Information as of 2026-08-12
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 Kasama City
About 1 hr 4 min from Ueno Station by limited express. This is the city with the cheapest way in of the 56 municipalities examined here (¥480,000). It makes Kasama ware, it quarries Inada granite, and Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital is inside the city — not many places within an hour of the capital have all of that. Here we go through it in order: from the houses on the market now, to the ground that took shindo 6-upper in 2011, to what it costs every year once you live here.
Roadside stations: Kasama / Hot springs and day bathing: Kasama City Ikoi-no-Ie
Sources: roadside stations from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism list of “michi-no-eki” (verified 2026-08-21) / hot springs and day bathing from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) (verified 2026-08-20). 🔴 Only what is present is listed here — it does not mean that a town without these is any lesser.
Last verified 2026-08-12
CHAPTER 01First, what kind of place Kasama is
The city was formed in 2006 by the merger of the old Kasama City with the towns of Tomobe and Iwama. The name is Kasama, but daily life centres on Tomobe.
Map of Kasama City
You can zoom and pan. The marker is Kasama City Hall, the main office (Chuo 3-chome). The city covers 240.40 km².
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
What should I know first about moving to Kasama?
The city was formed in 2006 by the merger of the old Kasama City with the towns of Tomobe and Iwama, and 🔴 the name is Kasama, but daily life centres on Tomobe. The city covers 240.40 km².
CHAPTER 02Three areas, three ways of living
Kasama City was formed in 2006 by the merger of the old Kasama City with the towns of Tomobe and Iwama. The name is Kasama, but the city’s functions are in Tomobe. Taking all 77 houses on the market, the medians separate clearly by nearest station — ¥7,100,000 at Kasama Station against ¥17,000,000 at Tomobe Station, a factor of 2.4.
The three districts
| District | Population | What is there |
|---|---|---|
| Tomobe | 35,320 people 49.3% | 🔴 The main city hall, Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital, Kasama City Hospital, the Kasumi Tomobe store and the Yamashin Tomobe store. Tomobe Station, where the Joban Line and the Mito Line divide (limited expresses stop), and the Tomobe and Tomobe Smart interchanges. The city’s functions are concentrated here |
| Kasama | 22,380 people 31.3% | Kasama Inari Shrine and the home of Kasama ware. Kasama Prefectural High School (general and fine art courses). Kasama-Nishi interchange on the Kita-Kanto Expressway. Kasama Station is on the Mito Line, and the limited expresses through to Tokyo do not stop there |
| Iwama | 13,901 people 19.4% | Iwama Station on the Joban Line, the Iwama interchange on the Joban Expressway, and the Iwama branch office |
Prices divide like this by nearest station
| Nearest station | Listings | Median price | Price range / rough elevation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomobe Joban Line × Mito Line, Tomobe district | 22 listings | ¥17,000,000 | ¥5,500,000–¥34,500,000 / elevation 29–53 m (median 35 m). The belt where the limited expresses stop and where the main city hall, the prefectural central hospital, Kasumi and Yamashin are. Both the number of houses and the median are the highest in the city |
| Kasama Mito Line, Kasama district | 18 listings | ¥7,100,000 | ¥1,480,000–¥29,800,000 / elevation 39–77 m (median 43 m). The cheapest part of the city. Home of Kasama Inari Shrine and Kasama ware. 🔴 The limited expresses through to Tokyo do not stop here |
| Shishido Joban Line, Tomobe district | 14 listings | ¥13,990,000 | ¥3,800,000–¥19,900,000 / elevation 35–53 m (median 53 m). One stop from Tomobe. The limited expresses do not stop |
| Iwama Joban Line, Iwama district | 14 listings | ¥10,300,000 | ¥3,480,000–¥29,500,000 / elevation 28–42 m (median 41 m). One train on the Joban Line towards Ueno. The Iwama interchange on the Joban Expressway |
| Inada, Fukuhara, Hatori and others | 9 listings | — | Inada 3 (¥1,780,000–¥10,500,000) / Fukuhara 2 (¥2,480,000 and ¥3,900,000) / Hatori 2 (¥13,980,000) / Uchihara 2 (¥480,000 and ¥3,000,000) — the city’s cheapest, ¥480,000, is here |
The 3 districts, and where the stations are
There are 6 stations in the city. The JR Mito Line, running east to west (Fukuhara, Inada, Kasama, Shishido, Tomobe) and the JR Joban Line, running north to south (Iwama, Tomobe) meet at Tomobe Station. Uchihara Station at the far right of the diagram is in Mito City; it is included because houses near the boundary sometimes have it as their nearest station. Positions, bearings and scale are based on actual coordinates (stations from OpenStreetMap, districts from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan). You can scroll it sideways.
Elevations are not shown on this diagram (the representative point of a town can differ from the elevation of an actual property). An indication of each property’s elevation is given in the list below.
How life differs by district
Who it suits = anyone who wants to do all their commuting, hospital visits and shopping inside the city
What to watch = this is the dearest part of the city
Who it suits = anyone who wants to buy cheaply and roomily, or to work with pottery or art
What to watch = 🔴 Kasama Station is on the Mito Line, and the limited expresses through to Tokyo do not stop. For Tokyo you go round via Tomobe, or take the coach (§3)
Who it suits = anyone travelling towards Tokyo on the Joban Line
What to watch = the city’s functions (the main city hall, the prefectural central hospital) are in Tomobe. Telephoning the city hall from within the Iwama district even uses a different number (0299-37-6611)
Which part of Kasama should I live in?
The city’s functions are concentrated in Tomobe (35,320 people, 49.3%; the main city hall, Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital and Tomobe Station where the limited expresses stop). The median for houses on the market is ¥7,100,000 at Kasama Station against ¥17,000,000 at Tomobe Station, a factor of 2.4.
CHAPTER 03Trains and cars — how you get around
The most important thing about getting about in Kasama is that “the limited expresses stop at Tomobe Station”. Ueno is about 1 hr 4 min away. But Kasama Station is on the Mito Line, and the limited expresses through to Tokyo do not stop there. What the Kasama side does have instead is a coach from Akihabara.
There are 3 ways of getting to Tokyo
| How | Time | One way |
|---|---|---|
| Limited express (Ueno to Tomobe) | approx. 1 hr 4 min | Ticket ¥2,090 plus reserved-seat limited express supplement ¥1,580 = ¥3,670 (101.0 route km) |
| Local train (Ueno to Tomobe) | approx. 1 hr 48 min | ¥2,090 |
| Coach, the “Kanto Yakimono Liner” | approx. 2 hr 15 min | ¥2,100 in cash, ¥1,900 cashless. It runs to and from Akihabara Station, 2 return trips on weekdays and 3 at weekends and on public holidays. The stops are Kasama Shopping Centre, Kasama Inari Shrine entrance, Kasama Station front, Yakimono-dori and Michi-no-Eki Kasama |
For motorways, the city has both the Kita-Kanto Expressway and the Joban Expressway — Tomobe interchange (about 5 minutes from the city hall) and Kasama-Nishi interchange on the Kita-Kanto, and Iwama interchange and Tomobe Smart interchange on the Joban.
Sources: Kasama City, coach services (Kanto Yakimono Liner) / the same site, Getting here / rail fares and journey times are the values published by Ekitan (operator information) / verified 2026-08-12
✈ Airports
The nearest is Hyakuri Airfield (a shared civil and military airport), about 23.6 km as the crow flies. Next is Narita International Airport (about 65.7 km as the crow flies). 🔴 These are straight-line distances. They are not road distances or journey times — please check the actual routes in each operator’s timetable.
🛣 Expressway junctions
This area has 5 entry and exit points (interchanges and junctions).
Joban Expressway = Tomobe JCT, Tomobe SA Smart IC, Iwama
Kita-Kanto Expressway = Tomobe, Kasama-Nishi
How long does it take from Kasama to Tokyo?
🔴 The limited expresses stop at Tomobe Station, about 1 hr 4 min and ¥3,670 from Ueno. Kasama Station is on the Mito Line, and the limited expresses through to Tokyo do not stop there. What comes to the Kasama side instead is the “Kanto Yakimono Liner” coach to and from Akihabara (about 2 hr 15 min, ¥2,100 in cash).
CHAPTER 04Homes actually on the market right now
There is both a municipal vacant-home bank and the private market. The private market comes first, cheapest first. Tap one to open a property page with photographs.
"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.
Ikenobe¥480,000KasamaElev. approx. 80 m / Land 551 m² (167 tsubo) / Building 59 m² (18 tsubo) / built 1955 / Uchihara Sta., 6.0km8 photos →
Ishii¥1,480,000KasamaElev. approx. 40 m / Land 95 m² (29 tsubo) / Building 95 m² (29 tsubo) / built 1949 / Kasama Sta., 3.0km10 photos →
Inada¥1,780,000KasamaElev. approx. 50 m / Land 124 m² (38 tsubo) / Building 61 m² (18 tsubo) / built 1983 / Inada Sta., 2.0km10 photos →
Kasama¥1,980,000KasamaElev. approx. 40 m / Land 495 m² (150 tsubo) / Building 134 m² (41 tsubo) / built 1969 / Kasama Sta., 4.0km9 photos →
Fukuhara¥2,480,000KasamaElev. approx. 60 m / Land 274 m² (83 tsubo) / Building 135 m² (41 tsubo) / built 1970 / Fukuhara Sta., 1.0km9 photos →
Hakoda Ogoto¥2,800,000KasamaElev. approx. 60 m / Land 213 m² (64 tsubo) / Building 55 m² (17 tsubo) / built 1977 / Kasama Sta. bus 9 min+18 min walk10 photos →
Ikenobe¥3,000,000KasamaElev. approx. 80 m / Land 439 m² (133 tsubo) / Building 97 m² (29 tsubo) / built 1961 / Uchihara Sta., 7.0km10 photos →
Kasama¥3,000,000KasamaElev. approx. 40 m / Land 452 m² (137 tsubo) / Building 79 m² (24 tsubo) / built 1962 / Kasama Sta., 3.0km9 photos →
Sumiyoshi¥3,480,000KasamaElev. approx. 30 m / Land 172 m² (52 tsubo) / Building 63 m² (19 tsubo) / built 1995 / Iwama Sta., 6.0km10 photos →
Kasama¥3,480,000KasamaElev. approx. 40 m / Land 155 m² (47 tsubo) / Building 122 m² (37 tsubo) / built 1976 / Kasama Sta., 3.5km9 photos →
Ota-machi¥3,800,000KasamaElev. approx. 30 m / Land 384 m² (116 tsubo) / Building 41 m² (12 tsubo) / built 1986 / Shishido Sta. 7 min walk10 photos →
Fukuhara 5411¥3,900,000KasamaElev. approx. 130 m / Land 278 m² (84 tsubo) / Building 130 m² (39 tsubo) / built 1971 / Fukuhara Sta. 37 min walk8 photos →
Kasama¥3,980,000KasamaElev. approx. 40 m / Land 410 m² (124 tsubo) / Building 105 m² (32 tsubo) / built 1969 / Kasama Sta., 2.5km10 photos →
Kasama¥3,980,000KasamaElev. approx. 40 m / Land 89 m² (27 tsubo) / Building 79 m² (24 tsubo) / built 1981 / Kasama Sta., 3.5km9 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 77 on SUUMO → Source: listings on SUUMO, second-hand detached houses (Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture).All 77 SUUMO listings collected and shows the top 14 (from ¥480,000) / verified 2026-08-19 Elevations are the per-property map coordinates on each SUUMO listing page put through the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan elevation API (rounded to 10 m). For exact elevations seeGSI Maps .The city’s vacant-home bank — 54 entries
Akiya bank — 30 listings
All 30 houses on the market registered with the At Home municipal vacant-home bank (as verified on 17 August 2026). They are listed cheapest first. There are also 19 registrations of land only.
What is the cheapest house you can buy in Kasama?
The cheapest on the private market is ¥480,000 at Ikenobe (built 1955, plot 551 m²). The city also runs a vacant house and vacant plot bank, and both are ways in.
CHAPTER 05Is the ground safe?
Disaster risk in Kasama swings to the extremes: almost no flooding, but severe earthquakes.
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 | Not designated |
|---|---|
| Tokyo Inland Earthquake Emergency Measures Area | 🔴 Designated |
| Japan Trench / Kuril Trench Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area | 🔴 Designated |
| Shaking of intensity 6-lower or above within 30 years | 42.6% (shindo 6-upper or above is 7.7%) At the Kasama city hall site. Surface ground AVS30 263 m/s, loam plateau |
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
2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake — shindo 6-upper in the main shock
1 killed and 49 injured (all minor). Kasama was one of the 8 municipalities in the prefecture that recorded shindo 6-upper.
Source: Ibaraki Prefecture, record of the Great East Japan Earthquake, chapter 1 (PDF) / verified 2026-08-12
2019, the Reiwa 1 East Japan Typhoon — zero damage on every measure
| Municipality | Damage |
|---|---|
| Kasama City | 0 killed, 0 destroyed, 0 half-destroyed, 0 partly damaged, 0 flooded above floor level, 0 flooded below floor level |
| Mito City | 356 half-destroyed, 375 partly damaged |
| Hitachiomiya City | 48 destroyed, 360 half-destroyed |
| Hitachinaka City | 81 half-destroyed, 75 partly damaged, 87 flooded above floor level, 219 below |
Landslides
| Steep-slope collapse | 49 sites (48 of which include a special warning zone) |
|---|---|
| Debris flow | 51 sites (44 of which include a special warning zone) |
| Total | 92 of the 100 sites include a special warning zone (a red zone) |
When a property catches your eye, open these 3
-
Overlay Hazard MapMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Enter an address and it shows flood, landslide and earthquake risk overlaid on a single map. Start here.
Open → -
Kasama City hazard map (disaster preparedness booklet)Kasama City, revised 1 May 2025
It covers flooding and inundation, landslides (debris flow) and earthquakes. This is the edition made after the 14 rivers were newly designated in 2024. Take care not to look at an older edition.
Open → -
Ibaraki Prefecture, designation of landslide warning zonesIbaraki Prefecture
It gives the positions of the 49 steep-slope sites and the 51 debris-flow sites. 92 of the 100 include a red zone, so always check for a property against the hills.
Steep slopes → Debris flow →
Is the disaster risk high in Kasama?
🔴 It swings to the extremes: almost no flooding, but severe earthquakes. The city is designated under both the Tokyo inland and the Japan and Chishima Trench measures, and the chance of shindo 6-lower or above in 30 years is 42.6% (6-upper or above 7.7%).
CHAPTER 06What summer and winter are like
The twelve months of temperature, set out as they are
The left end of each bar is the average daily minimum for that month and the right end the average daily maximum (Kasama, the 30-year average for 1991–2020).
These are the figures for how summer nights and winter mornings compare with Tokyo
| Days per year | Kasama | Tokyo |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical nights minimum 25°C or above | 1.2 days | 17.8 days |
| Days above 35°C maximum 35°C or above | 7.2 days | 4.8 days |
| Days above 30°C maximum 30°C or above | 47.3 days | 52.1 days |
| Frost days minimum below 0°C | 91.9 days | 15.2 days |
| Days below freezing all day maximum below 0°C | 0.0 days | 0.0 days |
Snow is not observed at the Kasama AMeDAS station. The normals for Mito, the nearest, are 12 cm a year with a deepest snow cover of 7 cm.
How cold is winter in Kasama?
At the Kasama AMeDAS station (elevation 72 m) the January daily low is −3.4°C — 4.6°C below Tokyo (1.2°C) and colder than Mito (−1.8°C). The August daily high of 30.9°C, on the other hand, is only 0.4°C below Tokyo.
CHAPTER 07Shops, hospitals, schools
Hospitals — the prefecture’s flagship hospital is inside the city
| Hospitals in the city | 4 hospitals: Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital (Koibuchi) / Kasama City Hospital (Minami-Tomobe) / Ishimoto Hospital / Tachikawa Memorial Hospital. There are also more than 30 clinics |
|---|---|
| Secondary emergency care | Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital is a designated secondary emergency hospital, taking seriously ill patients who need admission or surgery 24 hours a day. It is about 1.9 km in a straight line from the main city hall. Telephone before you go |
| Kasama City Hospital | 30 beds, and internal medicine and dermatology only. Weekdays 8:30–11:00 and 13:00–16:00; closed at weekends and on public holidays |
| Tertiary emergency care | There is none inside the city. The nearest is the NHO Mito Medical Center (Ibaraki Town, Higashi-Ibaraki District) — about 9.8 km in a straight line from the city hall |
| Paediatric emergency care | There is no night or holiday paediatric emergency centre in the city. Of the 3 primary emergency facilities only Kasama City Hospital is inside the city, and it covers internal medicine and dermatology |
Schools — the choice of upper secondary schools has just changed
| Primary schools | 10 schools (Kasama, Inada, Shishido, Tomobe, Kitakawane, Ohara, Tomobe Daini, Iwama Daiichi, Iwama Daini and Iwama Daisan) |
|---|---|
| Lower-secondary schools | 5 schools (Kasama, Inada, Tomobe, Tomobe Daini and Iwama) plus Minami Gakuen compulsory-education school |
| Upper secondary | Ibaraki Prefectural Kasama High School (general and fine art courses) / Ibaraki Prefectural IT Mirai High School (an IT-specialist school opened in April 2023, credit-based, part-time with 2 daytime sessions). Prefectural Tomobe High School closed on 31 March 2024. No private upper secondary school appears in the city’s list |
Shopping
| Supermarkets | Kasumi Kasama (Ishii 2096, 9:00–24:00, 288 parking spaces) / Food Square Kasumi Tomobe (Mihara 1-1-7, 9:00–24:00, 201 parking spaces, 10 minutes’ walk from JR Tomobe Station) |
|---|---|
| Home centres | Yamashin Tomobe (Asahi-machi 484; home store 9:00–20:00, materials and hardware building 7:00–20:00) / Yamashin Kasama (Hakoda, 9:00–19:30) |
What is emergency medical care like in Kasama?
Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital is a designated secondary emergency hospital taking patients 24 hours a day, about 1.9 km in a straight line from the main city hall. But there is no tertiary emergency care in the city (the nearest is the Mito Medical Center), and there is no night or holiday paediatric emergency centre in the city either.
CHAPTER 08What it costs you every year after you buy
| Water | On a 13 mm meter, up to 20 m³ over 2 months costs ¥3,450 (above that, ¥173 per m³ from 21 to 40 m³). Charges that differed across the 3 former municipalities were fully unified in April Heisei 31 (the old Kasama district went through staged increases) |
|---|---|
| Sewerage | Sewer coverage is 48.3%. Rural community wastewater treatment covers 9.2% and combined-treatment septic tanks 29.6%. Wastewater treatment as a whole reaches 87.1% (end of FY Reiwa 6) |
What is the sewer network like in Kasama?
🔴 Choose a house assuming the sewer reaches it and you will be caught out. Sewer coverage is 48.3%, so it reaches less than half the city. The rest is on septic tanks (29.6%), where the installation cost and the yearly maintenance, cleaning and statutory inspection charges fall on you and keep coming.
CHAPTER 09What happens when you want to sell
SUUMO lists 77 second-hand detached houses in Kasama, and the city’s vacant house and plot bank holds 54 (32 for sale, 3 to rent, 19 plots). Against a population of 69,716 that is 109 buyable properties = 1 for every 640 people. In land prices, the Reiwa 8 published figures put residential land at −0.5% — falling, while Ibaraki Prefecture as a whole is up 1.0%.
| City | Average, residential land | Year on year |
|---|---|---|
| Ibaraki Prefecture Average | ¥34,800/m² | ＋1.0% |
| Mito City(the prefectural capital) | ¥39,700/m² | 0.0% |
| Kasama City | ¥19,000/m² | −0.5% |
| What to look at | Kasama City in practice |
|---|---|
| Depth of the market | SUUMO 77 plus 32 for sale on the vacant-home bank = 109. 1 for every 640 people. 32 (42%) are at or under ¥10,000,000, and 17 at or under ¥5,000,000. The cheapest is ¥480,000 |
| Price band | ¥480,000 to ¥34,500,000, median ¥11,990,000 (all 77). By nearest station the medians are ¥7,100,000 at Kasama against ¥17,000,000 at Tomobe, a factor of 2.4 |
| Land prices | Residential land averages ¥19,000/m², −0.5%. Commercial land ¥32,500/m², −0.3%. All uses ¥24,400/m², −0.4%. 55% of the prefectural average |
| The pool of buyers | 69,716 people, ageing rate 34.3%. Down 12.7% in the 20 years since the merger (82,017 → 71,601; §10) |
| That there are 19 vacant plots | 19 of the 54 entries on the city’s vacant house and plot bank are plots of land (§4). Which also means there is that much land sitting ready to build on |
Will the house I buy sell when I want to sell it?
SUUMO 77 plus 32 for sale on the vacant-home bank = 109, or 1 for every 640 people. Residential land is −0.5%, falling while Ibaraki Prefecture as a whole is up 1.0% (Kasama ¥19,000/m², Mito ¥39,700/m²).
CHAPTER 10Who lives here, and how many
Tourism depends on the month — and so do the local roads
| Month | Visitor numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| month 11 | 532,100 people | The Kasama Chrysanthemum Festival (26 October to 24 November), 195,000 |
| month 1 | 501,000 people | New Year visits to Kasama Inari (1–3 January), 300,000 |
| month 10 | 454,800 people | |
| month 5 | 243,200 people | Himatsuri (Golden Week), with about 200 potters and kilns taking stalls |
| month 7 | 113,800 people | Quietest month |
| Year total | 3,132,300 people | 83.5% of the previous year |
Between the quietest month, July (114,000), and the busiest, November (532,000), the difference is 4.7 times. The everyday roads of the Kasama district wear a completely different face from month to month.
Source: Ibaraki Prefecture, Reiwa 6 survey of visitor movements (PDF) / verified 2026-08-12
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.
Of the 72,058 people living in Kasama City, 1,425 are foreign residents. That is below the national average (3.26%).
Nationwide, foreign residents are 3.26% of the total population (4,031,159 out of 123,767,642).
34 municipalities in the country are above 10%.
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 Kasama's population falling?
69,716 people (1 July Reiwa 8), down 12.7% in the 20 years since the merger, with an ageing rate of 34.3%. But Kasama City is not on the “possible disappearance” list — the projected fall in the young female population is 45.0%, short of the 50% threshold.
CHAPTER 11Community life and the year's events
What marks neighbourly life in Kasama is that the 3 districts each keep their own festivals. Twenty years after the merger, the summer festivals still stand separately in Tomobe, Kasama and Iwama.
| Where you live | What community life involves |
|---|---|
| Tomobe | The Yakumo Shrine summer festival in mid-July (around Tomobe Station). The Taira Shrine Gion festival with fireworks in late July is in the Taira-machi and Hashizume districts. In late October, Furusato Matsuri in Kasama (Tomobe community centre) |
| Kasama | The Yasaka Shrine Gion festival in early August (along the approach to Kasama Inari Shrine and elsewhere). And the Kasama Chrysanthemum Festival from late October to late November — the oldest chrysanthemum festival in Japan, begun in Meiji 41 (1908). On 3 November there is yabusame horseback archery (on a temporary track in front of Kasama Primary School) |
| Iwama | The Rokusho Shrine festival on the first weekend in November (around Iwama Station). And in December the Akutai Matsuri, the festival of abuse (Atago Shrine), and on New Year’s Eve the “walk into next year” (Atago Shrine) |
| The city as a whole | The Himatsuri pottery festival, 29 April to 5 May (Kasama Geijutsu-no-Mori Park). The makers and kilns of Kasama ware all gather, and it draws the biggest crowds of any event in the city |
What comes round every year
The biggest things in the Kasama year are the Himatsuri pottery festival at Golden Week and the Chrysanthemum Festival in autumn. The Chrysanthemum Festival is the oldest chrysanthemum festival in Japan, running since Meiji 41, and it lasts more than a month, from late October to late November. During those weeks the roads in the city fill with visitors’ cars — the point in §10 that “tourism depends on the month” is about exactly these 2 periods.
Source:Kasama City, events through the year(city tourism division) (the main events by season and month) / the Chrysanthemum Festival is fromKasama City, the Kasama Chrysanthemum Festival, and the Himatsuri fromthe same site, the Kasama Himatsuri pottery festival / population and facilities are from the same sources as §2, §7 and §10 / verified 2026-08-18Is community life demanding in Kasama?
What marks it is that the 3 districts each keep their own festivals: 20 years after the merger the summer festivals still stand separately in Tomobe, Kasama and Iwama. The Kasama Chrysanthemum Festival is the oldest chrysanthemum festival in Japan, begun in Meiji 41.
CHAPTER 12Things nearby that move land prices
What tells on land in Kasama is that there is one station where the limited expresses stop, that the prefectural central hospital is here, and the earthquake of 2011.
1. Tomobe is the only limited-express stop
Ueno to Tomobe is about 1 hr 4 min by limited express, ¥3,670 (ticket ¥2,090 plus reserved-seat supplement ¥1,580; 101.0 route km). By local train it is about 1 hr 48 min for ¥2,090 (§3). That “1 hour 4 minutes” does not apply to Kasama Station. Kasama is on the Mito Line, and the limited expresses through to Tokyo do not stop there.
The difference shows up directly in the prices — a median of ¥17,000,000 for houses nearest Tomobe Station and ¥13,990,000 for Shishido, against ¥7,100,000 for Kasama (§2). A factor of 2.4 within one city. Half the reason Kasama is cheap lies here.
2. The prefecture’s flagship hospital is inside the city
Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital is in the Tomobe district (§7). For a city of 69,716 people to have the prefecture’s flagship hospital is a fairly unusual condition. When you are choosing where to move, the distance to a hospital weighs more with every passing year. That Tomobe is the dearest part of the city is not only about the station.
3. What happened in the earthquake of 2011
In the main shock of the Great East Japan Earthquake Kasama recorded shindo 6-upper (the largest aftershock was 5-upper). 17 dwellings were destroyed, 141 half-destroyed and 7,137 partly damaged, and 37,600 households were without water from 11 to 19 March (§5).
In the Reiwa 1 East Japan Typhoon of 2019, by contrast, the damage was zero on every measure. Almost no flooding, but severe earthquakes — risk in Kasama swings between these two extremes. If you are buying an old house cheaply, put earthquake resistance first. For a house built in 1981 or earlier, the surest course is to allow for that cost from the outset.
4. There are 19 vacant plots
Of the 54 entries on the city’s vacant house and plot bank, 19 are plots of land (§4). That much “land to build on” is sitting spare, which also means a market where you can choose either to buy and repair a second-hand house or to buy land and build. But it is equally your competition when you come to sell.
Sources: land prices from[Official land prices] (Reiwa 8) Table of average prices and year-on-year change by prefecture, municipality and land use(compiled from the Land Information Center and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism published land prices, 27 April Reiwa 8) / rail is as §3, hospitals as §7, the earthquake and typhoon as §5, and the vacant house and plot bank as §4 / verified 2026-08-18What decides land prices in Kasama?
Whether the limited expresses stop. Against a median of ¥17,000,000 for houses nearest Tomobe Station and ¥13,990,000 for Shishido, Kasama Station is ¥7,100,000 — a factor of 2.4 within one city. It is because the 1 hr 4 min limited express to Ueno does not apply at Kasama Station.
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.
748th of 1,788 municipalities nationwide, and 31st within Ibaraki Prefecture
What this town names as its own products
What Kasama City lists as “local specialities” on its tourism pages is Kasama ware, Inada mikage stone, inari-zushi, chestnuts, wild yam, local sake, apples and Hitachi Aki Soba buckwheat.
Source:Kasama City, “Local specialities”／the same site, “‘Kasama no Iki’ certified farm produce”/ Verified 2026-08-20You 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.
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 2026-08-14What does Kasama earn its living from?
This is the home of Kasama ware and the temple town of Kasama Inari Shrine. Hometown tax donations received in FY Reiwa 7 came to ¥356,660,000 (19,080 donations), 748th of the 1,788 municipalities nationwide and 31st within Ibaraki Prefecture.
CHAPTER 14A message from Kasama City
How the receiving side thinks about it. Kasama City’s point of contact for people moving in is the Policy Planning Department, Business Attraction and Relocation Promotion Division (0296-77-1101) — attracting businesses and attracting residents are the same division. The city’s mainstay is its vacant house and plot bank, and 54 entries is on the large side among the areas covered on this site.
| What the city does | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vacant house and plot bank | 54 entries (32 for sale, 3 to rent, 19 plots; property numbers run to No. 358). That you can register plots of land as well is the shape of this city’s scheme (§4) |
| Vacant-home use support grant (repairs) | Up to half the repair cost, capped at ¥500,000. It is paid to the owner of a registered property and to the occupier alike. NEW: the grants inside the residential guidance area and the semi-residential guidance area have been increased |
| 🔴 A promise to stay 10 years | An occupier receiving the grant must live in the property for 10 years or more, or register it with the bank. The owner’s side must likewise keep it on the bank or let it for 10 years or more. The city aims this at people who will stay a long time |
| Other conditions | No municipal tax arrears / within 1 year of buying or renting / contracts with relatives within the third degree are excluded / apply at least 14 days before work starts |
| Enquiries | Online relocation consultations are available. You can ask about the vacant house and plot bank scheme and the various grants |
| 3 offices | The main office (Tomobe, Chuo 3-chome) / Kasama branch office (Kasama 1532) / Iwama branch office (Shimogo 5140). From within the Iwama district the telephone number is different (0299-37-6611) |
Does Kasama welcome people moving in? Is there any support?
The point of contact is the Policy Planning Department, Business Attraction and Relocation Promotion Division (0296-77-1101) — attracting businesses and attracting residents are the same division. The mainstay is the vacant house and plot bank with 54 entries (32 for sale, 3 to rent, 19 plots), and being able to register plots of land as well is the shape of this city’s scheme. The repair grant is up to half the cost, capped at ¥500,000, but 🔴 it asks a promise to stay 10 years.
CHAPTER 15A year in Kasama
The temperatures, and what they mean day to day. The year in Kasama turns on pottery and chrysanthemums. Summer days are 0.4°C cooler than Tokyo (August daily high 30.9°C) and winter mornings 4.6°C colder (January daily low −3.4°C) — an inland chill is this city’s climate (§6).
| Month | Kasama that month |
|---|---|
| month 1 | A daily low of −3.4°C, 4.6°C below Tokyo. New Year’s Day brings the first sunrise at Atago Shrine, the first days of the month bring New Year visits to Kasama Inari Shrine and Hitachi Izumo Taisha, and the Irodori Hatsugama-ichi first-kiln market is held at Kasama Craft Hill. Strawberry picking starts late in the month (through to early May) |
| month 2 | Setsubun on the 3rd (at various places in the city). This is the coldest point of the year |
| month 3 | The Mount Atago cherry blossom festival from late in the month (through to early May) |
| month 4 | The Kasama Azalea Festival from mid-month. The Aiki Shrine grand festival is on the 29th, and the Himatsuri pottery festival also starts on the 29th |
| month 5 | Himatsuri runs to the 5th (Kasama Geijutsu-no-Mori Park). It is the week that draws the biggest crowds in the city |
| month 6 | Kasama Sports & Food Fest early in the month (Shishido Hills Country Club). The chinowa ring-of-reeds rite at Kasama Inari Shrine is on the 30th |
| month 7 | The Yakumo Shrine summer festival mid-month (in front of Tomobe Station) and the Taira Shrine Gion festival fireworks late in the month (Taira-machi and Hashizume). From late in the month there is the National Children’s Ceramic Art Exhibition in Kasama (Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum) |
| month 8 | A daily high of 30.9°C, 0.4°C below Tokyo. The Yasaka Shrine Gion festival is early in the month (along the approach to Kasama Inari Shrine) |
| month 9 | The Kasama New Chestnut Festival from late in the month (Kasama Geijutsu-no-Mori Park). Kasama is chestnut country |
| month 10 | Kasama Roman early to mid-month, the Kasama Chrysanthemum Festival from late in the month (to late November; the oldest chrysanthemum festival in Japan, running since Meiji 41), and Furusato Matsuri in Kasama late in the month |
| month 11 | Yabusame horseback archery on the 3rd (on a temporary track in front of Kasama Primary School). The Rokusho Shrine festival on the first weekend (around Iwama Station). Early in the month, the Ibaraki Stone Festival and “Pottery and Living” |
| month 12 | The Kasama Pottery Village Half Marathon on the third Sunday. And the Akutai Matsuri, the festival of abuse (Atago Shrine). On the 31st, the “walk into next year” (Atago Shrine) |
What is a year in Kasama like?
It turns on pottery and chrysanthemums. January brings the Irodori Hatsugama-ichi first-kiln market at Kasama Craft Hill, and strawberry picking from late in the month through to early May. The Mount Atago cherry blossom festival follows from late March and the Kasama Azalea Festival from mid-April.
CHAPTER 16The people who run this city
When you are thinking of moving, who is running this city now, and where they are taking it, is something people about to live here want to know even more than those already living here. This chapter sets out, with sources, only what Kasama City publishes itself. 🔴 As of 22 August 2026, following the official site, I (the AI) could find 6 of the 6 items below.
| What is published | Published | What you can read |
|---|---|---|
| About the mayor | The Mayor’s Room | Name, career, greeting |
| Policy address | Policy statement | What they say they will do this year |
| List of council members | Lists of assembly members | Who the members are, and their groupings |
| Council broadcasts and recordings | Assembly broadcasts | Whether you can watch the council in session |
| Searchable minutes | Search the minutes | Whether you can search past debates by wording |
| Master plan | Comprehensive plan | How many years ahead this town has decided |
🔴 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.
🔴 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.
Who runs Kasama City now?
🔴 I (the AI) could not find the name of the mayor of Kasama City on the official site (checked 22 August 2026). Guessing seemed the greater discourtesy, so it is not given here. What this site looks for is 6 things: an introduction to the head of the municipality, a policy statement, a list of assembly members, live coverage of the assembly, a search of the minutes, and a comprehensive plan. 🔴 No judgement of good or bad is made. Only whether it is published or not.
CHAPTER 17Where to go on a day off
What never shows up in the numbers you use to find a house, but bears directly on how satisfied you are once you live there, is what you do at the weekend. This chapter counts, on the same yardstick for every area, the places you can go on a day off in Kasama and the places family and friends can stay when they visit. The area currently has 1 hot spring or day-bathing facility and 1 roadside station. 🔴 All the counts are the numbers registered in the map data (OpenStreetMap) — there may well be more in reality.
| What | Number counted, and names |
|---|---|
| ♨ Hot springs and day baths | Kasama City Ikoi-no-Ie / Hanasaka |
| 🏯 Castles and castle sites | Kasama Castle and the site of Munemine Castle (2) |
| 🎡 Amusement parks, zoos and aquariums | Not found in the map data |
| 🖼 Museums, galleries and memorial halls | the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Kasama Craft Hill, the Tsukuba Naval Air Corps Memorial Museum, the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art, the Tsukuba Naval Air Corps Zero Fighter Exhibition Hall and Shumpu Banri-so (6) |
| ⛩ Shrines and temples | 40 shrines and 18 temples. Those with a Wikipedia article are Kasama Inari Shrine, Aiki Shrine, Shofukuji on Mount Sashiro (no. 23 of the Bando pilgrimage; formerly Kanzeonji), Ryogonji, Sainenji (Inada Gobo), Inada Shrine, Hitachi Izumo Taisha and Yasaka Shrine |
| 🚗 Roadside stations | Kasama |
| 🐕 Dog runs | Not found in the map data |
| 🛣 Expressway service and parking areas | Tomobe SA (northbound) (⛽ filling station 🍽 restaurant 🍔 fast food ☕ café 🏪 convenience store 🎁 gifts and local produce 🔌 EV charging) / Tomobe SA (southbound) (⛽ filling station 🍽 restaurant ☕ café) / Kasama PA (⛽ filling station 🎁 gifts and local produce) |
Somewhere to stay — for family and friends, and for your own travels
| What | Number counted |
|---|---|
| 🏨 Hotels and ryokan | 2 |
| 🏠 Guesthouses and hostels | Not found in the map data |
| ⛺ Campsites and auto-campsites | Not found in the map data |
| 🏕 Glamping | Not found among the campsite or hotel names |
| 🚐 RV parks (overnight in your vehicle) | Not found in the map data |
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) / verified 2026-08-20Are there places to go on a day off, and places to stay?
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 1 hot spring or day-bathing facility, 1 roadside station and 2 hotels and inns. Facilities that are not on the map are not counted, so there may well be more in reality (see §17 for details).
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, and measures how quickly someone thinking of moving can reach the information they need. What was measured here was the official website of Kasama City, and the total was 72 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 | 9 / 15 | There is an akiya bank; listings carry photographs, price, year built and floor area; completed deals are organised |
| The money side of living here | 9 / 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 | 20 / 20 | Hazard maps are published by district; flood, landslide and earthquake are all covered; the year the assumptions were last reviewed is stated; and 2 more |
| Industry and local produce | 8 / 10 | A list of local speciality products is on the official site; hometown tax results are published year by year; there are support schemes for businesses and industry |
| Transport | 10 / 10 | There is a community bus timetable; fares are stated; the date of the last revision is given |
| Can an AI read it? | 2 / 10 | Statistics are published as Excel or CSV; open data is published |
See all 30 items and the pages used to judge them
3 / 3 There is a relocation and settlement pageRelocation 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
05 Kasama City relocation trial-stay implementation rules Go and see → 0 / 3 Vacancies in trial housing are published
Not found 4 / 4 There is an akiya bank
Vacant-home bank Go and see → 1 / 4 Listings carry photographs, price, year built and floor area
1 of 49 (2%) has all 4 items Go and see → 4 / 4 Completed deals are organised
No completed deals appear in the list Go and see → 0 / 3 The conditions of use are stated
Not found 1 / 5 Water and sewerage charges are readable from a rate table
There is a water and sewerage page 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 → 3 / 3 There are explanations of national health insurance tax and fixed asset tax
Both the rates and the amounts are stated Go and see → 0 / 2 Tie-ups with banks for mortgages and the like
Not found 5 / 5 Hazard maps are published by district
48 documents broken down by district Go and see → 5 / 5 Flood, landslide and earthquake are all covered
Flood / landslide / earthquake Go and see → 3 / 3 The year the assumptions were last reviewed is stated
Prepared April Reiwa 6 Go and see → 4 / 4 Is it machine-readable (a map system or a text PDF)?
Viewable in a map system Go and see → 3 / 3 Disasters are announced through more than one channel
A disaster app / social media / the disaster radio system Go and see → 5 / 5 A list of local speciality products is on the official site
8 items (the city's official site) Go and see → 1 / 3 Hometown tax results are published year by year
Not found 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 → 3 / 3 Fares are stated
Go and see → 3 / 3 The date of the last revision is given
From 1 April Reiwa 8] Review of the routes Go and see → 0 / 3 Every page carries an updated date
0 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 → 1 / 2 Statistics are published as Excel or CSV
There is a statistics page Go and see → 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 2026-08-20Compare with other areas
Every page has the same 17 chapters in the same order. Move between them and you can compare the same line.
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