Kojima Hermitage Site, Shimotsuma City
Article

08210 / しもつまし

Ibaraki Prefecture

Shimotsuma City

Said to be where Shinran stayed 3 years.

Kojima Hermitage Site

Photo by ktakobo (CC BY-SA 1.0)

01 / Sluice gate

Two brick sluice gates, east and west,split the upstream water equally.

Behind a shrine in Honsodo, this water-division facility was built in 1900 (Meiji 33) to irrigate the land between the Kinu and Kokai rivers. The central pier faces upstream with a prow-like cutwater, and the bricks bear a "∴" mark showing they came from a Shimotsuma brick works that opened in 1898.

  • Nationally registered Tangible Cultural Property (2015)
  • JSCE Selected Civil Engineering Heritage (2016)
  • Built in 1900 (Meiji 33)

02 / Main hall

The giboshi inscription shows the lord of Shimotsuma Castlebuilt the main hall in 1577.

Main hall in Shimotsuma City
Photo by MChew (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The main hall of Daiho Hachimangu Shrine is in the sangenja nagare-zukuri style. The giboshi, the onion-shaped finials on the corridor railing, show that Tagaya, lord of Shimotsuma Castle, built it in the fifth year of Tenshō (1577). The city describes it as a valuable example of regional architecture of the early Momoyama period, without showy decoration and with a calm presence.

  • Important Cultural Property (designated 1906)
  • Sangenja nagare-zukuri style
  • Built in 1577

03 / Monument

Selling the sacred trees paid for a school;this monument records how.

The site of the Kamaniwa East Community Hall was once the Seiryu Gongen shrine, with seven large trees. After the war, to build a new junior high school, local people cut down the sacred trees handed down from their ancestors and put the proceeds toward construction. This monument records that story.

  • City-designated historical material (2002)
  • Seven large trees
  • Proceeds went to construction

Shimotsuma City 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

Four Kanto Railway Joso Line stations run north to south through the city.

  • about 40,000 people

The city covers 80.88 km², with Lake Sanuma at its center, the Kokai River to the east and the Kinu River to the west. The Kanto Railway Joso Line runs the length of the city, north to south, with four stations: Sodo, Shimotsuma, Daiho and Tobanoe. To the south it connects to the Tsukuba Express at Moriya and to the JR Joban Line at Toride; to the north, to the JR Mito Line and the Moka Line at Shimodate.

People living here
42,521people
2010

−1.8% since 2015

44,987 → 42,521

Area
80.88km²

77.73km² of it habitable

2024

Households
16,407households

2.6 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
43,318yen

National average 60,630 yen

2023

Healthcare
3 hospitals / 25 clinics

6.6 per 10,000 people

2023

Almost entirely flat.Almost all of it is habitable land (96.1%)
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Population from 2010 onward (municipal boundary changed).2006-01-01 に編入合併(千代川村)。2010年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare
—6 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.

Shape

Surrounded by 4 municipalities, and almost entirely flat.

Shimotsuma City in Japan36.184°N 139.968°E
OsakaShimotsuma City
Territory of Shimotsuma 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

Travel times per leg are not published by the municipality, so they are not shown.

Shimotsuma City isthis kind of town.

  1. 01The Kojima Hermitage Site is a city-designated historic site said to be where Shinran stayed three years with his wife Eshinni and first spread Pure Land Buddhism in the Kanto region; an old monument and a ginkgo remain
  2. 02The Ezure Irrigation Canal's Miyaura sluice in Honsodo is a Meiji-era brick water-division facility, and the Daiho Hachimangu main hall is shown by its giboshi inscription to date from 1577
  3. 03At Kamaniwa, the Seiryu Gongen monument records how, after the war, sacred trees were felled and sold to pay for a junior high school building; it is a city-designated historical material

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

From this town's themes