Article

08205 ／いしおかし

Ishioka City

A spare-wood gate became a school gate.

Ishioka Jinya Gate, Fuchu Domain

Photo by AT@wiki from Japan (CC BY-SA 2.0)

01 ／ Signboard architecture

Tall windows line up left and right,with Lombard bands under the eaves.

The Jushichiya footwear shop stands on Nakamachi Street, a two-story wooden building from 1930. On the second floor, tall continuous windows are set on both sides of a bracket-style capital ornament, and Lombard bands run under the eaves. It was registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003.

Built in 1930
Two-story wooden building
National Registered Tangible Cultural Property (2003)

02 ／ Kakezukuri

Columns framed up on a cliff:a hip-roofed hall 22 m high overall.

Kakezukuri in Ishioka City — Photo by katorisi (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Saiko-in stands partway up a mountain at the northern end of Yoshiu. Its main hall is a hip-roofed building 22 m high overall and 7.6 m square, built in kakezukuri (stilted) style on supports more than 11 m high framed on a sheer cliff. The present hall was rebuilt in 1791 and was designated a prefectural Tangible Cultural Property in 1970.

22 m high overall, supports over 11 m
Rebuilt in 1791
Prefectural Tangible Cultural Property (1970)

03 ／ Geomagnetism

An observation that could no longer go onin Tokyo began at Kakioka in 1913.

At Kakioka, home of the Kakioka Magnetic Observatory of the Japan Meteorological Agency, geomagnetic observation began in 1913. Observation at the Central Meteorological Observatory in Tokyo could no longer continue after the city's direct-current trams opened. The laboratory of 1924 is built of brick with a roof of non-magnetic copper sheet, since iron and other magnetic materials could not be used.

Observation since 1913
Laboratory built in 1924
Brick, copper-sheet roof

Ishioka 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–November 2019)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

59 minutes to Tokyo, 52 to Ueno.

about 70,000 people
60 min to a city centre

The city covers 215.48 km², including the water surface of Lake Kasumigaura. The Tsukuba mountain range runs along the northwest, and gently rolling hills spread from there toward the southern urban area. Ishioka Station on the JR Joban Line is reached by the Limited Express Tokiwa without a change: 59 minutes from Tokyo and 52 from Ueno.

People living here: 73,061people
Area: 215.53km²
Households: 28,344households
Rent (average for rentals): 46,869yen
Healthcare: 9 hospitals ／ 43 clinics

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

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-10-01 に新設合併（八郷町）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —14 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.

Ishioka City in Japan36.191°N 140.287°E

to TokyoLtd. exp. Tokiwa59min
to UenoLtd. exp. Tokiwa52min

Travel times follow JR東日本の駅の時刻表（2610版・2026年10月号）の常磐線下り（平日 v240d1・土休日 v240d2。第87弾の笠間の第1段が機械で読んだ写し $SP/ibaraki-kasama/v240d1.html・v240d2.html）で、品川・東京・上野・北千住の発の時刻と石岡の時刻（表は石岡の『発』行のみ。特急は停車で着発が同時刻）の差を、運転日が『全日』の列車から数えた。第1段のYahoo!路線情報の値と一致 (checked 2026-10-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

Territory of Ishioka 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

21.9km

Kasumigaura City, Omitama City, Kasama City, Sakuragawa City, Tsukuba City, Tsuchiura City

Ishioka City isthis kind of town.

01The Ishioka jinya gate belonged to the jinya, the office the Fuchu Domain set up to run local affairs while its lord stayed in Edo; it was built in 1828 from timber left over from the building of a new residence in Koishikawa, Edo, served as the gate of Ishioka Elementary School, and was moved to its present site in 2014, and it is a prefectural Tangible Cultural Property (structure)
02The Jushichiya footwear shop on Nakamachi Street is a signboard-style building of 1930 and a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property, and the main hall of Saiko-in in Yoshiu is a kakezukuri hall on a cliff and a prefectural Tangible Cultural Property
03The Kakioka Magnetic Observatory of the Japan Meteorological Agency has observed geomagnetism since 1913, and the city also has national historic sites including the ruins of the Hitachi Kokubun-ji temple and the provincial office, and Funatsukayama Tumulus

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Ishioka City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes