Relocating to Tsukuba?

Tsukuba Destination Guide

Tsukuba City is located in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, about 50km (approx. 50min by car) from Tokyo. Although you’ll have to cross through the Saitama and Chiba prefectures, Akihabara can be reached from Tsukuba Station in under an hour on the Tsukuba Express Railway line.

The weather is Tsukuba is considered to be very mild although throughout the year but has it tends to get a higher than average amount of rainfall. During the hottest time of the year (August) the temperature averages about 26ºC, the highest temperature is over 30ºC, and about 3ºC during the coldest (January).

Tsukuba is most famously known as “Tsukuba Science City”. This name does not apply to one part of Tsukuba City but in fact the whole city itself. The city is divided into two parts, the “Research and Education District” and the “Surrounding Development District”. In the Research and Education District there are public facilities and research and educational organizations along with their own residences. The Surrounding Development District applies any part of the city that is not designated as part of the Research and Education District. Each year thousands of talented individuals from across the globe seeing high-level experience as researchers or exchange students come to live and learn in Tsukuba City. Tsukuba is the Japan's largest science city with over 20,000 researchers.

As many foreigners work and live in Tsukuba City, the city offers many services and support in multiple languages (Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, and English). For those with children there are various international schools in Tsukuba City including but not limited to Tsukuba International School (TIS), Mirai International School, and Kids International Tsukuba. Tsukuba City is very convenient for raising children and has over 180 parks throughout the city.

There are many thing to do in Tsukuba throughout the year. For those who enjoy science and technology, there is The National Institute of Advanced industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba Expo Center, and the JAXA Space Center. While it is known as Science City, there are other things to do throughout the city that are more “analog”. You can find parks throughout the city such as the Kenkyugakuen Ei-mae Koen, Expo ’85 memorial Park, Matsumi Park, Chuo Koen, and if you’re feeling more adventurous you can visit Mount Tsukuba.

On Mount Tsukuba there are hot springs, restaurants, hiking trails, and an observatory. You can reach the bas of Mount Tsukuba by taking a bus from Tsukuba Station to the Tsukubasan Shrine. You can ascend the mountain by riding a cable car to the top or by riding a gondola (ropeway). Both choices will result in about a leisurely hour long sightseeing ride. During the autumn you can enjoy the changing of the leaves (Koyo) as well as the blooming of plum blossoms as the seasons change from winter to spring.