Kabutoishi, Stone Boat Shrine, Shirosato Town
Article

08310 / しろさとまち

Ibaraki Prefecture 東茨城郡

Shirosato Town

A rain-rite stone boat, a helmet stone.

Kabutoishi, Stone Boat Shrine

Photo by スティーブ・ミズキ (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 / Lacquer craft

From shaping the wood to the finish,one lacquer craft does it all.

Awano Shunkei lacquerware is made through one continuous process, from refining the lacquer to building the wooden body, applying the lacquer and drying it to a finish. Clear lacquer is applied so that the grain of the wood shows through. The town notes that it uses ishippi, the hardest cypress from around Mount Gozen.

  • Prefectural designation, 1989
  • Ishippi cypress
  • One continuous process

02 / Graves

In the graveyard of the Satake family temple,three stone pagodas stand.

Graves in Shirosato Town
Photo by 小石川人晃 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Seion-ji is the family temple of the Satake. In the graveyard west of the founder's hall stand three hokyointo stone pagodas that the town records as, from the left, the graves of the tenth Satake head, the temple's founding priest, and the ninth head. They are made of tuff, from the Nanboku-cho period.

  • 140 cm tall
  • Nanboku-cho period
  • Town historic site, 1972

03 / Canal

An irrigation canal said to run about 18 kmwas dug from the Naka River toward Mito.

The Akazawae canal was an agricultural waterway built on the order of Tokugawa Yorifusa, the first lord of the Mito domain. Its intake was cut into the foot of Mount Gozen at the former Akazawa village, on the Naka River; work began in 1650 and ended in 1656. Most of its course is now buried, and traces of the channel remain here and there.

  • 1650-1656
  • Said to be about 18 km long
  • Town historic site, 1974

Shirosato 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 October 2012)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

45 minutes by bus from Mito Station.

  • about 20,000 people
  • Rural district town

There is no railway station in town. The Ibaraki Kotsu route bus runs from the north exit of Mito Station to Ishizuka Garage, in town, in 45 minutes (fastest daily service in the timetable revised 1 April 2026). The town's own guide gives about 45 minutes from the north exit of Mito Station to the Shirosato Town Office stop.

People living here
18,097people
20052020

−8.6% since 2015

22,993 → 18,097

Area
161.8km²

63.03km² of it habitable

2024

Households
6,913households

2.6 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
27,595yen

National average 60,630 yen

2023

Healthcare
1 hospital / 11 clinics

6.6 per 10,000 people

2023

Area161.8km²Habitable land63.03km² / 39%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—5 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.

Shirosato Town in Japan36.479°N 140.376°E
OsakaShirosato Town
  • to MitoLocal bus45min

Travel times follow 城里町公式『路線バス』(令和8年6月15日更新)の『路線バス時刻表(2026.4.1改正)』PDF(茨城交通。画像のPDFで文字が取れず、画像を目で読んだ)の『40・45 水戸駅〜石塚〜野口・御前山線主要バス停時刻表』下り(水戸駅北口発) (checked 2026-10-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Shirosato 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

13.7km

Tochigi Prefecture
Motegi Town

Shirosato Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01The town bulletin describes Iwafune's Stone Boat Shrine as an old shrine founded before 859 and listed among the Engishiki minor shrines; in its grounds are the sacred Kabutoishi (helmet stone) and the stone boat used in rain rites
  2. 02Awano lacquerware, a prefecturally designated intangible cultural property, is made in one continuous process, and Seion-ji holds three Satake pagodas
  3. 03Traces of the Akazawae canal, said to run about 18 km and dug on the order of the first Mito lord, remain here and there as a town historic site

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.