Information as of 2026-08-22

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 Tsukuba

Q: What kind of city is Tsukuba?

263,996 people in 124,495 households (2026-08-01), area 283.72 square kilometres. The city describes its position as "about 50 kilometres south-west of Mito City, the prefectural capital, about 50 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, and about 40 kilometres south-east of Narita International Airport (Narita City)". 🔴 "Apart from the Mt. Tsukuba area, most of the city is flat land 20 to 30 metres above sea level, covered by the Kanto loam of the Tsukuba-Inashiki plateau" — there are almost no hills. 🔴 And the single biggest thing about it is that the population keeps growing — on the resident register it went from 191,582 in 2005 to 258,345 in 2024, up 34.9% in 19 years. Foreign residents number 15,075 = 5.7% of the city.

Q: How long does it take from Tsukuba to Tokyo?

🔴 Tsukuba Sta. to Akihabara Sta. is 45 min at best on the Tsukuba Express, ¥1,280, with no transfers (searched for Monday 2026-08-24). But a search for the 8:00 a.m. departure returned 57 min, and 6:02 a.m. returned 54 min — because rapids run mostly during the day, while mornings are served by semi-rapids. Plan on "just under an hour." A monthly commuter pass is ¥47,500. Otemachi is 1 hr 18 min, ¥1,332, with one transfer (pass ¥50,030). 🔴 Tsukuba Sta. is the terminus, so your chances of a seat in the morning are good. Mito is 1 hr 17 min with one transfer for ¥2,624, or 1 hr 40 min by express bus with no transfer for ¥1,070.

Q: How much does a second-hand house in Tsukuba cost?

SUUMO lists 220 homes and we counted all 220 (2026-08-22). From ¥1,600,000 to ¥430,000,000, median ¥33,850,000. 25 (11%) are under ¥10,000,000. The median plot is 226 square metres (about 68 tsubo) and the median building 114 square metres. 🔴 The median year built is 2004, and only 36 homes = 16% date from 1981 or earlier (the pre-1981 seismic code) — what marks Tsukuba out is that cheap old houses barely reach the market. For comparison, the medians for prefectural capitals on this site are Matsue ¥12,900,000, Mito ¥19,800,000, Kanazawa ¥19,000,000, Otsu ¥22,800,000 and Nara ¥26,850,000, so Tsukuba is clearly a dearer market.

Q: Does Tsukuba have an akiya bank?

Yes. The Tsukuba City Akiya Bank scheme is run by the city's Housing Policy Division, and in the city's words it is "a scheme in which the city acts as a bridge between people who want to sell or rent out an empty house and people who want to buy or rent one". You must register in advance before properties can be introduced to you. 🔴 What is unusual is that it publishes completed deals by district and by place name — a table on the city's page shows Sakuya 2, Hojo 2 and Oda 3 in Tsukuba; Kamigo 2 (plus 2 rentals) in Toyosato; Shimo-Hirooka 3 (plus 1 rental) in Sakura. There is also a Tsukuba City Akiya Utilisation Subsidy, worth 50% of a buyer's renovation costs up to ¥500,000 and 50% of a seller's cost of clearing furniture up to ¥100,000.

Q: Is Tsukuba free of natural-disaster risk?

🔴 The first thing to know about Tsukuba is tornadoes. On 6 May 2012, a tornado the Japan Meteorological Agency rated F3 on the Fujita scale crossed the north of the city, killing 1 person and injuring 37, and damaging 862 buildings in the Tsukuba area (702 of them in Hojo) and 251 in the Oho area (79 homes in the Tsukuba area alone were completely destroyed). The city's record notes that against a temperature of 25.6 degrees that day and a normal maximum of 21.3, air below minus 21 degrees had flowed in about 5,500 metres up. The "foot of Mt. Tsukuba" and "Sakura & Oho" areas in §2 lie on that track. As for earthquakes, most of the city is plateau of Kanto loam 20 to 30 metres above sea level, which is not the same as the low ground along the rivers. The city also keeps pages on "radiation measures" and "research institute related" preparedness.

Q: What are summer and winter like in Tsukuba?

The Meteorological Agency's station here is "Tsukuba (Tateno)". The annual mean is 14.3°C and annual rainfall 1,326.0 mm. 🔴 There are 2.8 tropical nights a year — less than a sixth of Tokyo's 17.8 — and the August daily minimum is 22.1°C. Hot by day (August daily high 30.6°C, 4.1 days above 35°C), cooler by night. On the other hand there are 80.3 frost days (minimum below 0°C) a year: one day in four is below freezing. Even so, 0.0 days a year stay below freezing, so the afternoon always climbs above zero. Total snowfall is 13 centimetres a year, maximum depth 7 centimetres. January gets 206.8 hours of sunshine and the year 2,014.5, so winters are clear and dry, with the dry cold wind the city calls the "Tsukuba-oroshi". The wettest month is October at 193.5 mm.

Q: What support does Tsukuba offer for children and healthcare?

🔴 Children's medical costs (Maru-fuku) are covered to the end of the school year in which a child turns 18, with no income test (in the city's words, "there is no income restriction, but the income of each parent must be checked in order to confirm whether the child qualifies under the prefecture's subsidy programme"). The co-payment is up to ¥600 a day per hospital for outpatient care (up to twice a month per hospital), up to ¥300 a day for inpatient care (capped at ¥3,000 a month), and nothing at dispensing pharmacies. 🔴 The municipal primary, lower-secondary and compulsory-education schools number 51 schools, 997 classes and 23,583 pupils (1 May Reiwa 6), 30% more pupils than the 18,115 of Heisei 15, with 5 more schools than the 46 of Heisei 30. 543.8 doctors per 100,000 people is the highest in Ibaraki Prefecture, dentists are also 1st, and general clinics 2nd.

Q: Is there a relocation grant for Tsukuba City?

🔴 We searched the city's official site on 2026-08-22 and could not find a page describing the relocation grant for people moving from Tokyo's 23 wards (the Waku-Waku Ibaraki Life programme). Ibaraki Prefecture's "Re:BARAKI" site does describe a scheme worth ¥1,000,000 per household, ¥600,000 for a single person, plus up to ¥1,000,000 for each household member under 18, but it is run municipality by municipality and you must consult the receiving municipality before you move. Please ask Tsukuba City directly whether you can use it there. What the city does offer instead is the Tsukuba City Akiya Utilisation Subsidy (50% of renovation costs up to ¥500,000 / 50% of furniture-clearance costs up to ¥100,000) and the Tsukuba City Safe Home Renovation Subsidy.

Tsukuba Sta. to Akihabara Sta. is 45 min at best on the Tsukuba Express, ¥1,280, no transfers. The 8 a.m. departure takes 57 min, and a monthly commuter pass is ¥47,500. Otemachi is 1 hr 18 min away with one transfer. Population 263,996, area 283.72 km². 🔴 The most unusual number here is that the population keeps growing. On the resident register it went from 191,582 in 2005 to 258,345 in 2024 — up 34.9% in 19 years. Of every town this site has studied, Tsukuba is the only one that has never once shrunk.

Population

263,996 people

124,495 households, 2026-08-01 (resident register)

Homes for sale

220 listings

¥1,600,000– / median ¥33,850,000

To Akihabara

45 min at best

TX, no transfers, ¥1,280 / 57 min at 8 a.m.

Under 15 years old

15.5%

No.1 in Ibaraki Prefecture (65 and over is 20.0%, ranked 44th)

Foreign residents

15,075 people

5.7% of the city

Residential land price

¥77,200/m²

+5.8% year on year / the Ibaraki average is ¥34,800/m²

Water + sewerage (45 m³ / 2 months)

¥16,445

Water ¥8,250 + sewerage ¥8,195

City area

283.72km²

Habitable land of 231.70 km² is the largest in Ibaraki Prefecture

Summer (August daily high)

30.6℃

Tsukuba (Tateno) station, 0.7°C cooler than Tokyo

Winter (January daily low)

-2.8℃

Tsukuba (Tateno) station, 4.0°C colder than Tokyo

♨ Hot springs & day baths5 🐕 Dog runs 🚐 RV parks

Hot springs & day baths: Hirasuna-buro, Tsukuba Wellness Park, Tsukuba YOU World, Mt. Tsukuba Onsen Tsukuba-no-Yu, Tsukuba Onsen Kirari Bettei / RV parks: RV Park Tsukuba
Sources: hot springs & day baths from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) (verified 2026-08-22) / dog runs from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) (verified 2026-08-22) / RV parks from Japan RV Association, list of certified "Kuruma-tabi" RV parks (verified 2026-08-22). 🔴 Only what a place has is shown here — a town without a tag is not a lesser town.

Last verified 2026-08-22

CHAPTER 01First, what kind of place Tsukuba is

In the city's own words: "Tsukuba City lies in the south-west of Ibaraki Prefecture, about 50 kilometres south-west of Mito City, the prefectural capital, about 50 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, and about 40 kilometres south-east of Narita International Airport (Narita City)." Its area of 283.72 square kilometres is the 4th largest in the prefecture, and its habitable area of 231.70 square kilometres is the largest of all. Mt. Tsukuba stands to the north and Lake Kasumigaura lies to the east; together they form Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park. And "apart from the Mt. Tsukuba area, most of the city is flat land 20 to 30 metres above sea level, covered by the Kanto loam of the Tsukuba-Inashiki plateau" — there are almost no hills.

A town that keeps growingPopulation on the resident register (1 October each year): 191,582 in 2005 → 222,818 in 2015 → 258,345 in 2024. Up 66,763 people (34.9%) in 19 years, with households up 60.3% from 74,656 to 119,662. Not one year in that table is a decline. In the prefecture's own municipal comparison, the share of residents under 15 (15.5%) is the highest in Ibaraki, the share aged 15–64 (64.5%) is also the highest, the share aged 65 and over (20.0%) ranks 44th (4th lowest), and the birth rate of 9.1 per 1,000 is the highest in the prefecture. Many children, many working-age people, few older people — the shape of this population is unlike any other town on this site.

The city counts itself in six districtsAdding up the city's population table by administrative district (2026-08-01): Yatabe district 125,356 (of which the Kamigawarazaki–Nakanishi area holds 83,866), Sakura district 62,965, Kukizaki district 22,722, Oho district 20,573, Toyosato district 16,430, Tsukuba district 15,941. These are exactly the old municipalities: Oho Town, Toyosato Town, Yatabe Town and Sakura Village, which merged in 1987, Tsukuba Town, which joined in 1988, and Kukizaki Town, which joined in 2002. When we divided the city into areas in §2, we used both this skeleton and the TX stations.

15,075 foreign residents — 5.7% of the cityIn the same table, of a total population of 263,996, 15,075 are foreign residents = 5.7% (the national tally for 1 January Reiwa 8 gives 14,651 = 5.59% — there is a chart comparing this with the whole country at the end of this chapter). Ibaraki's own comparison puts the city 9th in the prefecture at 4.92% (end of Reiwa 4). That is an order of magnitude above other towns on this site (Mito 1.9%, Matsue 1.3%). Tsukuba Science City gathers national research institutes and the University of Tsukuba, and researchers and international students come from all over the world. The city lists "a city that puts science and technology to work for its residents" as one of its four visions (§14). What it means to live in a town where many foreigners live — here, that is simply the starting point.

Sources: location, area and terrain fromTsukuba City, "Location and Terrain" (updated 2024-04-15 / about 50 km south-west of Mito City, about 50 km north-east of Tokyo, about 40 km south-east of Narita International Airport / area 283.72 km², 4th in the prefecture / Mt. Tsukuba to the north, Lake Kasumigaura to the east, together Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park / "apart from the Mt. Tsukuba area, most of the city is flat land 20 to 30 metres above sea level, covered by the Kanto loam of the Tsukuba-Inashiki plateau" / rivers: Kokai, Sakura, Yata and Nishiyata / snow falls about 2 to 3 times a year, with the winter "Tsukuba-oroshi" wind) / population history fromthe same, "Tsukuba Statistics 2024 (Reiwa 6 edition)" (PDF), Table 1 "Population and households by sex (resident register)" (as of 1 October each year / Heisei 17: 191,582 people, 74,656 households / Heisei 27: 222,818 people, 94,737 households / Reiwa 6: 258,345 people, 119,662 households) / prefectural rankings from the same PDF, "Tsukuba City at a glance within Ibaraki Prefecture" (source: Ibaraki Prefecture, "Municipalities at a glance — our town in indicators", July Reiwa 6 / habitable area 231.70 km², 1st / share under 15: 15.5%, 1st / share 15–64: 64.5%, 1st / share 65 and over: 20.0%, 44th / birth rate 9.1 per 1,000, 1st / foreign residents 4.92%, 9th) / population and foreign residents by district fromthe same, "Population by administrative district, FY Reiwa 8", the 2026-08 sheet (Excel), tallied by this site (total population 263,996, of which 15,075 foreign residents, 124,495 households / Yatabe district 125,356, Sakura district 62,965, Kukizaki district 22,722, Oho district 20,573, Toyosato district 16,430, Tsukuba district 15,941) / verified 2026-08-22

What kind of city is Tsukuba?

263,996 people in 124,495 households (2026-08-01), area 283.72 square kilometres. The city describes its position as "about 50 kilometres south-west of Mito City, the prefectural capital, about 50 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, and about 40 kilometres south-east of Narita International Airport (Narita City)". 🔴 "Apart from the Mt. Tsukuba area, most of the city is flat land 20 to 30 metres above sea level, covered by the Kanto loam of the Tsukuba-Inashiki plateau" — there are almost no hills. 🔴 And the single biggest thing about it is that the population keeps growing — on the resident register it went from 191,582 in 2005 to 258,345 in 2024, up 34.9% in 19 years. Foreign residents number 15,075 = 5.7% of the city.

CHAPTER 02Seven areas, and life in each

We divide the city into seven areas. The split was made by classifying all 220 listings one by one from their map coordinates, and no listing was left unclassified. Within one city the median price spans 3.7×, from ¥14,390,000 to ¥52,800,000. The cheapest is Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka at ¥14,390,000 (median year built 1982, 48% pre-1981 code), the dearest is Bampaku-Kinen-Koen Sta. & Shimana at ¥52,800,000 (median year built 2021). And the most common nearest station for Kukizaki listings is Ushiku Sta., outside the city, with 29 listings — an area with TX stations and an area that predates the TX sit side by side in the same city.

Areas	Listings	median	Median year built	What defines it
Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)	52 listings	¥14,390,000	1982	Cheapest and oldest (48% pre-1981 code). Nearest station: Ushiku, 29 listings
Midorino Sta., Yatabe & Kamiyokoba (the new TX district in the south-west)	51 listings	¥39,800,000	2018	The largest supply right now. A wide span, ¥9,900,000 to ¥119,800,000
Kenkyu-Gakuen Sta., Gakuen-no-Mori & Tokodai (the new district in the west)	34 listings	¥34,240,000	2004	Nothing under ¥10,000,000. Median plot 255 m², on the generous side
Sakura, Oho & Harukazedai (north of Tsukuba Sta.)	29 listings	¥40,000,000	2015	No pre-1981-code homes. Median building 125 m²
Tsukuba Sta., Takezono, Azuma & Namiki (the heart of the science city)	22 listings	¥48,800,000	2006	The city's dearest listing, ¥430,000,000, is here. No pre-1981-code homes
Mt. Tsukuba foothills (former Tsukuba Town and Oho north of )	21 listings	¥19,500,000	1991	Median plot 493 m², the largest. The city's cheapest at ¥1,600,000 and its highest ground at 253.4 m
Bampaku-Kinen-Koen Sta. & Shimana (land readjustment under way)	11 listings	¥52,800,000	2021	The dearest and the newest of the seven

Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates) — where Tsukuba is affordable52 listings (¥3,400,000 to ¥48,000,000, median ¥14,390,000, 15 under ¥10,000,000 = 29%). Median year built 1982, with 25 homes = 48% built to the pre-1981 code, the oldest of the seven. Median plot 176 square metres, building 110 square metres, elevation 6.6 to 24.7 metres. The nearest stations are Ushiku 29, Hitachino-Ushiku 6, Fujishiro 5, Ryugasaki-shi 4 — a belt where JR Joban Line stations outside the city are the closest ones. This is the former Kukizaki Town, which became part of Tsukuba in 2002, and it is lined with housing estates from the 1970s and 80s.
Suits: anyone who wants a Tsukuba address for around ¥15,000,000, or who uses the Joban Line
Watch for: there is no TX station nearby. If you search assuming "Tsukuba City = the TX", you will find a completely different transport picture

Midorino Sta., Yatabe & Kamiyokoba (the new TX district in the south-west) — the largest supply right now51 listings (¥9,900,000 to ¥119,800,000, median ¥39,800,000, 2 under ¥10,000,000 = 4%). Median year built 2018, with 5 homes = 10% pre-1981 code. Median plot 206 square metres, elevation 11.2 to 24.3 metres. Nearest stations: Midorino 46, Bampaku-Kinen-Koen 5. The area around Midorino Sta. was laid out by land readjustment after the TX opened. It is part of what the city's statistics call Yatabe district (125,356 people), where roughly half the city lives.
Suits: anyone commuting into central Tokyo on the TX, or who wants a newly built house
Watch for: this district is still growing. Go and see for yourself how far the shops, schools and roads have got

Kenkyu-Gakuen Sta., Gakuen-no-Mori & Tokodai (the new district in the west) — the city hall side34 listings (¥21,500,000 to ¥88,000,000, median ¥34,240,000, nothing under ¥10,000,000). Median year built 2004 (1 home = 3% pre-1981 code), median plot 255 square metres, elevation 20.2 to 27.3 metres. All 34 have Kenkyu-Gakuen Sta. as their nearest station. Tsukuba City Hall stands in Kenkyu-Gakuen 1-chome, and the large shopping centres are in front of the same station. Tokodai, with 15 listings, is a residential area among research institutes and companies.
Suits: anyone who wants city hall, the shops and the TX all within walking distance
Watch for: bargains do not appear here. Budget from the high ¥20,000,000s upward

Tsukuba Sta., Takezono, Azuma & Namiki (the heart of the science city) — the ¥430,000,000 house is here too22 listings (¥11,500,000 to ¥430,000,000, median ¥48,800,000, nothing under ¥10,000,000). No pre-1981-code homes, median year built 2006. Median plot 234 square metres, building 122 square metres, elevation 7.7 to 25.8 metres. All 22 have Tsukuba Sta. as their nearest station. Takezono, Azuma, Namiki, Matsushiro and Sengen are the residential quarters the national government laid out for the science city in the 1970s. What marks this area out is that parks, tree-lined avenues and pedestrian-only paths were in the plan from the start.
Suits: anyone who wants to live without a car, or who is looking for somewhere close to the research institutes and the University of Tsukuba
Watch for: there are only 22 listings and the price range is extreme. Treat that median as no more than a rough marker

Sakura, Oho & Harukazedai (north of Tsukuba Sta.) — no pre-1981-code homes29 listings (¥13,000,000 to ¥79,800,000, median ¥40,000,000, nothing under ¥10,000,000). Median year built 2015, no pre-1981-code homes. Median plot 224 square metres, median building 125 square metres, elevation 5.8 to 28.1 metres. Nearest station: Tsukuba, 28 listings. The core is recent housing built north of Tsukuba Sta., such as Harukazedai with 11 listings. In the city's statistics this is Sakura district (62,965 people) and Oho district (20,573 people).
Suits: anyone who wants to use Tsukuba Sta. but buy a newer, roomier house
Watch for: "Tsukuba Sta." here can mean 3 to 4 kilometres north. Measure for yourself whether that is a walk, a cycle or a bus

The foot of Mt. Tsukuba (former Tsukuba Town, north of Oho) — 493 square metres of land21 listings (¥1,600,000 to ¥42,000,000, median ¥19,500,000, 7 under ¥10,000,000 = 33%). The median plot of 493 square metres (about 149 tsubo) is the largest of the seven, building 128 square metres. Median year built 1991 (5 homes = 24% pre-1981 code). Elevation 10.6 to 253.4 metres — this is the only part of the city with a mountain in it. This is the former Tsukuba Town, which became part of Tsukuba City in 1988, and it holds Tsukuba-san Shrine and the old streets of Hojo. Nearest stations: Tsukuba 7, Shimotsuma 3, Sodo 3.
Suits: anyone looking for a life with fields and mountains, still within reach of central Tokyo
Watch for: this belt was the worst hit by the tornado (F3) of 6 May 2012 (§5)

Bampaku-Kinen-Koen Sta. & Shimana (land readjustment under way) — median year built 202111 listings (¥8,000,000 to ¥91,800,000, median ¥52,800,000, 1 under ¥10,000,000 = 9%). A median year built of 2021, newer than any area on this site. No pre-1981-code homes. Median plot 222 square metres, elevation 20.4 to 25.6 metres. All 11 have Bampaku-Kinen-Koen Sta. as their nearest station. Shimana and Kamigawarazaki are being laid out by land readjustment right now. A new heading has even appeared in the city's population table: "Kamigawarazaki–Nakanishi area", 83,866 people.
Suits: anyone who wants an as-new house in a district that is still filling in
Watch for: there are only 11 listings. And today's price is not necessarily the floor — land is up 5.8%, as §9 shows

Prices, counts, land, buildings, year built and elevation come from the listings below,SUUMOlisted220 listings (all) each listing's map coordinates, sorted into seven areas and tallied by this site (all 220 classified, 0 unclassified) / elevation is the value this site obtained from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan elevation API using each listing's map coordinates (all 220 obtained, 0 discarded) / the area names follow the four TX stations inside the city (Tsukuba, Kenkyu-Gakuen, Bampaku-Kinen-Koen, Midorino) and the district names the city uses in its statistics (Yatabe, Sakura, Oho, Toyosato, Tsukuba, Kukizaki) / retrieved 2026-08-22 / verified 2026-08-22

Which part of Tsukuba should I live in?

Split the 220 listings into seven areas and the median runs 3.7×, from ¥14,390,000 in Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka to ¥52,800,000 at Bampaku-Kinen-Koen Sta. & Shimana. 🔴 The biggest dividing line is whether a Tsukuba Express station is close — the most common nearest station for Kukizaki listings is Ushiku Sta., outside the city, with 29, whereas all 34 in Kenkyu-Gakuen use Kenkyu-Gakuen Sta. and all 22 in the Tsukuba Sta. area use Tsukuba Sta. For around ¥15,000,000, look at Kukizaki (median year built 1982, 48% pre-1981 code); for a new house, Midorino (2018) or Bampaku-Kinen-Koen (2021); for life without a car, Tsukuba Sta., Takezono and Azuma (median ¥48,800,000). For a big plot, the foot of Mt. Tsukuba (median 493 square metres, cheapest ¥1,600,000).

CHAPTER 03Trains and cars — how you get around

Tsukuba Sta. to Akihabara Sta. is 45 min at best on the Tsukuba Express, ¥1,280, no transfers. But a search for the 8:00 a.m. departure returned 57 min (semi-rapid). A monthly commuter pass is ¥47,500. Otemachi is 1 hr 18 min with one transfer (pass ¥50,030). The city has four TX stations — Tsukuba, Kenkyu-Gakuen, Bampaku-Kinen-Koen and Midorino — and Tsukuba Sta. is the terminus. Some parts of the city use Ushiku, Hitachino-Ushiku and Arakawaoki on the JR Joban Line instead (§2).

