme
What people who used the trial house say　Go and see → 0 / 3　Vacancies in trial housing are published
Not found 4 / 4　There is an akiya bank
Akiya bank　Go and see → 0 / 4　Listings carry photographs, price, year built and floor area
There is no property data this site can take in 0 / 4　Completed deals are organised
As above 0 / 3　The conditions of use are stated
Not found 4 / 5　Water and sewerage charges are readable from a rate table
The charges are given as figures in the text　Go and see → 5 / 5　Child-raising support is specific about amounts and scope
The scope of free and subsidised care is stated down to the age　Go and see → 2 / 3　There are explanations of national health insurance tax and fixed asset tax
Either the rate or the amount is stated　Go and see → 0 / 2　Tie-ups with banks for mortgages and the like
Not found 1 / 5　Hazard maps are published by district
There is a page　Go and see → 0 / 5　Flood, landslide and earthquake are all covered
Not found　Go and see → 0 / 3　The year the assumptions were last reviewed is stated
Not found　Go and see → 1 / 4　Is it machine-readable (a map system or a text PDF)?
A page only　Go and see → 3 / 3　Disasters are announced through more than one channel
Disaster email / disaster app / social media / municipal loudspeakers　Go and see → 0 / 5　A list of local speciality products is on the official site
Not found 3 / 3　Hometown tax results are published year by year
7 fiscal years are recorded　Go and see → 2 / 2　There are support schemes for businesses and industry
Commerce and industry　Go and see → 4 / 4　There is a community bus timetable
　Go and see → 0 / 3　Fares are stated
Not found　Go and see → 0 / 3　The date of the last revision is given
Not found　Go and see → 3 / 3　Every page carries an updated date
20 of the 20 pages read　Go and see → 0 / 2　There is a sitemap.xml
Not found 0 / 2　Site search runs on the server side
It was a Google custom search　Go and see → 0 / 2　Statistics are published as Excel or CSV
Not found 1 / 1　Open data is published
　Go and see →

Compare with other towns → 　For municipalities and local organisations (get in touch here) →

Measurement by this site. The URL of each official site was taken from the municipal information published by Furusato Choice. The score is a score for publishing information, not a score for how good the place is to live / verified 2026-08-20

Compare with other areas

Every page has the same 17 chapters in the same order. Move between them and you can compare the same line.

Areas in the Chubu region

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Places you could look at for a similar price

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Compare areas by budget and region →

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