Motegi Town

A tunnel no train ever ran through.

Nagakura Line tunnel

Photo by Rick330 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Graves

The lords' grave markers area single cedar, not a stone.

I能持院細川家の墓所.jpg — Photo by Liesl (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the cedar grove of the temple stand the graves of the Hosokawa family, lords of Motegi. From the first lord, Okimoto, to the ninth, no gravestone was set up; a single cedar was planted as the marker, and in front of the tomb a stone lantern engraved with the date of death was placed. The town's explanation calls this extremely unusual in the history of burial customs and the only one of its kind in the prefecture.

First to ninth lord
13 stone lanterns
Prefectural Historic Site, 1976

02 ／ Farmhouse

A ridge-beam tabletfixes the year it was built.

The former Haneishi House in Makino is a thatched, hip-roofed farmhouse made up of an earthen-floored area and three rooms. It has a ridge-beam tablet of the Genroku 2 era (1689), and the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it an old surviving example among houses in eastern Japan whose date is known. It was moved and restored on its present site in 1978, and is an Important Cultural Property.

Genroku 2 (1689)
Hip roof, thatched
Moved and restored, 1978

03 ／ Great tree

One trunk from east or west,two from north or south.

The town records that this kaya tree (Japanese nutmeg-yew) began as two trees planted side by side whose bases fused as they grew into what looks like one root, so it is also called the "twin kaya". Seen from the east or west it looks like a single trunk; from the north or south, two trunks of the same size stand. Its estimated age is about 500 years, and it is a Prefectural Natural Monument.

Estimated age about 500 years
32.0 m tall
Prefectural designation, 1962

Living here

135 minutes by bus from Akihabara.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The only railway stations in town are Motegi and Tenyaba on the Moka Railway. The Ibaraki Kotsu highway bus Kanto Yakimono Liner runs from Akihabara Station to Motegi Sakagawakan-mae, a stop in town, without a change, in 135 minutes (timetable revised 18 July 2026). From Motegi Sakagawakan-mae to Akihabara Station it takes 165 minutes.

People living here: 11,891people
Area: 172.69km²
Households: 4,458households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 10 clinics

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

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.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Motegi Town in Japan36.532°N 140.188°E

to AkihabaraHighway bus135min

Travel times follow 茨城交通の高速バス「関東やきものライナー」（益子・笠間―秋葉原駅）の事業者公式の時刻表（2026年7月18日改正）。下り（秋葉原駅発）は 15:10→17:25・16:20→18:35・17:10→19:25 で、茂木さかがわ館前（町内の停留所）までいずれも135分。上り（茂木さかがわ館前発→秋葉原駅）は 6:25→9:10・7:35→10:20・8:25→11:10 でいずれも165分。1・3便目は『毎日』運行、2便目は『土日祝』のみ (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Motegi Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)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

25.3km

Tochigi Prefecture: 益子町, 市貝町, 那須烏山市
Ibaraki Prefecture: 城里町, 常陸大宮市, 桜川市, 笠間市

Motegi Town isthis kind of town.

01The Nagakura Line, begun in 1937 from Motegi toward Nagakura, was never completed; the tourist association introduces its tunnel as not blackened by soot inside
02In a cedar grove at the temple lie the graves of the Hosokawa lords of Motegi, marked not with gravestones but with cedars, and designated a prefectural historic site
03The town also has the former Haneishi House, an Important Cultural Property with a ridge-beam tablet of 1689, and a kaya tree that looks like one trunk from the east or west

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Motegi Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