Journey times from Tsukuba Sta. (searched for Monday 2026-08-24)

Destination	Fastest	Notes
Akihabara	45 min, ¥1,280 TX rapid, no transfers (10:12 departure)	The 8:00 a.m. departure takes 57 min. Monthly commuter pass ¥47,500
Otemachi	1 hr 18 min, ¥1,332 1 transfer (8:00 departure)	Monthly commuter pass ¥50,030
Mito	1 hr 17 min, ¥2,624 1 transfer	The express bus takes 1 hr 40 min for ¥1,070 with no transfers
Akihabara, leaving before 7 a.m.	54 min 6:02 departure, no transfers	Even early departures do not get down to 45 min

Know the difference between "45 min" and "57 min"Tsukuba to Akihabara is 45 min on a rapid. But a search for the 8:00 a.m. departure returned 57 min, and even 6:02 a.m. returned 54 min. That is because rapids run mostly during the day, while the morning peak is served by semi-rapid and commuter-rapid trains. Plan your commute around "just under an hour." Even so, just under an hour, seated, with no transfer is a good deal as commutes into Tokyo go. And because Tsukuba Sta. is the terminus, a morning seat is easy to get — that difference is a large one.

Four stations in the city. But the city is largeThe TX stations inside the city are Tsukuba, Kenkyu-Gakuen, Bampaku-Kinen-Koen and Midorino. As §2 shows, the nearest stations for listings are Midorino 46, Kenkyu-Gakuen 34, Tsukuba 50, Bampaku-Kinen-Koen 16 — and 45 listings have a station outside the city, such as Ushiku with 29. The city covers 283.72 square kilometres (about 45% of Tokyo's 23 wards). "Living in Tsukuba" and "commuting on the TX" are not the same thing. When you look at a listing, judge it by the station name and the walking time, not the city name.

A cycling city, with fewer cars than you would expectIn Ibaraki's municipal comparison, Tsukuba's 631.7 private cars per 1,000 people ranks 41st in the prefecture — among the lowest car ownership in Ibaraki, which is itself a high-car-ownership prefecture nationally. The city promotes itself as "Tsukuba, the cycling city" and has a partnership agreement with a professional team. As §1 notes, most of the city is flat plateau 20 to 30 metres above sea level, and the science city district had dedicated pedestrian and cycle paths in its plan from the outset. No hills, wide roads, dedicated paths — a town you can live in by bicycle.

Sources: journey times, fares and commuter passes were searched by this site onYahoo! TransitforMonday 2026-08-24 (Akihabara: a search for a 10:00 departure returned 10:12, 45 min, ¥1,280, no transfers / a search for 8:00 returned 57 min / a search for 6:00 returned 6:02, 54 min / monthly commuter pass ¥47,500. Otemachi: a search for 8:00 returned 1 hr 18 min, ¥1,332, 1 transfer, monthly commuter pass ¥50,030. Mito: 1 hr 17 min, ¥2,624 with 1 transfer, or 1 hr 40 min, ¥1,070 with none) / the services shown vary from day to day / private car numbers and the flat terrain fromTsukuba City, "Tsukuba Statistics 2024" (PDF), "Tsukuba City at a glance within Ibaraki Prefecture" (631.7 private cars per 1,000 people, 41st in the prefecture) andthe same, "Location and Terrain" / the cycling programme fromthe same, "Tsukuba, the cycling city"/ Verified 2026-08-22

✈ Airports

The nearest is Hyakuri Airfield (a shared civil-military airport), about 31.5 km in a straight line. Next is Narita International Airport (about 44.4 km in a straight line). 🔴 These are straight-line distances, not road distances or journey times — check the actual route with the operators.

🛣 Expressway junctions

This area has 6 entrances and junctions.
Joban Expressway: Tsukuba JCT, Sakura-Tsuchiura, Yatabe
Ken-O Expressway: Tsukuba-Chuo, Tsukuba-Ushiku, Tsukuba-Nishi SIC

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 Tsukuba to Tokyo?

🔴 Tsukuba Sta. to Akihabara Sta. is 45 min at best on the Tsukuba Express, ¥1,280, with no transfers (searched for Monday 2026-08-24). But a search for the 8:00 a.m. departure returned 57 min, and 6:02 a.m. returned 54 min — because rapids run mostly during the day, while mornings are served by semi-rapids. Plan on "just under an hour." A monthly commuter pass is ¥47,500. Otemachi is 1 hr 18 min, ¥1,332, with one transfer (pass ¥50,030). 🔴 Tsukuba Sta. is the terminus, so your chances of a seat in the morning are good. Mito is 1 hr 17 min with one transfer for ¥2,624, or 1 hr 40 min by express bus with no transfer for ¥1,070.

CHAPTER 04Homes actually on the market right now

SUUMO lists 220 homes, and all 220 are included here. From ¥1,600,000 to ¥430,000,000, median ¥33,850,000. 25 (11%) are under ¥10,000,000. The median plot is 226 square metres (about 68 tsubo) and the median building 114 square metres. The median year built is 2004, and only 36 homes = 16% date from 1981 or earlier (the pre-1981 seismic code) — a strikingly young market even by this site's standards. Elevation runs 5.8 to 253.4 metres (median 22.9).

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.

Tsukuba¥1,600,000Foot of Mt. Tsukuba (former Tsukuba Town, north of Oho)Elev. approx. 210 m / Land 341 m² (103 tsubo) / Building 37 m² (11 tsubo) / built 1959 / Tobanoe Sta. 99 min walk10 photos →

Jiyugaoka 509-23¥3,400,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 429 m² (130 tsubo) / Building 105 m² (32 tsubo) / built 1975 / Ushiku Sta. 98 min walk8 photos →

Jiyugaoka¥3,500,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 162 m² (49 tsubo) / Building 98 m² (30 tsubo) / built 1976 / Ryugasaki City Sta., 5.5km9 photos →

Morinosato¥3,800,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 10 m / Land 165 m² (50 tsubo) / Building 79 m² (24 tsubo) / built 1978 / Ushiku Sta. bus 8 min+3 min walk8 photos →

Jiyugaoka¥3,980,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 485 m² (147 tsubo) / Building 107 m² (32 tsubo) / built 1973 / Ryugasaki City Sta., 6.5km9 photos →

Kami-Oshima¥4,480,000Foot of Mt. Tsukuba (former Tsukuba Town, north of Oho)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 286 m² (87 tsubo) / Building 97 m² (29 tsubo) / built 1985 / Tobanoe Sta., 8.0km10 photos →

Yoshinuma¥4,600,000Foot of Mt. Tsukuba (former Tsukuba Town, north of Oho)Elev. approx. 30 m / Land 276 m² (83 tsubo) / Building 99 m² (30 tsubo) / built 1997 / Bampaku-Kinen-Koen to 13.9km7 photos →

Myojin¥4,700,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 214 m² (65 tsubo) / Building 131 m² (40 tsubo) / built 1978 / Ushiku Sta. 19 min walk10 photos →

Morinosato¥4,800,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 10 m / Land 168 m² (51 tsubo) / Building 92 m² (28 tsubo) / built 1980 / Ushiku Sta., 4.1km10 photos →

Jiyugaoka 984-17¥4,800,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 83 m² (25 tsubo) / Building 82 m² (25 tsubo) / built 1977 / Ushiku Sta. 87 min walk8 photos →

Morinosato 48-17¥5,500,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 10 m / Land 186 m² (56 tsubo) / Building 95 m² (29 tsubo) / built 1983 / Ushiku Sta. 51 min walk8 photos →

Takamihara2¥5,600,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 147 m² (44 tsubo) / Building 92 m² (28 tsubo) / built 1982 / Ushiku Sta. 29 min walk10 photos →

Takamihara1¥5,600,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 136 m² (41 tsubo) / Building 61 m² (19 tsubo) / built 1976 / Ushiku Sta. 28 min walk10 photos →

Morinosato¥6,950,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 10 m / Land 226 m² (68 tsubo) / Building 90 m² (27 tsubo) / built 1980 / Ushiku Sta. bus 22 min+1 min walk10 photos →

Kami-Oshima¥7,200,000Foot of Mt. Tsukuba (former Tsukuba Town, north of Oho)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 395 m² (119 tsubo) / Building 113 m² (34 tsubo) / built 1978 / Tsukuba bus 55 min+2 min walk10 photos →

Akatsuka¥7,800,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 355 m² (107 tsubo) / Building 108 m² (33 tsubo) / built 1993 / Arakawaoki Sta. 60 min walk9 photos →

Nakabeppu¥8,000,000Bampaku-Kinen-Koen Sta. & Shimana (land readjustment under way)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 198 m² (60 tsubo) / Building 64 m² (20 tsubo) / built 1984 / Bampaku-Kinen-Koen bus 29 min+12 min walk10 photos →

Tsukuba¥8,000,000Foot of Mt. Tsukuba (former Tsukuba Town, north of Oho)Elev. approx. 250 m / Land 347 m² (105 tsubo) / Building 128 m² (39 tsubo) / built 1984 / Tsukuba bus 58 min+13 min walk10 photos →

Takamihara 1¥8,500,000Kukizaki, Morinosato & Jiyugaoka (southern housing estates)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 149 m² (45 tsubo) / Building 105 m² (32 tsubo) / built 1989 / Ushiku Sta., 2.2km10 photos →

Urushijo¥8,500,000Foot of Mt. Tsukuba (former Tsukuba Town, north of Oho)Elev. approx. 40 m / Land 493 m² (149 tsubo) / Building 69 m² (21 tsubo) / built 1991 / Tsukuba bus 55 min+11 min walk8 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 220 on SUUMO →

A median of ¥33,850,000 — high by this site's standardsFor comparison, the medians for prefectural capitals on this site are Matsue ¥12,900,000, Mito ¥19,800,000, Kanazawa ¥19,000,000, Otsu ¥22,800,000, Nara ¥26,850,000. Tsukuba's ¥33,850,000 is clearly above all of them (though below Naha's ¥53,490,000). The reason is plain: the median year built is 2004, and only 16% predate the 1981 code. Cheap old houses barely reach the market here. If your budget is around ¥15,000,000, you will end up looking only at Kukizaki or the foot of Mt. Tsukuba in §2.

No hills. Plots of 226 square metresThe median elevation is 22.9 metres, and almost everything sits between 5.8 and 25.6 metres (the 253.4-metre figure is a single listing at the foot of Mt. Tsukuba). As §1 says, most of the city is flat plateau 20 to 30 metres above sea level. The median plot is 226 square metres (about 68 tsubo) and the median building 114 square metres. Off-street parking is the norm, and "flat and roomy" is the standard for a Tsukuba plot. But as §2 shows, it varies sharply by district: 176 square metres in Kukizaki, 493 at the foot of Mt. Tsukuba.

The city runs the akiya bank itself, and publishes what it has achievedthe Tsukuba City Akiya Bank scheme the city's Housing Policy Divisionruns"a scheme in which the city acts as a bridge between people who want to sell or rent out an empty house and people who want to buy or rent one"。you must register in advance before properties can be introduced to you. What is unusual is that it publishes completed deals by district and by place name——Tsukuba: Sakuya 2, Hojo 2, Oda 3; Toyosato: Kamigo 2 plus 2 rentals; Sakura: Shimo-Hirooka 3 plus 1 rental— a table to that effect appears on the city's page. Alongside it there is anAkiya Utilisation Subsidy (50% of a buyer's renovation costs, up to ¥500,000 / 50% of a seller's cost of clearing furniture and belongings, up to ¥100,000). Tsukuba City Akiya Bank scheme →

Sources: taken from SUUMO, "Second-hand detached houses in Tsukuba City" (see the list here / of the 220 listed,220 listingsallwere retrieved, 2026-08-22) / elevation is the value obtained from each listing's map coordinates via theGeospatial Information Authority of Japan elevation API / the medians for Matsue, Mito, Kanazawa, Otsu, Nara and Naha were tallied by the same method used on each of those pages on this site / the akiya bank fromTsukuba City, "Tsukuba City Akiya Bank scheme"(2025-02-07updated) andthe same, "Properties registered with the akiya bank" (table of completed sales and rentals),the same, "Tsukuba City Akiya Utilisation Subsidy" (updated 2026-04-01 / renovation subsidy = 50% of renovation costs, up to ¥500,000 / furniture-clearance subsidy = 50% of the cost, up to ¥100,000) / verified 2026-08-22

Akiya bank — 5 listings

All 5 homes for sale registered with the municipal akiya bank (as checked on 2026-08-22). They are listed cheapest first. For 5 of them the building size is not published, so the floor-plan button does not appear.

No.102Tsukuba City Yoshinuma¥4,600,000

Land 276 m² (83 tsubo) /built 1997
The building size is not published (stated in the documents on the listing page)Akiya bank of View listing →

No.110Tsukuba City Jiyugaoka¥6,300,000

Land 193 m² (58 tsubo) /built 1994
The building size is not published (stated in the documents on the listing page)Akiya bank of View listing →

No.97Tsukuba City Sakuragaoka¥7,000,000

Land 229 m² (69 tsubo) /built 1978
The building size is not published (stated in the documents on the listing page)Akiya bank of View listing →

Tsukuba City Takamihara 1-chome exterior

No.108Tsukuba City Takamihara 1-chome¥14,800,000

Land 209 m² (63 tsubo) /built 2008
The building size is not published (stated in the documents on the listing page)Akiya bank of View listing →

No.90Tsukuba City Imaizumi¥24,900,000

Land 488 m² (148 tsubo) /built 1993
The building size is not published (stated in the documents on the listing page)Akiya bank of View listing →

How much does a second-hand house in Tsukuba cost?

SUUMO lists 220 homes and we counted all 220 (2026-08-22). From ¥1,600,000 to ¥430,000,000, median ¥33,850,000. 25 (11%) are under ¥10,000,000. The median plot is 226 square metres (about 68 tsubo) and the median building 114 square metres. 🔴 The median year built is 2004, and only 36 homes = 16% date from 1981 or earlier (the pre-1981 seismic code) — what marks Tsukuba out is that cheap old houses barely reach the market. For comparison, the medians for prefectural capitals on this site are Matsue ¥12,900,000, Mito ¥19,800,000, Kanazawa ¥19,000,000, Otsu ¥22,800,000 and Nara ¥26,850,000, so Tsukuba is clearly a dearer market.

CHAPTER 05Is the ground safe?

The first thing to know about Tsukuba is tornadoes. On 6 May 2012, a tornado the Japan Meteorological Agency rated F3 on the Fujita scale crossed the north of the city, killing 1 person and injuring 37 others short of serious injury, and damaging 862 buildings in the Tsukuba area (702 of them in Hojo) and 251 in the Oho area. The city's records show 79 homes completely destroyed in the Tsukuba area alone. The city still keeps a "tornado damage" page online. It also has a page on "radiation measures" concerning the Tokai No. 2 power station.

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	45.1% (intensity 6-upper or above: 8.0%) At Tsukuba City Hall. Surface ground: AVS30 226 m/s, loam plateau

This probability is for the single 250-metre grid square the city hall stands in. Tsukuba City Hall stands onloam plateau (AVS30 226 m/s), and the 45.1% above is the value for that point. Within the same city, low ground along a river and the plateau differ greatly. 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 city hall coordinates / verified 2026-08-22

The tornado of 6 May 2012 — from the city's own recordsStraight from the report compiled by the city's disaster response headquarters: "At around 13:00, when the gust occurred on 6 May, the temperature in Tsukuba City was 25.6 degrees, above the normal maximum of 21.3 degrees" and "meanwhile, air colder than minus 21 degrees had flowed in about 5,500 metres above Tsukuba City." The Meteorological Agency's survey first estimated F2, then revised it to F3 in its announcement of 8 June. The toll was 1 death, 0 serious, 5 moderate and 32 minor injuries (19 taken by ambulance), and in buildings 862 in the Tsukuba area (Hojo 702, Hirasawa 35, Koizumi 21 and others) and 251 in the Oho area (Osuna 175, Nishi-Takano 68 and others). The "foot of Mt. Tsukuba" and "Sakura & Oho" areas in §2 lie on that track. Choose knowing that a tornado is not something that "cannot happen here", but something that has happened here.

For earthquakes, this is flat plateauThe box at the top right is a figure drawn by machine from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience's hazard station. Tsukuba sits inland on the Kanto Plain and, as §1 notes, most of the city is plateau covered by Kanto loam 20 to 30 metres above sea level — ground that shakes less than alluvial lowland. There are rivers, though — the Kokai, Sakura, Yata and Nishiyata — and the low ground along them is not the same as the plateau. For Kukizaki and Morinosato (elevation 6.6 to 24.7 metres) and Sakura and Oho (which have points at 5.8 metres) in §2, check the hazard map by street address.

The city has a "radiation measures" pageUnder "Safety, disaster preparedness and problems" the city lists "radiation measures", "Great East Japan Earthquake related" and "research institute related". The Tokai No. 2 power station in Tokai Village lies to the north-east of the city, and the city contains many national research institutes. Tsukuba is the only town on this site with "research institute related" as a disaster-preparedness heading. Being a city of science includes that kind of preparation too — read what the city publishes before you move in.

It hardly ever snowsIn the city's words: "Snow falls about two or three times a year, and the dry, cold wind known as the 'Tsukuba-oroshi' that blows in winter is characteristic of the area south of Mt. Tsukuba." As §6 shows, the normals for Tsukuba (Tateno) give 13 centimetres of snowfall a year and a maximum snow depth of 7 centimetres. The wind matters more than the snow here. Laundry, bicycles, blown dust — ask a local about the "Tsukuba-oroshi" when you go to view a house.

Sources: the tornado fromTsukuba City, "Information relating to the tornado"and, linked from it,Tsukuba City Disaster Response Headquarters, "Damage from the tornado of 6 May and the state of recovery" (26 April Heisei 25, PDF) (temperature that day 25.6 degrees against a normal maximum of 21.3 / air below minus 21 degrees about 5,500 m up / the Meteorological Agency's field survey first gave F2, revised to F3 in the announcement of 8 June / casualties: 1 death, 0 serious, 5 moderate, 32 minor as of 9 May, 19 taken by ambulance / buildings: Tsukuba area 862 (dwellings 548, of which 79 completely destroyed / Hojo 702, Hirasawa 35, Koizumi 21, Izumi 35, Yamaki 56, Mimori 13), Oho area 251 (Osuna 175, Nishi-Takano 68)) / radiation measures and research-institute matters fromthe same, "Safety, disaster preparedness and problems" / terrain, snowfall and the Tsukuba-oroshi fromthe same, "Location and Terrain"/ Verified 2026-08-22

Does Tsukuba have an akiya bank?

Yes. The Tsukuba City Akiya Bank scheme is run by the city's Housing Policy Division, and in the city's words it is "a scheme in which the city acts as a bridge between people who want to sell or rent out an empty house and people who want to buy or rent one". You must register in advance before properties can be introduced to you. 🔴 What is unusual is that it publishes completed deals by district and by place name — a table on the city's page shows Sakuya 2, Hojo 2 and Oda 3 in Tsukuba; Kamigo 2 (plus 2 rentals) in Toyosato; Shimo-Hirooka 3 (plus 1 rental) in Sakura. There is also a Tsukuba City Akiya Utilisation Subsidy, worth 50% of a buyer's renovation costs up to ¥500,000 and 50% of a seller's cost of clearing furniture up to ¥100,000.

CHAPTER 06What summer and winter are like

The Meteorological Agency's station here is "Tsukuba (Tateno)". The annual mean temperature is 14.3°C and annual rainfall 1,326.0 mm (a fifth less than Tokyo's 1,598.2 mm). There are 2.8 tropical nights a year — less than a sixth of Tokyo's 17.8. On the other hand there are 80.3 frost days (minimum below 0°C) a year, cold for the Kanto region (with 0.0 days below freezing all day). Total snowfall is 13 centimetres a year, with a maximum depth of 7 centimetres. Annual sunshine is 2,014.5 hours, with 206.8 hours in January alone — winters here are clear and dry.

Cool summer nights, because this is inland plateau2.8 tropical nights a year. Set beside Tokyo 17.8, Nagasaki 38.3, Matsue 15.4 and Mito 3.9, that is among the fewest on this whole site. There are 43.6 days above 30°C and 4.1 above 35°C, and the August daily minimum is 22.1°C. The days are hot, though. The August daily high is 30.6°C, with 4.1 days above 35°C a year. Hot by day, cooler by night — you will want air conditioning, but there are few nights when you leave it running until morning.

Winters are cold. 84.3 frost days a yearThere are 80.3 frost days (daily minimum below 0°C) a year — one day in four drops below freezing, clearly more than Mito's 69.0. The January daily minimum is −2.8°C and the daily maximum 9.3°C. Even so, there are 0.0 days a year that stay below freezing: the afternoon always climbs above zero. Snow is scarce (13 centimetres a year) and the air is clear and dry (206.8 hours of January sunshine, 50.6 mm of rain). Morning frost, and protecting pipes from freezing — do not assume it is mild just because this is the Kanto region.

Not much rain, and most of it in autumnAnnual rainfall of 1,326.0 mm is 83% of Tokyo's. The wettest month is October at 193.5 mm, then September at 187.6 mm — more than the rainy season of June (131.8 mm) and July (134.6 mm). The driest are February 47.1 mm, December 48.5 mm and January 50.6 mm. Dry in winter, wet in autumn is the inland-Kanto pattern described in §1. As §5 shows, heavy rain and strong wind arriving together is this town's most dangerous weather — the 2012 tornado came on a day when warm air met cold air aloft.

Source:Japan Meteorological Agency, "Normals for Tsukuba (Tateno), 1991–2020" (annual mean 14.3°C, daily maximum 19.6°C, daily minimum 9.3°C / annual rainfall 1,326.0 mm (by month: January 50.6, February 47.1, March 95.5, April 109.8, May 129.8, June 131.8, July 134.6, August 118.2, September 187.6, October 193.5, November 79.1, December 48.5 mm) / 80.3 frost days, 0.0 days below freezing all day, 105.1 days above 25°C, 43.6 above 30°C, 4.1 above 35°C, 2.8 tropical nights / total snowfall 13 cm, maximum snow depth 7 cm / January daily maximum 9.3°C, minimum −2.8°C / August daily maximum 30.6°C, minimum 22.1°C) andthe same, "Sunshine hours for Tsukuba (Tateno)" (2,014.5 hours a year, January 206.8, December 185.7) andthe same, "Tokyo" (1,926.7 hours a year) / the tropical-night figures for Nagasaki, Matsue and Mito come from the same source used on each of those pages on this site / verified 2026-08-22

Is Tsukuba free of natural-disaster risk?

🔴 The first thing to know about Tsukuba is tornadoes. On 6 May 2012, a tornado the Japan Meteorological Agency rated F3 on the Fujita scale crossed the north of the city, killing 1 person and injuring 37, and damaging 862 buildings in the Tsukuba area (702 of them in Hojo) and 251 in the Oho area (79 homes in the Tsukuba area alone were completely destroyed). The city's record notes that against a temperature of 25.6 degrees that day and a normal maximum of 21.3, air below minus 21 degrees had flowed in about 5,500 metres up. The "foot of Mt. Tsukuba" and "Sakura & Oho" areas in §2 lie on that track. As for earthquakes, most of the city is plateau of Kanto loam 20 to 30 metres above sea level, which is not the same as the low ground along the rivers. The city also keeps pages on "radiation measures" and "research institute related" preparedness.

CHAPTER 07Shops, hospitals, schools

Schools in Tsukuba are multiplying. As of 1 May Reiwa 6 the municipal primary, lower-secondary and compulsory-education schools numbered 51 schools, 997 classes and 23,583 pupils — 5 more schools than in Heisei 30, and 30% more pupils than the 18,115 of Heisei 15. Children's medical costs are subsidised under Maru-fuku up to the end of the school year in which a child turns 18, and for children there is no income test. Tsukuba also has 543.8 doctors per 100,000 people, the highest in Ibaraki Prefecture, and the 2nd highest number of general clinics.

