Tsukuba Science City

Carly Bode, International Affairs Division
Picture of Tsukuba

Tsukuba Science City is located approximately 60 km northeast of Tōkyō. It covers an area of approximately 28,000 hectares and is situated on the Jōsō Plateau, which is 20–30 meters above sea level.

Tsukuba Science City was first proposed in the 1960s to help promote science and technology and to become the center of advanced research and higher education based on national institutes and the University of Tsukuba, and in the early 1970s, construction began.

While most of you will have heard of the Aichi Expo in 2005, the first "International Exposition of Science and Technology" held in Japan was in 1985 in Tsukuba.

There are currently 46 national research and educational institutions in operation within Tsukuba City, and these employ 13,000 people (8,500 of them are researchers). Apart from these national institutions, there are 4,500 people working in the many private research institutions that have congregated around the Science City.

Together with the private research facilities in the suburban area, Tsukuba Science City is Japan's largest research and development base, and in addition to producing many world-class scientific and technical research results, it is advancing research exchange with other facilities in Japan and abroad.

A map showing the location of the main institutes can be found here at the Tsukuba Science City Information website(external link).

Tsukuba Express
The Tsukuba Express train connecting Tsukuba and Akihabara, Tōkyō

Through a number of mergers, the most recent in 2002, Tsukuba has grown to become a city of 188,000 people, with 65,000 of those residents in the research and education area. Tsukuba has the highest concentration of foreigners of anywhere in Ibaraki. As of 2004, there were 7,080 foreigners living in Tsukuba, many of these researchers at the institutions or universities.

Access to the city is being improved every day. The new Tsukuba Express opened in August 2005 linking Akihabara and Tsukuba, and a new freeway linking Tsukuba with Narita Airport is on the drawing board. Within the city, large north-south and east-west roads make it easy to get around and a great walking and bicycle path links many of the universities and institutions together through a central green tract of land.

If you require any written material, call the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Science Center at 029-851-1331 or visit the Tsukuba Information Center(external link), 1-10-1 Azuma Tsukuba.

Tsukuba information thanks to the Tsukuba Science City Information website(external link).