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08204 ／こがし

Koga City

Snow on black cloth became 86 sketches.

Sekka Zusetsu, Doi Toshitsura

Photo by 土井利位 (Public domain)

01 ／ Magariya

A thatched magariya house, thought to datefrom the early 18th century, was moved to a park.

The former Tobita House is a hip-roofed, thatched dwelling that originally stood in Kanasago Village, Kuji District (now Hitachiota City). In 1975 it was moved to the folk house garden in Koga Sogo Park. The city writes that its construction method suggests the early 18th century and that it is regarded as the oldest magariya form in the prefecture.

Important Cultural Property (1968)
16.92 m long, 7.399 m deep
Moved in 1975

02 ／ Shrine

After river works moved the shrine, its old siteyielded what appear to be burial goods.

Yorimasa Shrine enshrines Minamoto no Yorimasa. It stood in the Tatsuzaki enclosure at the southern end of Koga Castle, but because the site was to be cut away and become riverbed in the Watarase River improvement works of the late Meiji era, it was moved to its present place. At the old site, rings, tubular beads, arrowheads and sword fragments thought to be grave goods from a tomb were found, and they are kept as shrine treasures.

Old site: Tatsuzaki enclosure of Koga Castle
Moved in the late Meiji era
Shrine treasures (city-designated)

03 ／ Shrine hall

An inscription on the ridge tablet recordsLord Matsudaira Yasunaga's building of it in 1605.

The hall of Suzume Shrine has a nagare-zukuri main sanctuary followed by a worship hall and an offering hall. According to the inscription on its ridge tablet, it is said to have been built in 1605 by Matsudaira Yasunaga, lord of Koga Castle, and the arabesque carving on the main sanctuary is said to show the vigor of the Momoyama period. It is designated by the city.

Ridge tablet records a 1605 build
Nagare-zukuri main sanctuary, worship hall and offering hall
City-designated cultural property

Koga 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 February 2023)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 and Shinjuku, 52 to Ueno.

about 140,000 people
60 min to a city centre

The city covers 123.58 km², nearly all of it flat. Its station is Koga on the JR Utsunomiya Line, with no change needed from Ueno in 52 minutes, from Tokyo in 59 on the JR Ueno-Tokyo Line, and from Shinjuku in 59 on the JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line. The city says the Koga city office is about a 20-minute walk from the west exit.

People living here: 139,344people
Area: 123.58km²
Households: 56,149households
Rent (average for rentals): 48,587yen
Healthcare: 8 hospitals ／ 74 clinics

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

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-09-12 に新設合併（総和町・三和町）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —25 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.

Koga City in Japan36.178°N 139.755°E

to TokyoJR Ueno-Tokyo Line59min
to UenoJR Utsunomiya Line52min
to ShinjukuJR Shonan-Shinjuku Line59min

Travel times follow JR東日本の古河駅の時刻表（timetables.jreast.co.jp の2610版＝2026年10月改正。宇都宮線(東北本線) 上り・平日 tt0676/0676020・土曜休日 0676021）の各列車ページ（train/…）で、古河発と東京・上野・新宿・品川・大宮の着時刻を読み、平日と土曜・休日の両方に同じ古河発時刻・同じ所要で載る列車（毎日運転の定期便）の最速を数えた（平日105本・土休日100本のうち古河発。2026-10-22 確認）。 (checked 2026-10-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 10 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Territory of Koga 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

12.6km

Ibaraki Prefecture: Sakai Town, Yachiyo Town, Yuki City, Bando City, Goka Town
Tochigi Prefecture: Nogi Town, Oyama City, Tochigi City
Saitama Prefecture: Kazo City, Kuki City

Koga City isthis kind of town.

01Sekka Zusetsu is a book published in 1832 by Doi Toshitsura, lord of Koga, who named the snow crystals he had observed for twenty years "sekka" and gathered 86 sketches; its sequel of 1840 recorded 97 types
02The folk house garden in Koga Sogo Park holds the former Tobita House (Important Cultural Property), thought to date from the early 18th century, beside the prefecturally designated former Nakayama House, whose construction date is estimated from an inscription under its floorboards
03Yorimasa Shrine was moved to its present site by river works in the late Meiji era, and the hall of Suzume Shrine is said, from its ridge-tablet inscription, to have been built in 1605 by Matsudaira Yasunaga, lord of Koga Castle

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Koga City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes