Sekiyado Water Gate, Edo River, Goka Town
Article

08542 / ごかまち

Ibaraki Prefecture 猿島郡

Goka Town

Eight gates built to replace bodashi.

Sekiyado Water Gate, Edo River

Photo by 京浜にけ (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 / Burial mound

On the rear wall of a chamber of stacked pumice,a slab suggesting a five-ring pagoda is set.

Burial mound in Goka Town
Photo by Saigen Jiro (CC0)

This prefecturally designated historic site is a round mound 30 m across and about 4 m high. In its chamber, human-head-sized natural stones are laid at the bottom and dressed pumice is stacked above them as the side walls. The prefecture records that this type of tomb, thought to date from the late Kofun period, has no precedent in the Kanto region.

  • Prefectural historic site (29 March 1971)
  • Side walls of dressed pumice
  • Slab suggesting a five-ring pagoda on the rear wall

02 / Temple bell

The inscription says Bunmei 8 (1476),but an appraisal dates the maker to about 1321.

Temple bell in Goka Town
Photo by 小石川人晃 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The bell of Tosho-ji is a prefecturally designated craft work. Its inscription records the name of a principal patron and the date, the fourth day of the sixth month of Bunmei 8. The prefecture cites a scholar's appraisal that it was cast around Genkyo 1 (1321) by a founder from Shimotsuke Province, with the inscription cut in the Bunmei era.

  • Prefectural craft work (28 March 1968)
  • Inscription dated 4th day of 6th month, Bunmei 8 (1476)
  • Appraisal: cast around Genkyo 1 (1321)

03 / Legend

The great horse of the Uji River raceis said to have died at Koshu.

According to the town, Koshu Meibason stands on a site said to have been the camp of Sasaki Takatsuna and Kajiwara Kagesue. Its origin note records that Ikezuki, the great horse Yoritomo gave Takatsuna, was wounded and gave out near here; people of the time put up a grave marker, and a hall was built in the Edo period.

  • Said to be Ikezuki's grave marker
  • Said to be the camp site of Sasaki Takatsuna and Kajiwara Kagesue
  • Festival days: 19 January and 19 April (origin note)

Goka Town from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot May 2021)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles(全国最新写真(シームレス)/国土画像情報(第一期:1974〜1978年撮影))

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

22 minutes from Satte Station by bus.

  • about 8,000 people
  • Rural district town

The town has no railway station. From Satte Station on the Tobu Nikko Line in Saitama Prefecture, the fastest daily Asahi Jidosha route bus takes 22 minutes to Goka Town Office. This follows the town's timetable revised on 1 February 2025; the town advises about 20 minutes.

People living here
8,093people
19952020

−7.9% since 2015

10,312 → 8,093

Area
23.11km²

22.91km² of it habitable

2024

Households
2,928households

2.8 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
0 hospitals / 3 clinics

3.7 per 10,000 people

2023

Almost entirely flat.Almost all of it is habitable land (99.1%)
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—2 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy
—
Average annual temperature
—

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Goka Town in Japan36.114°N 139.746°E
OsakaGoka Town
Goka Town Office
五霞町役場前2007
  • to SatteLocal bus22min

Travel times follow 五霞町公式『路線バス(代替バス)について』(2025年8月8日更新)にリンクされた時刻表PDF『五霞町役場前~幸手駅線 時刻表』(朝日自動車・2025年2月1日改正)の下り(幸手駅発→五霞町役場前着) (checked 2026-10-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Territory of Goka Town
Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号 平27情使、第585号)

North to south

6.2km

Ibaraki Prefecture
Koga City, Sakai Town
Saitama Prefecture
Satte City, Kuki City
Chiba Prefecture
Noda City

Goka Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01The Sekiyado Water Gate was built to replace the bodashi at the head of the Edo River, and consists of a sluice with eight gates and a lock for boats
  2. 02The chamber of Anayakushi Kofun has side walls of stacked pumice and a rear wall of a slab suggesting a five-ring pagoda
  3. 03The bell of Tosho-ji is a prefecturally designated craft work, inscribed Bunmei 8 (1476), and an appraisal dates its maker to about 1321

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

From this town's themes