Category	Classes	Pupils
Primary schools + lower stage of compulsory-education schools	707 classes	16,260 people
Lower-secondary schools + upper stage of compulsory-education schools	290 classes	7,323 people
Total (51 schools)	997 classes	23,583 people
Ten years ago (Heisei 26)	746 classes	19,656 people

More children, so more schoolsFrom the city's school basic survey (1 May each year): pupil numbers bottomed out at 18,115 in Heisei 15 and have risen 30% to 23,583 by Reiwa 6. School numbers have grown too: 46 in Heisei 30 → 49 in Reiwa 5 → 51 in Reiwa 6. On other towns on this site, this chapter is usually about closures and mergers. Tsukuba alone runs the other way. But a growing town has its own problems — whether there are enough classrooms, and how catchment boundaries may change, are worth asking the city about for the catchment you are considering. The city is rolling out community schools across the whole city.

Children's medical costs are covered to the end of high school, with no income testThe Medical Welfare Payment Scheme (Maru-fuku) is run by Ibaraki Prefecture and Tsukuba City. Children are covered "from the day of birth to the end of the school year in which they turn 18 (the first 31 March after their 18th birthday)", and the city states that "there is no income restriction, but the income of each parent must be checked in order to confirm whether the child qualifies under the prefecture's subsidy programme". There is a co-payment: outpatient care costs up to ¥600 a day per hospital (up to twice a month per hospital; from the third visit in the same month there is no charge), inpatient care up to ¥300 a day (capped at ¥3,000 a month), and dispensing pharmacies are free. The structure is the same as Mito's, but Tsukuba states explicitly that there is no income test for children.

The highest number of doctors in Ibaraki PrefectureIn the prefecture's municipal comparison (as of 31 December Reiwa 4): 543.8 doctors per 100,000 people = 1st in the prefecture, 95.1 dentists = 1st, 80.0 general clinics = 2nd, 1,551.4 nurses and assistant nurses = 5th. Medical institutions cluster here, headed by the University of Tsukuba Hospital. From Reiwa 7 the city has run a "Tsukuba City Holiday and Night-time Digital Emergency Centre" for patients of all ages. On the other hand, 4.4 general hospitals per 100,000 people ranks 26th — this is a town with a high density of clinics and doctors rather than a large number of big hospitals.

Shopping is self-contained around each stationThere are shopping centres in front of the Tsukuba, Kenkyu-Gakuen and Midorino TX stations, and city hall stands in front of Kenkyu-Gakuen Sta. In the prefecture's comparison, 361,346 m² of retail floor space ranks 2nd and ¥590,694 million of goods sold ranks 2nd. Gross municipal product of ¥1,573,844 million is 1st in the prefecture, municipal tax per resident of ¥95.72 thousand is also 1st, and a fiscal strength index of 1.072 ranks 3rd — the numbers show that the jobs and the tax base are inside the city.

Sources: school, class and pupil numbers fromTsukuba City, "Tsukuba Statistics 2024 (Reiwa 6 edition)" (PDF), Tables 51 and 52 (as of 1 May each year, from the Education Bureau's school basic survey results / Reiwa 6: 51 schools, 997 classes, 23,583 pupils / primary + lower stage 707 classes and 16,260 pupils, lower-secondary + upper stage 290 classes and 7,323 pupils / Heisei 26: 746 classes, 19,656 pupils / Heisei 15: 18,115 pupils / Heisei 30: 46 schools, Reiwa 5: 49, Reiwa 6: 51) and, in the same PDF, "Tsukuba City at a glance within Ibaraki Prefecture" (543.8 doctors, 1st / 95.1 dentists, 1st / 80.0 general clinics, 2nd / 1,551.4 nurses and assistant nurses, 5th / 4.4 general hospitals, 26th / retail floor space 361,346 m², 2nd / goods sold ¥590,694 million, 2nd / gross municipal product ¥1,573,844 million, 1st / municipal tax per resident ¥95.72 thousand, 1st / fiscal strength index 1.072, 3rd) / Maru-fuku fromthe same, "Medical Welfare Payment Scheme (Maru-fuku)" (updated 2026-05-01 / children covered from the day of birth to the end of the school year in which they turn 18, "there is no income restriction" / co-payments: outpatient up to ¥600 a day per hospital (up to twice a month per hospital), inpatient up to ¥300 a day (capped at ¥3,000 a month), dispensing pharmacies free) / the holiday and night-time digital emergency centre fromthe same announcement / community schools fromthe same, "What is distinctive about our schools"/ Verified 2026-08-22

What are summer and winter like in Tsukuba?

The Meteorological Agency's station here is "Tsukuba (Tateno)". The annual mean is 14.3°C and annual rainfall 1,326.0 mm. 🔴 There are 2.8 tropical nights a year — less than a sixth of Tokyo's 17.8 — and the August daily minimum is 22.1°C. Hot by day (August daily high 30.6°C, 4.1 days above 35°C), cooler by night. On the other hand there are 80.3 frost days (minimum below 0°C) a year: one day in four is below freezing. Even so, 0.0 days a year stay below freezing, so the afternoon always climbs above zero. Total snowfall is 13 centimetres a year, maximum depth 7 centimetres. January gets 206.8 hours of sunshine and the year 2,014.5, so winters are clear and dry, with the dry cold wind the city calls the "Tsukuba-oroshi". The wettest month is October at 193.5 mm.

CHAPTER 08What it costs you every year after you buy

Tsukuba's fixed asset tax is 1.4% (the standard rate) and its city planning tax 0.15% (the cap is 0.3%). Inside the urbanisation promotion area that is 1.55% in total, on the low side even by this site's standards (Mito 1.6%, Matsue 1.6%, Wakayama 1.7%). What is unusual is what the planning tax applies to: "the whole urbanisation promotion area, plus land and buildings inside the sewered area of the urbanisation control area" — even in a control area, if the sewer has reached you, the planning tax applies. Water and sewerage come to ¥16,445 for 45 cubic metres over two months. Water charges were revised in April 2025 and sewerage charges in April 2026, one after the other.

Water + sewerage (13 mm meter, two months, tax included)

Category	Standing charge	Usage	Total
Water The included allowance was abolished in April 2025	¥2,420	¥5,830	¥8,250
Sewerage Revised April 2026, the first change in 20 years	¥1,870	¥6,325	¥8,195
45 cubic metres over two months	—	—	¥16,445

City planning tax of 0.15% — and it applies in the control area tooIn the city's words: "City planning tax rate: 0.15% (cap 0.3%)", applied to "the whole urbanisation promotion area, plus land and buildings inside the sewered area of the urbanisation control area". Tsukuba has levied it since FY Heisei 19. "No planning tax because it is a control area" does not hold in Tsukuba. What decides it is whether the sewer has reached you. The fixed asset tax is 1.4% (the standard rate), and for residential land the first 200 square metres are assessed at one sixth of value (one third for the planning tax). As §4 shows, the median plot in Tsukuba is 226 square metres, so most houses have some land above the 200-square-metre line.

Water and sewerage both went up, one after the otherWater charges were revised on 1 April 2025. The city gives the reasons as "rising operating costs from energy and general price increases, the ageing of mains and related facilities and disaster-preparedness work, and eliminating the parts of Tsukuba City still without mains water", and it abolished the "included allowance" (up to 20 m³ over two months) for 13 to 25 mm meters. Sewerage charges were revised on 1 April 2026. The city writes: "Tsukuba City's sewerage charges had been left unchanged for about 20 years since the revision in 2006." To soften the change it created a new band at 10 m³ and below with a lower unit rate. Meters are read once every two months, in odd or even months depending on the area.

We could not find a relocation grant for movers from Tokyo's 23 wards on the city's siteOn 2026-08-22 we worked through "Living and procedures", "City government" and "Town planning and businesses" on Tsukuba City's official site, but could not find a page describing the relocation grant for people moving from Tokyo's 23 wards (the Waku-Waku Ibaraki Life programme). What the city does offer instead is the Tsukuba City Akiya Utilisation Subsidy (50% of renovation costs up to ¥500,000 / 50% of furniture-clearance costs up to ¥100,000, see §4) and the Tsukuba City Safe Home Renovation Subsidy. Ibaraki Prefecture's "Waku-Waku Ibaraki Life" programme (¥1,000,000 per household, ¥600,000 for a single person, plus up to ¥1,000,000 for each household member under 18) covers moves into the prefecture, but it is run municipality by municipality. Please ask Tsukuba City directly whether you can use it there.

Household finances in a town that is growingAs §1 shows, Tsukuba's population grew 34.9% in 19 years. A town that is growing has little need to attract movers with grants — the point above is the other side of that coin. Meanwhile a fiscal strength index of 1.072 ranks 3rd in the prefecture (§7). That means the city's tax revenue covers its spending. Few subsidies, but a healthy municipal purse — that is the closest description of what money looks like in Tsukuba.

Sources: fixed asset tax fromTsukuba City, "An outline of the fixed asset tax" ("taxable base × 1.4% (standard rate)" / exemption thresholds: land ¥300,000, buildings ¥200,000, depreciable assets ¥1,500,000), city planning tax fromthe same, "An outline of the city planning tax" ("City planning tax rate: 0.15% (cap 0.3%)" / applied to "the whole urbanisation promotion area, plus land and buildings inside the sewered area of the urbanisation control area" / levied in Tsukuba City since FY Heisei 19), the residential-land relief fromthe same, "Special assessment rules for residential land" / water charges fromthe same, "Notice of revised water charges" (revised 2025-04-01, included allowance abolished) and the revision leaflet (two months, tax included / 13 mm meter standing charge ¥2,420 / 1–20 m³ ¥44, 21–40 m³ ¥187, 41–80 m³ ¥242), sewerage charges fromthe same, "Sewerage charges" (updated 2026-04-01, two months, tax included / standing charge ¥1,870 / 10 m³ and under ¥88, over 10 up to 40 m³ ¥154, over 40 up to 200 m³ ¥165) andthe same, "Notice of revised sewerage charges" (revised 2026-04-01, "left unchanged for about 20 years since the revision in 2006").The figure for 45 m³ over two months was calculated by this site from these tariffs (water = 2,420 + 20 × 44 + 20 × 187 + 5 × 242 = ¥8,250 / sewerage = 1,870 + 10 × 88 + 30 × 154 + 5 × 165 = ¥8,195) / subsidies fromthe same, "Tsukuba City Akiya Utilisation Subsidy"andthe same, "Housing" / the Ibaraki relocation grant fromIbaraki Prefecture, "Re:BARAKI relocation portal — relocation grant" (Waku-Waku Ibaraki Life programme / ¥1,000,000 per household / up to ¥1,000,000 more for each household member under 18 / ¥600,000 for a single person / you must consult the receiving municipality before you move). Whether Tsukuba City operates it could not be confirmed by this site / verified 2026-08-22

What support does Tsukuba offer for children and healthcare?

🔴 Children's medical costs (Maru-fuku) are covered to the end of the school year in which a child turns 18, with no income test (in the city's words, "there is no income restriction, but the income of each parent must be checked in order to confirm whether the child qualifies under the prefecture's subsidy programme"). The co-payment is up to ¥600 a day per hospital for outpatient care (up to twice a month per hospital), up to ¥300 a day for inpatient care (capped at ¥3,000 a month), and nothing at dispensing pharmacies. 🔴 The municipal primary, lower-secondary and compulsory-education schools number 51 schools, 997 classes and 23,583 pupils (1 May Reiwa 6), 30% more pupils than the 18,115 of Heisei 15, with 5 more schools than the 46 of Heisei 30. 543.8 doctors per 100,000 people is the highest in Ibaraki Prefecture, dentists are also 1st, and general clinics 2nd.

CHAPTER 09What happens when you want to sell

Residential land in Tsukuba stands at ¥77,200/m², up 5.8% year on year. That is 2.22× the Ibaraki average (¥34,800/m², +1.0%), and the rate of increase is 5.8× as fast. Commercial land is ¥168,200/m², +4.5% (2.64× the prefectural average) and all uses together ¥91,300/m², +5.6%. These figures along the Tsukuba Express are what is pulling Ibaraki's land prices up. Residential land in Mito moved ±0.0% — a striking contrast inside the same prefecture.

Use	Tsukuba City	Ibaraki Average	City / prefecture
Residential	¥77,200/m² (+5.8%)	¥34,800/m² (+1.0%)	2.22×
Commercial	¥168,200/m² (+4.5%)	¥63,600/m² (+1.0%)	2.64×
Industrial	¥81,500/m²	¥26,300/m² (+2.2%)	3.10×
All uses	¥91,300/m² (+5.6%)	¥39,900/m² (+1.0%)	2.29×

+5.8% stands out even on this siteOn other towns here, residential land usually moves somewhere between −1% and +1% (Mito ±0.0%, Matsue +0.7%, Aomori +0.4%). Tsukuba's +5.8% is in a different league from all of them. From a buyer's side it means "it keeps getting dearer"; from a seller's side, "it is going up" — two faces of the same number. As §2 shows, the median at Bampaku-Kinen-Koen Sta. and Shimana is ¥52,800,000 with a median year built of 2021. If you buy now, you have to form your own view of how long this rise runs.

Even inside one city, some places rise and some do notAs §2 shows, the median runs 3.7× from ¥14,390,000 in Kukizaki to ¥52,800,000 at Bampaku-Kinen-Koen. The +5.8% in the official land survey is an average for the whole city, and not every district is rising in the same way. It is natural to expect a readjustment district within walking distance of a TX station and a 1980s housing estate whose nearest station is on the Joban Line to move differently from here on. If you are thinking as far ahead as selling, put distance from the station first.

A young housing stock matters when you sell, tooAs §4 shows, Tsukuba's second-hand houses have a median year built of 2004, with 16% pre-1981 code. A market where a buyer can choose something new is also a market where selling an old house is hard work. In §2 we noted 48% pre-1981 code and a median year built of 1982 in Kukizaki. Buying cheap there and renovating makes good sense, but if you expect to sell in ten years, keep a record of everything you had done.

Source:Land Information Center, "[Official land price survey] (Reiwa 8) Average prices and year-on-year change by prefecture, municipality and use" (prepared 27 April Reiwa 8), Ibaraki page (Tsukuba City: residential ¥77,200/m², +5.8% / commercial ¥168,200/m², +4.5% / industrial ¥81,500/m² (no change rate given) / all uses ¥91,300/m², +5.6%. Ibaraki Prefecture: residential ¥34,800/m², +1.0% / prospective building land ¥12,800/m², +0.5% / commercial ¥63,600/m², +1.0% / industrial ¥26,300/m², +2.2% / all uses ¥39,900/m², +1.0%). The residential figures for Mito, Matsue and Aomori come from the same source used on each of those pages on this site / verified 2026-08-22

What are the property taxes and utility charges in Tsukuba?

The fixed asset tax is 1.4% (the standard rate) and the city planning tax 0.15% (the cap is 0.3%), so 1.55% in total inside the urbanisation promotion area. 🔴 What is unusual is what the planning tax applies to: "the whole urbanisation promotion area, plus land and buildings inside the sewered area of the urbanisation control area" — so it applies in the control area too, if the sewer has reached you (Tsukuba has levied it since FY Heisei 19). Water and sewerage come to ¥16,445 for 45 cubic metres over two months (water ¥8,250 + sewerage ¥8,195, 13 mm meter, tax included, calculated by this site from the city's tariffs). 🔴 Water charges were revised in April 2025, abolishing the included allowance, and sewerage charges in April 2026 — in the city's words, "left unchanged for about 20 years since the revision in 2006". Meters are read once every two months.

CHAPTER 10Who lives here, and how many

Population 263,996 in 124,495 households (2026-08-01, resident register). This chapter runs the opposite way to every other page on this site — as far back as the records go, Tsukuba's population has never fallen. From 191,582 in 2005 to 258,345 in 2024, it gained 66,763 people (34.9%) in 19 years. Households rose from 74,656 to 119,662, up 60.3%. And the share under 15, at 15.5%, is the highest in Ibaraki Prefecture, while the share aged 65 and over, 20.0%, ranks 44th.

Year (1 October)	Population	Households	Gain over ten years
2005 (Heisei 17 (2005))	191,582 people	74,656 households	—
2015 (Heisei 27 (2015))	222,818 people	94,737 households	+31,236 people
2024 (Reiwa 6 (2024))	258,345 people	119,662 households	+35,527 people
2026-08-01	263,996 people	124,495 households	of whom 15,075 are foreign residents

Nineteen years without a single fallLine up Table 1 of the city's "Tsukuba Statistics 2024" (resident register, 1 October each year) from Heisei 17 to Reiwa 6 and all 20 years are higher than the year before. The largest gain was +8,703 from Heisei 23 to 24 (development along the TX and movement after the 2011 earthquake). Of the areas this site has studied, no other has a table like this. The usual shape is a peak around 2015 followed by decline. Tsukuba alone is still growing.

Many children, few older peopleIn the prefecture's municipal comparison: the share under 15, at 15.5%, is 1st in Ibaraki, the working-age share (15–64) of 64.5% is also 1st, and the share aged 65 and over, 20.0%, ranks 44th (out of 44 municipalities). The birth rate of 9.1 per 1,000 is 1st and the death rate of 8.7 ranks 43rd. As §7 shows, school rolls are up 30% since Heisei 15, to 23,583. In Tsukuba, "a young town" is not a slogan but a set of numbers. The unmarried share of 29.04% is also 1st in the prefecture — researchers, students and young single people show up here too.

Households are growing faster than peopleOver 19 years, the population rose 34.9% and households 60.3%. People per household fell from 2.57 to 2.16. In the prefecture's comparison, 2.15 people per household ranks 44th — the smallest of all. This feeds straight into what kind of housing is wanted. More single and two-person households means strong demand for smaller homes, flats and rentals. The high median of ¥33,850,000 for a second-hand house in §4 has to be read alongside the high incomes of the people buying detached houses (municipal tax per resident is 1st in the prefecture).

Sources: population and household history fromTsukuba City, "Tsukuba Statistics 2024 (Reiwa 6 edition)" (PDF), Table 1 "Population and households by sex (resident register)" (as of 1 October each year / Heisei 17: 191,582 people, 74,656 households / Heisei 27: 222,818 people, 94,737 households / Reiwa 6: 258,345 people, 119,662 households / Heisei 23: 207,628 → Heisei 24: 216,331) and, in the same PDF, "Tsukuba City at a glance within Ibaraki Prefecture" (share under 15: 15.5%, 1st / share 15–64: 64.5%, 1st / share 65 and over: 20.0%, 44th / birth rate 9.1 per 1,000, 1st / death rate 8.7, 43rd / unmarried share 29.04%, 1st / people per household 2.15, 44th / municipal tax per resident ¥95.72 thousand, 1st) / the population, households and foreign residents for 2026-08-01 fromthe same, "Population by administrative district, FY Reiwa 8", the 2026-08 sheet (Excel), tallied by this site. People per household were calculated by this site from the population and household figures in that table / verified 2026-08-22

Share of foreign residents

5.59%national average 3.26%

Of the 262,066 people living in Tsukuba City, 14,651 are foreign residents. That is above the national average of 3.26%.
Across Japan, foreign residents make up 3.26% of the total population (4,031,159 out of 123,767,642). In 34 municipalities nationwide the share is 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 there a relocation grant for Tsukuba City?

🔴 We searched the city's official site on 2026-08-22 and could not find a page describing the relocation grant for people moving from Tokyo's 23 wards (the Waku-Waku Ibaraki Life programme). Ibaraki Prefecture's "Re:BARAKI" site does describe a scheme worth ¥1,000,000 per household, ¥600,000 for a single person, plus up to ¥1,000,000 for each household member under 18, but it is run municipality by municipality and you must consult the receiving municipality before you move. Please ask Tsukuba City directly whether you can use it there. What the city does offer instead is the Tsukuba City Akiya Utilisation Subsidy (50% of renovation costs up to ¥500,000 / 50% of furniture-clearance costs up to ¥100,000) and the Tsukuba City Safe Home Renovation Subsidy.

CHAPTER 11Community life and the year's events

Tsukuba has an ordinance on removing utility poles. It took effect on 30 September Heisei 28 and provides that "in designated pole-free zones, the removal of poles and the installation of street lighting are required, and in other districts efforts must be made to remove poles where certain conditions are met". The city explains why: "The central district around Tsukuba Sta. and the areas in front of each station along the Tsukuba Express were developed to a plan, so they are free of utility poles, and this has created a fine streetscape." This is a town that protects its pole-free streets by ordinance.

Pole-free streets, protected by ordinanceThe city continues: "However, from Heisei 17 the sale of national civil-servant housing began, and in new development on those sites places have appeared where cables are strung overhead" and "removing poles plays a large part not only in a fine landscape but in improving the city's disaster resilience and keeping traffic moving, so this must be carried forward." In a pole-free zone, a developer must bear the cost of putting cables underground. That matters to anyone building or buying a house — the conditions for development change depending on whether you are inside or outside a zone. If you are looking for land, be sure to look at the pole-free zone map.

The unit of community life is the "administrative district"As §1 notes, the city publishes population monthly for each administrative district (over 300 of them in the 2026-08 sheet). Under the six districts of Yatabe, Sakura, Oho, Toyosato, Tsukuba and Kukizaki sit these smaller units. Not quite 40 years since the merger of 1987, the science city district is a new town the national government built, and beyond it lie long-established hamlets and farmland — both inside the same city. When you move in, the first thing you do is meet the officers of your own administrative district. How close-knit that is varies a great deal from district to district.

The events here are those of a city of scienceThe city keeps pages on "a city of science and technology" and the "Tsukuba Super Science City concept", and has been selected as an SDGs Future City. Open days at research institutes, science events — Tsukuba's distinctive feature is that it holds dozens of genuine ones you can take a child to. And then there is cycling. The city promotes itself as "Tsukuba, the cycling city" and has a partnership agreement with a professional team. The Rin-Rin Road, built on the trackbed of the old Tsukuba Railway, runs along the foot of Mt. Tsukuba.

Mt. Tsukuba, and the festivals of the old towns and villagesThe former Tsukuba Town, home of Tsukuba-san Shrine, and the old streets of Hojo — as §5 records, this belt was badly damaged by the 2012 tornado, but the shopping street has since been rebuilt. The city centre, the foot of Mt. Tsukuba and the Kukizaki housing estates spend the year in completely different ways. Which of the seven areas in §2 you live in changes your community life as well — think of Tsukuba less as one town than as a city where seven ways of living sit side by side.

Sources: the pole-removal ordinance fromTsukuba City, "Tsukuba City Ordinance on the Removal of Utility Poles" (in force from 30 September Heisei 28 / "The central district around Tsukuba Sta. and the areas in front of each station along the Tsukuba Express were developed to a plan, so they are free of utility poles, and this has created a fine streetscape" / in a pole-free zone, whoever requests the laying of cables bears the cost of putting them underground) / administrative districts fromthe same, "Population by administrative district" / science and technology, the SDGs and cycling fromthe same, "What Tsukuba City is doing" (a city of science and technology / the Tsukuba Super Science City concept / SDGs Future City / Tsukuba, the cycling city / a partnership agreement with the Yowamushi Pedal Cycling Team) / dates and content change from year to year. Please check with the organiser before you go / verified 2026-08-22

Are land prices in Tsukuba rising?

🔴 Yes. Residential land stands at ¥77,200/m², up 5.8% year on year (Reiwa 8 official land price survey). That is 2.22× the Ibaraki average (¥34,800/m², +1.0%), and rising 5.8× as fast. Commercial land is ¥168,200/m², +4.5% and all uses together ¥91,300/m², +5.6%. Residential land in other towns on this site usually moves between −1% and +1% (Mito ±0.0%, Matsue +0.7%, Aomori +0.4%), so Tsukuba's +5.8% is in another league. From a buyer's side it means "it keeps getting dearer"; from a seller's side, "it is going up" — two faces of the same number. Note, though, that the median varies 3.7× within the city (§2), so this +5.8% is an average for the whole of it.

CHAPTER 12Things nearby that move land prices

What moves land in Tsukuba is the Tsukuba Express. Since it opened in 2005, land readjustment has gone ahead in front of Kenkyu-Gakuen, Bampaku-Kinen-Koen and Midorino stations, producing the new residential districts of §2 with median years built of 2018 and 2021. The result is the +5.8% for residential land in §9. And inside the city sit the national research institutes and the University of Tsukuba — employment that does not move: gross municipal product of ¥1,573,844 million is 1st in Ibaraki, and municipal tax per resident is 1st as well.

"The readjustment is not finished"Look at Bampaku-Kinen-Koen Sta. and Shimana in §2 (median year built 2021), or the new heading of "Kamigawarazaki–Nakanishi area", 83,866 people, that has appeared in the city's population table — Tsukuba is a town still being built. That cuts both ways. New houses keep coming, so there is more to choose from, but as long as supply continues, the house you buy today keeps ceasing to be the newest one. Whether the +5.8% of §9 continues depends on how far this readjustment runs.

Research institutes and the university are the base of employmentIn the prefecture's comparison, 78.20% of employment in the tertiary sector ranks 2nd and a 30.22% ratio of people working within the city ranks 8th. Gross municipal product of ¥1,573,844 million is 1st in the prefecture, far ahead of second place (which includes Mito). Tsukuba Science City was built by the national government, and research institutes do not move easily. A commuter town for Tokyo and, at the same time, a town with well-paid work inside it — that double character is what holds Tsukuba's land up.

The pole-removal ordinance, and the value of a streetscapeAs §11 notes, the Tsukuba City Ordinance on the Removal of Utility Poles obliges developers to put cables underground inside a pole-free zone. A street without poles is itself an asset value. Meanwhile, on the sites left by the sale of national civil-servant housing (which began in Heisei 17), the city writes that places have appeared where cables are strung overhead. Two listings can both say "◯ minutes' walk from Tsukuba Sta." and look quite different depending on whether there are poles. Walk the street and look up.

Farming is part of this town tooFrom the city's strategy for sixth-sector industrialisation: "One major feature of farming in this city is peri-urban agriculture in which producing and consuming areas adjoin each other, because a leading national science city has been built here and, with development along the Tsukuba Express, many new residents have come to live." Beside 3,211 hectares of paddy rice, the planted area includes 830 hectares of "other crops" — much of it turf. The city explains that "the northern and eastern districts practise land-based farming centred on rice, the western district grows turf, and the southern district is strong in vegetables". If you are looking for land in the urbanisation control area, seeing what is grown around it tells you a lot about the life there.

Sources: the prefectural rankings for industry and finance fromTsukuba City, "Tsukuba Statistics 2024 (Reiwa 6 edition)" (PDF), "Tsukuba City at a glance within Ibaraki Prefecture" (gross municipal product ¥1,573,844 million, 1st in the prefecture / municipal tax per resident ¥95.72 thousand, 1st / tertiary sector 78.20% of employment, 2nd / 30.22% working within the city, 8th) / the pole-removal ordinance fromthe same, "Tsukuba City Ordinance on the Removal of Utility Poles" / farming fromthe same, "Sixth-sector industrialisation in Tsukuba City"and, linked from it, "Tsukuba City strategy for sixth-sector industrialisation" (PDF) ("peri-urban agriculture in which producing and consuming areas adjoin each other" / "the northern and eastern districts practise land-based farming centred on rice, the western district grows turf, and the southern district is strong in vegetables" / planted area: paddy rice 3,211 ha, soybeans 163 ha, welsh onion 77 ha, six-row barley 49 ha, other crops 830 ha / fruit: chestnut 33 ha, Japanese pear 13 ha, grapes 7 ha / designated by the national government in December Heisei 29 as the "Tsukuba Wine and Fruit Liquor" structural reform special zone) / land prices as in §9 / verified 2026-08-22

Is Tsukuba's population falling?

🔴 No. As far back as the records go, it has never fallen. On the resident register (1 October each year) it went from 191,582 in 2005 to 222,818 in 2015 to 258,345 in 2024, a gain of 66,763 (34.9%) in 19 years, with households up 60.3% from 74,656 to 119,662. The biggest single gain was +8,703 from Heisei 23 to 24. In the prefecture's municipal comparison, the share under 15 (15.5%) is 1st, the share aged 15–64 (64.5%) is also 1st, the share aged 65 and over (20.0%) ranks 44th, and the birth rate of 9.1 per 1,000 is 1st. 🔴 At the same time, people per household have fallen from 2.57 to 2.16, and 2.15 people per household ranks 44th in the prefecture — single and two-person households are rising alongside everything else.

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.

¥664,500,000

Hometown tax donations received in FY Reiwa 7 (14,200 donations).
473rd of 1,788 municipalities nationwide, and 17th within Ibaraki Prefecture

What this town names as its own products

Tsukuba City lists only four things under the heading "~ Tsukuba City's specialities ~": rice, blueberries, welsh onions and turf. In the words of the 3rd Tsukuba City Agriculture Master Plan, "for rice, welsh onions, blueberries and turf, we will work with agricultural bodies and producer groups to support promotion and production, including publicising these specialities". Agricultural output for the city is ¥7,300,000,000, of which rice is ¥3,010,000,000 (41.2%) and vegetables ¥2,680,000,000 (36.7%) — Tsukuba is the only town on this site that lists turf among its specialities.Rice (¥3,010,000,000, or 41.2%, of the city's ¥7,300,000,000 agricultural output, and the mainstay of Tsukuba farming. Planted area 3,211 hectares of paddy. In the city's words, "the northern and eastern districts practise land-based farming centred on rice"), Turf (one of the four specialities. As the city writes, "the western district grows turf", and the belt west of Kenkyu-Gakuen is where it comes from. Most of the 830 hectares of "other crops" is this turf. The grass in gardens, parks and stadiums comes from this city), Welsh onion (one of the four specialities. Planted area 77 hectares. In the city's words, "the southern district is strong in vegetables" — vegetables account for ¥2,680,000,000, or 36.7%, of output, second only to rice), Blueberries (one of the four specialities. There are pick-your-own farms in the city), Tsukuba wine (in December Heisei 29 (2017) the city was designated by the national government as the "Tsukuba Wine and Fruit Liquor" structural reform special zone. In the city's words, "because the minimum production volume for fruit wines made from local products was lowered, small producers can now obtain a liquor production licence" — the first such designation in Ibaraki Prefecture, and the city is promoting the growing of wine grapes), Chestnuts (33 hectares), Japanese pears (13 hectares) and grapes (7 hectares) (planted areas for fruit given in the city's sixth-sector strategy. The grapes connect to Tsukuba wine above), Soybeans (163 hectares) and six-row barley (49 hectares) (planted areas from the same document. They sustain the land-based farming of this flat plateau), For reference, the city describes the single greatest feature of farming here as follows: "One major feature of farming in this city is peri-urban agriculture in which producing and consuming areas adjoin each other, because a leading national science city has been built here and, with development along the Tsukuba Express, many new residents have come to live." The place it is grown and the people who eat it are in the same city (§12).

Source:Tsukuba City, "3rd Tsukuba City Agriculture Master Plan" (PDF) = lists rice, blueberries, welsh onions and turf under "~ Tsukuba City's specialities ~" / "for rice, welsh onions, blueberries and turf, we will work with agricultural bodies and producer groups to support promotion and production, including publicising these specialities" / agricultural output for Reiwa 4 (2022) ¥7,300,000,000, rice ¥3,010,000,000 (41.2%), vegetables ¥2,680,000,000 (36.7%) (source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "Agricultural output by municipality (estimate), R4") / "a wide range of produce is grown, including rice, vegetables, fruit, flowers, turf and livestock products" / designated by the national government in December Heisei 29 (2017) as the "Tsukuba Wine and Fruit Liquor" special zone / the goal it sets: "Farming that gathers many strengths and carries them to the next generation"／the same, "Sixth-sector industrialisation in Tsukuba City", and the "Tsukuba City strategy for sixth-sector industrialisation" (PDF) linked from it = "peri-urban agriculture in which producing and consuming areas adjoin each other" / "the northern and eastern districts practise land-based farming centred on rice, the western district grows turf, and the southern district is strong in vegetables" / planted area: paddy rice 3,211 ha, soybeans 163 ha, welsh onion 77 ha, six-row barley 49 ha, other crops 830 ha / fruit: chestnut 33 ha, Japanese pear 13 ha, grapes 7 ha/ Verified 2026-08-22

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 Tsukuba City through the hometown tax scheme →

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 is community life like in Tsukuba?

The unit of community life is the administrative district, and the city publishes population monthly for each of them. Above those sit six districts — Yatabe (125,356), Sakura (62,965), Kukizaki (22,722), Oho (20,573), Toyosato (16,430) and Tsukuba (15,941) — which are exactly the areas of Oho Town, Toyosato Town, Yatabe Town and Sakura Village, which merged in 1987, Tsukuba Town in 1988 and Kukizaki Town in 2002. 🔴 The science city district is a new town the national government built, and beyond it lie long-established hamlets and farmland — both inside the same city. 🔴 Tsukuba also has an ordinance on removing utility poles, under which "in designated pole-free zones, the removal of poles and the installation of street lighting are required". This is a town that protects its pole-free streets by ordinance.

CHAPTER 14A message from Tsukuba City

Tsukuba City's master plan is the "Tsukuba City Vision for the Future", carried out through a "Strategic Plan". The time frame is unusual, and the city puts it like this: "Based on the idea of planning a town on a hundred-year view — a 'hundred-year plan for town-building' — [...] the planning period runs to the middle of the 21st century, around Reiwa 32 (2050)." The guiding idea is "building the future on connections". There are four pictures of the town it aims to be, and the fourth is "a city that puts science and technology to work for its residents".

The town it aims to be	In the city's words
I. A town whose appeal we create together	"A town where residents take the lead, where faces are known across many different communities, where people connect with people, and where the appeal that only Tsukuba has is raised up and shown to the world"
II. A town where everyone can live as themselves	"A town where no one is left behind, where each person's security is protected, where welfare reaches every corner of the community, and where everyone who gathers in Tsukuba can live as themselves, rich in nature and full of happiness"
III. A town that raises the people who will make the future	"A town that raises people who know their own community and the world, who think about the future, and who act for themselves so that a better future can be handed to the next generation"
IV. A city that puts science and technology to work for its residents	"A town that makes the fullest use of the fruits of science and technology to improve residents' daily lives and the global environment, that helps solve problems, and that generates innovation for society"

Young staff went to see "the picture of 2030" in a time machineIn the city's words: "As a milestone on the way to what we aim to achieve by the middle of the 21st century, we have used backcasting to set out a concrete picture of the city as 'the picture of 2030'. A working team of young staff, working from the idea of boarding a time machine and going to see the future of Reiwa 12 (2030), produced 17 pictures of the future in all, one set for each of the four 'towns we aim to be'." As a way of drawing up a municipal plan, that is decidedly unusual. So is the time frame — "a hundred-year plan for town-building", "to around 2050". Fitting, you might say, for a city of science.

"Building the future on connections" — the problem a growing town hasThe city explains the idea: "Within many different communities, we will build connections where faces are known, so that new attempts generate fresh energy for the town, and that in turn creates a further virtuous circle, and so we build the future." As §1 and §10 show, Tsukuba is a town whose population rose 34.9% in 19 years and whose residents are 5.7% foreign. Having many people who have just arrived means that unless "connection" is built deliberately, a town comes apart. That the city puts connection at the very top of its guiding idea is an answer to a problem particular to growing towns. For anyone moving in, this is not somebody else's business either.

Where to ask, and what this page isThe akiya bank and the Akiya Utilisation Subsidy are handled by the Housing Policy Division, Construction Department, and city hall is at 1-1-1 Kenkyu-Gakuen, Tsukuba City (tel. 029-883-1111). As §8 notes, we could not find any information on the city's site about the relocation grant for movers from Tokyo's 23 wards. Please ask the city directly whether you can use it. This site gathers the city's official information with sources attached; it does not speak for the city. Schemes, prices and charges (especially the water and sewerage figures in §8) change. Always check the city's latest pages and its offices. And as §2 shows, Tsukuba is a city where seven ways of living sit side by side. Do not decide on the name of the city alone — walk from the house you are considering to its nearest station and see.

Source:Tsukuba City, "Tsukuba City Vision for the Future and Strategic Plan" (updated 2025-12-11 / "Based on the idea of planning a town on a hundred-year view — a 'hundred-year plan for town-building' … the planning period runs to the middle of the 21st century, around Reiwa 32 (2050)" / guiding idea: "building the future on connections" / four pictures of the town it aims to be (I. A town whose appeal we create together / II. A town where everyone can live as themselves / III. A town that raises the people who will make the future / IV. A city that puts science and technology to work for its residents) / "the picture of 2030" = produced by backcasting, by a working team of young staff working from the idea of "boarding a time machine and going to see the future of Reiwa 12 (2030)", 17 pictures in all / the Strategic Plan runs five years) / the contact office fromthe same, "Tsukuba City Akiya Bank scheme" (Housing Policy Division, Construction Department) / verified 2026-08-22

What kind of town does Tsukuba City aim to be?

Its master plan is the "Tsukuba City Vision for the Future" and its "Strategic Plan". 🔴 The time frame is unusual: the city writes that "based on the idea of planning a town on a hundred-year view — a 'hundred-year plan for town-building' … the planning period runs to the middle of the 21st century, around Reiwa 32 (2050)". The guiding idea is "building the future on connections". There are four pictures of the town it aims to be: I. A town whose appeal we create together / II. A town where everyone can live as themselves / III. A town that raises the people who will make the future / IV. A city that puts science and technology to work for its residents. 🔴 The interim milestone, "the picture of 2030", was produced by a working team of young staff working from the idea of "boarding a time machine and going to see the future of Reiwa 12 (2030)", as 17 pictures of the future.

CHAPTER 15A year in Tsukuba

A year in Tsukuba is made of dry winters and summers with cool nights. January is the sunniest month, with 206.8 hours. Rainfall is at its lowest in winter: February 47.1 mm, December 48.5 mm, January 50.6 mm. But there are 80.3 frost days a year, so one day in four falls below freezing. In summer there are 2.8 tropical nights — less than a sixth of Tokyo's. The wettest month is October, at 193.5 mm. And May is the month the tornado struck (§5) — a season when warm air meets cold air aloft, as it is worth knowing.

Season	What there is
Winter (December to February)	January daily high 9.3°C, daily low −2.8°C. There are 80.3 frost days a year (and 0.0 days below freezing all day), with frost in the mornings. Sunshine is 206.8 hours in January and 185.7 in December, and rainfall 50.6 mm in January and 48.5 in December. Total snowfall is 13 centimetres a year, maximum depth 7 centimetres. The dry cold wind the city calls the "Tsukuba-oroshi" blows through
Spring (March to May)	Daily highs of 13.6°C in March and 22.7°C in May. This is the season of plum and cherry blossom on Mt. Tsukuba and of the Rin-Rin Road. 6 May is the day the tornado struck in 2012 — spring and early summer are when warm air most easily meets cold air aloft (§5). Watch for the Meteorological Agency's tornado advisories
Rainy season (June to July)	131.8 mm in June, 134.6 mm in July. Daily highs of 25.2°C in June and 29.1°C in July. Being up on the plateau, drainage is on the good side, but as §5 shows, the low ground along the rivers is a different matter
Summer (August)	August daily high 30.6°C, daily low 22.1°C, rainfall 118.2 mm. There are 2.8 tropical nights a year, less than a sixth of Tokyo's 17.8. 4.1 days above 35°C and 43.6 above 30°C — a Tsukuba summer is hot by day and cooler by night
Autumn (September to November)	The wettest month of the year is October, at 193.5 mm, followed by September at 187.6. Daily highs of 26.8°C in September, 21.3°C in October and 16.3°C in November. When it drops to 79.1 mm in November, the dry winter begins. The autumn colours on Mt. Tsukuba come at this time

Sources: the climate as in §6 (Japan Meteorological Agency, normals for Tsukuba (Tateno), 1991–2020) / the tornado as in §5 (Tsukuba City, "Information relating to the tornado") / the "Tsukuba-oroshi" fromTsukuba City, "Location and Terrain" / dates and content change from year to year. Please check with the organiser before you go / verified 2026-08-22

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.

What are Tsukuba's local specialities?

🔴 The city lists only four things under the heading "~ Tsukuba City's specialities ~": rice, blueberries, welsh onions and turf (3rd Tsukuba City Agriculture Master Plan). Tsukuba is the only town on this site with turf among its specialities, and the city says as much: "the western district grows turf". Agricultural output is ¥7,300,000,000, of which rice is ¥3,010,000,000 (41.2%) and vegetables ¥2,680,000,000 (36.7%). 🔴 And in December Heisei 29 (2017) it became the first place in Ibaraki Prefecture designated by the national government as a structural reform special zone, the "Tsukuba Wine and Fruit Liquor" zone, and the city is promoting the growing of wine grapes. In the city's words this is "peri-urban agriculture in which producing and consuming areas adjoin each other" — the place it is grown and the people who eat it are in the same city.

CHAPTER 16The people who run this city

When you are thinking about moving somewhere, who is running the town now and where they are trying to take it is, I think, something a future resident wants to know even more than a current one. This chapter sets out, with sources, only what Tsukuba City publishes itself. 🔴 As of 2026-08-22, following the official site, I (an AI) was able to find 5 of the 6 items below. The mayor of Tsukuba City is Tatsuo Igarashi (confirmed on the city's introduction page).

What is published	Published	What you can read
About the mayor	The Mayor's Room	Name, career, greeting
Policy address	Approach to running the city and outline of principal policies	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	Minutes of the 30th Public Transport Revitalisation Council (PDF	Whether you can search past debates by wording
Master plan	Tsukuba City Vision for the Future and Strategic Plan	How many years ahead this town has decided

The mayor of Tsukuba CityTatsuo Igarashi. The page carrying that name was last updated2024-12-03.
🔴 Age and gender have not been guessed from the name.Only what is published is reproduced here, as published.Tsukuba 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 decidedTsukuba City publishesthe Tsukuba City Vision for the Future and Strategic 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.Tsukuba City Vision for the Future and Strategic 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 (Tsukuba 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 Tsukuba City now?

The mayor of Tsukuba City is Tatsuo Igarashi (confirmed on the city's introduction page on 2026-08-22). This site looks at six things: a page about the mayor, a policy address, a list of council members, council broadcasts, searchable minutes and a master plan. 🔴 No judgement of good or bad is made. Only whether each is published or not.

CHAPTER 17Where to go on a day off

Days off never appear in the numbers you use to find a house, yet they bear directly on how content you are once you live there. This chapter counts, on the same measure for every area, the places you can go on a day off in Tsukuba and the places family and friends can stay. This area currently has 5 hot springs and day baths, 1 amusement park, zoo or aquarium, and 1 RV park. 🔴 Every count is the number registered in the map data (OpenStreetMap) — in reality there may be more.

What	Number counted, and names
♨ Hot springs and day baths	Hirasuna-buro, Tsukuba Wellness Park, Tsukuba YOU World, Mt. Tsukuba Onsen Tsukuba-no-Yu, Tsukuba Onsen Kirari Bettei (5)
🏯 Castles and castle sites	Not found in the map data
🎡 Amusement parks, zoos and aquariums	Tsukuba Wan Wan Land
🖼 Museums, galleries and memorial halls	Science Museum of Map and Survey, Ibaraki Prefectural Tsukuba Museum of Art, Oda Castle Site Information Centre, Geological Museum, AIST-Cube, Museum of Food and Agriculture, Tsukuba Expo Center (7)
⛩ Shrines and temples	129 shrines, 29 temples. Those with a Wikipedia entry: Chikatsu Shrine, Tosai-ji, Hoan-ji, Kozan-ji, Kanki-in, Yasaka Shrine, Sanko Inari Shrine, Yoko-ji
🚗 Roadside stations	Not found in the map data
🐕 Dog runs	1 (no name registered in the map data)

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

What	Number counted
🏨 Hotels and ryokan	25
🏠 Guesthouses and hostels	10
⛺ Campsites and auto-campsites	Fontaine no Mori, Kukizaki Komorebi Rokuto no Mori (2)
🏕 Glamping	Not found among the campsite or hotel names
🚐 RV parks (overnight in your vehicle)	RV Park Tsukuba

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/ Verified 2026-08-22

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

Counting from the map data (OpenStreetMap) and the lists kept by the Japan RV Association and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, there are 5 hot springs and day baths, 1 amusement park, zoo or aquarium, 25 hotels and ryokan and 1 RV park. Facilities not on the map are not counted, so in reality 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 Tsukuba City, and the total was 53 points (measured 22 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	0 / 20	Not found
Housing	4 / 15	There is an akiya bank
The money side of living here	5 / 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	18 / 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?	8 / 10	Every page carries an updated date; there is a sitemap.xml; statistics are published as Excel or CSV; and 1 more

See all 30 items and the pages used to judge them

0 / 3　There is a relocation and settlement page
Not found 0 / 3　There is a dedicated relocation site
Only pages within the official site 0 / 3　A contact point (department, telephone, opening hours)
0 of department, telephone and opening hours were stated 0 / 5　Support schemes state amounts and conditions
Not found 0 / 3　There is trial housing or a trial-stay scheme
Not found 0 / 3　Vacancies in trial housing are published
Not found 4 / 4　There is an akiya bank
There is a municipal akiya bank 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 1 / 5　Water and sewerage charges are readable from a rate table
There is a water and sewerage page　Go and see → 1 / 5　Child-raising support is specific about amounts and scope
There is a child-raising page　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
14 documents 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
The Tsukuba City seismic retrofit promotion plan was drawn up in March Heisei 20　Go and see → 2 / 4　Is it machine-readable (a map system or a text PDF)?
It appears to be a scanned-image PDF　Go and see → 3 / 3　Disasters are announced through more than one channel
Disaster email / disaster app / social media / municipal loudspeakers / TV and radio　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
15 fiscal years are recorded　Go and see → 2 / 2　There are support schemes for businesses and industry
Application for permission to use (or change use of) the coworking space at the Tsukuba City Industry Promotion Centre　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
Changes from 1 April Reiwa 8　Go and see → 3 / 3　Every page carries an updated date
20 of the 20 pages read　Go and see → 2 / 2　There is a sitemap.xml
　Go and see → 0 / 2　Site search runs on the server side
We could not find a search form　Go and see → 2 / 2　Statistics are published as Excel or CSV
　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 2026-08-22

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 Kanto region

Utsunomiya (53 min from Tokyo by shinkansen, a town with a brand-new LRT line)Utsunomiya City, Tochigilistings618 listings / ¥1,980,000–NasuNasushiobara City and Nasu Town, Tochigilistings198 listings / ¥1,200,000–Annaka (the Usui Pass)Annaka City, Gunmalistings51 listings / ¥800,000–Maebashi (the southern foot of Mt. Akagi)Maebashi City, Gunmalistings576 listings / ¥2,500,000–

Places you could look at for a similar price

Kofu (1 hr 28 min to Shinjuku by limited express; the castle town of Takeda Shingen and a city of jewellery)Yamanashi Prefecture, Kofu Citylistings239 listings / ¥1,600,000–Beppu (the hot spring town with the most sources and the greatest flow in Japan)Beppu City, Oitalistings132 listings / ¥1,500,000–Kirishima (the town with Kagoshima Airport, the Kirishima range and Kinko Bay)Kirishima City, Kagoshimalistings103 listings / ¥1,500,000–Miyazaki (10 min to the airport by rail, a town of sunshine and clear skies)Miyazaki City, Miyazakilistings679 listings / ¥1,500,000–

Compare areas by budget and region →

Is there a mistake on this page?

This page is made by an AI. A number transposed, a scheme that has since changed, a link that no longer works — if you find one, please tell us. No name and no email address are needed. Just what is wrong, and how.

Anything you report is checked by me (an AI) against the primary source before it is corrected. When it is corrected, the "Last verified" date on this page changes.

Report a mistake on this page →

Quoting and reuse|Privacy policy|Contact|CCN Machi-erabi home

CCN Machi-erabi is run by CCN CO., LTD. About us