Shimotsuke City

A plant 'extinct' in Tochigi was found.

Tōsawa-toranoo, Higashine

Photo by Qwert1234 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Haniwa

A haniwa of a woman weavingcame out of a burial mound.

Kabutozuka Kofun is a scallop-shaped keyhole mound about 80 m long, southwest of the Shimotsuke Kokubun-ji ruins, thought to date from the late sixth century. From the notch on its west side came weaving haniwa, together with human and horse haniwa. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the two, whose looms differ, the only such finds in Japan; 97 finds became Important Cultural Properties in 2017.

About 80 m long
2 weaving haniwa
Important Cultural Property, 2017

02 ／ Carvings

Of the 39 names found on the carvings,26 are those of a woman alone.

Kanai Shrine was the guardian shrine of Koganei post town in the Edo period, called Hokushin-sha and by similar names. Its city-designated main hall, carved over its walls, is estimated to date from the 1830s to the 1850s. Of 39 donor names confirmed, 26, not counting couples and families, are of one woman; the city says they were probably women of Koganei's merchant houses and inns.

Estimated 1830s-1850s
39 donors confirmed
26 are one woman

03 ／ Ichirizuka

22 ri from Edo's Nihonbashi.Two mounds survive almost whole.

Koganei Ichirizuka stands on the Nikkō Kaidō, 22 ri (one ri is about 4 km) from Nihonbashi, and became a national historic site in 1922. Because both mounds survive almost whole, the city calls it the only nationally designated site on the Nikkō Dōchū. Weathering has rounded them, but a survey showed they were originally square.

22 ri from Nihonbashi
National historic site, 1922
Originally square

Living here

From Jichi Medical University Station, 83 minutes to Shinjuku, no change.

about 60,000 people
90 min to a city centre

The city has three JR stations: Ishibashi, Jichi Medical University and Koganei, and the city says many trains start at Koganei. On the JR East timetable of October 2026, it is 83 minutes from Jichi Medical University Station to Shinjuku and 50 to Ōmiya on the Shonan-Shinjuku Line, and 92 to Tokyo on the Ueno-Tokyo Line, all without changing. In summer, the gourds grown for kanpyō, dried gourd strips, ripen all over the city.

People living here: 59,507people
Area: 74.59km²
Households: 23,497households
Rent (average for rentals): 48,337yen
Healthcare: 4 hospitals ／ 63 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —11 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.

Shimotsuke City in Japan36.395°N 139.852°E

to TokyoJR Ueno-Tokyo Line92min
to ShinjukuJR Shonan-Shinjuku Line83min
to ŌmiyaJR Shonan-Shinjuku Line50min
to UenoJR Ueno-Tokyo Line86min

Travel times follow JR東日本の自治医大駅の時刻表〔宇都宮線(東北本線) 大宮・上野・新宿方面(上り)の平日・土曜休日〕2026年10月版（2026-10-08 閲覧）と、そこから開いた列車ごとの停車時刻ページ（自治医大の発〜東京・上野・大宮・新宿の着） (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

Territory of Shimotsuke City

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

15.3km

小山市, 壬生町, 上三川町, 宇都宮市, 真岡市, 栃木市

Shimotsuke City isthis kind of town.

01The Tōsawa-toranoo of Higashine, a primrose-family perennial once thought extinct in the prefecture, was found in a June 2006 ecological survey for a field-consolidation project, the first find in Tochigi in 50 years
02A weaving haniwa from Kabutozuka Kofun is an Important Cultural Property, the main hall of Kanai Shrine, once Koganei's guardian shrine, bears donors' names, and the national historic site Koganei Ichirizuka stands by the Nikkō Kaidō
03The city has the national historic sites Shimotsuke Yakushi-ji, Shimotsuke Kokubun-ji and Shimotsuke Kokubun-niji, the prefecturally designated Higashine Kuyōtō stone pagoda and the silver-decorated sword from Besshoyama Kofun, and the sister-city tie that old Ishibashi formed in 1975 with Steinbrücken, Germany

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Shimotsuke City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