Article

08234 ／ほこたし

Hokota City

A pond shrine whose dragon is one piece.

Itsukushima Shrine, Konaji

Photo by 小石川人晃 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Haiku

In a bamboo grove along the approach,haiku stones in the poets' own hand.

The whole precinct of Daigi-ji Temple is a city-designated Place of Scenic Beauty. The Hokota tourist association says it was revived by Priest Butcho, whom Basho honored as his teacher, and that haiku stones in poets' own words and hand line the approach. The temple is said to be where Basho viewed the moon on his Kashima journey.

City-designated scenic place (whole precinct)
Revived by Priest Butcho
Haiku stones along the bamboo approach

02 ／ Tumulus

From a tumulus on a plateau above Kitaura,a ring-pommel sword of the lion-biting type.

The Kajiyama tumulus cluster stands on the edge of a plateau overlooking Lake Kitaura, with 7 keyhole-shaped and 5 round tumuli confirmed. When Tumulus No. 4 was excavated in 1980, one of the straight swords found in the stone coffin had a hilt end of the type called shigamikan-shiki kantō no tachi. Estimated to date from the late 6th to early 7th century, it is city-designated.

12 tumuli (7 keyhole-shaped, 5 round)
Finds from Tumulus No. 4 are city-designated (2007)
Estimated late 6th to early 7th century

03 ／ Bell tower

A thatched bell tower with a skirted base,and a tree with nine trunks at its foot, in one temple.

The bell tower of Muryoju-ji Temple in Torinosu is a single thatched, gabled structure with a skirted base, designated by the prefecture. Its date of construction is judged from a surviving ridge tag. The prefecture records the temple's bodhi tree (bodaiju) as 600 years old; its main trunk has died, and nine trunks grow from the base.

Bell tower, prefectural designation (1974)
Bodhi tree, prefectural natural monument (1961)
600 years old, nine trunks from the base

Hokota City from the sky

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

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot May 2019 – February 2020)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

160 minutes to Tokyo by express bus.

about 50,000 people

The city covers 207.60 km². It faces the Kashima-nada sea to the east, Lake Hinuma to the north and Lake Kitaura to the south, and most of its inland is flat. Its stations are the six of the Kashima Rinkai Railway Oarai-Kashima Line. The Kanto Railway express bus Asō-go takes 160 minutes from Tokyo Station Yaesu South Exit to Shin-Hokota Station on its daily run. The city records that it ranked first in Japan for vegetable output for ten straight years, from 2014 to 2023.

People living here: 45,953people
Area: 207.6km²
Households: 17,919households
Rent (average for rentals): 43,409yen
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 20 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —9 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.

Hokota City in Japan36.159°N 140.516°E

to TokyoHighway bus160min

Travel times follow 関東鉄道『鉾田・麻生・潮来・佐原・香取神宮～東京線高速バス「あそう号」運行時刻表』（hw_time_hokota-tokyo.pdf）の『毎日運行』の列。下り（東京駅八重洲南口15:50発→新鉾田駅18:30着） (checked 2026-10-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

Territory of Hokota City

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

23.1km

Namegata City, Ibaraki Town, Omitama City, Kashima City, Oarai Town

Hokota City isthis kind of town.

01Itsukushima Shrine in Konaji, Hokota, stands on a pond; its main hall is prefecturally designated and its worship hall city-designated, and the prefecture notes the dragon carving on the main hall's porch is made from a single piece of wood
02Daigi-ji Temple in Atama was revived by Priest Butcho, whom Basho honored as his teacher; haiku stones in the poets' own hand line its bamboo approach, and the whole precinct is a city-designated Place of Scenic Beauty
03Finds from Kajiyama Tumulus No. 4 include a ring-pommel sword of the lion-biting type, and Muryoju-ji Temple in Torinosu holds a prefecturally designated bell tower and bodhi tree and a picture scroll that is an Important Cultural Property

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Hokota City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes