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"Karima" ── Next to Kenkyu-gakuen, but not the "same." Between affordability and building conditions

2026年6月24日 07:00

The data in this article is based on publicly available information as of June 2026. Since school districts and development conditions are subject to review, please perform final verification at the address level.

The name of the town, Kenkyu-gakuen, has now reached beyond Tsukuba.

Land prices continue to rise, large commercial facilities line the streets, and new schools are being built one after another. It is the center of that momentum.

One block west of that Kenkyu-gakuen, there is a town called Karima.

Even though you can use the same station and live in the same shopping area, the prices are clearly lower. Hearing just this, it might seem like a very attractive option.

However, there is one premise about Karima that you should know beforehand. This area is primarily an urbanization control area, meaning it is not a town where "anyone can build a house anywhere, immediately."

You can get the benefits of convenience from your neighbor. However, the path to owning land and building a house comes with conditions that do not exist in Kenkyu-gakuen.

Moreover, as the city has gradually expanded the areas where housing can be built (designated areas), Karima is now at a stage where new plots are beginning to emerge.

In this series, we look at areas in Tsukuba based on three axes: education, safety, and asset value. This time, it is Karima.

Education ── A single prefectural road changes the school you attend

Karima is a rare town where the school children attend is divided within the same town name.

Most of Karima is in the Katsuragi Elementary School district. Katsuragi Elementary has its school building in Karima and is positioned within the integrated elementary and junior high school flow (Kokki Gakuen) that leads to Tedori Junior High School.

It is a calm, medium-sized school that has grown together with the local community.

On the other hand, a section on the north side, close to Kenkyu-gakuen Station and Kasuga, falls into the Kasuga Gakuen Compulsory Education School district.

Kasuga Gakuen is an integrated facility school that symbolically promotes Tsukuba's integrated elementary and junior high education, and is known for its advanced practices such as the use of ICT. However, due to its popularity and population influx, overcrowding has continued, and it also has a history of separating and establishing new schools in Gakuen-no-Mori and Kenkyu-gakuen.

If you are looking for a house in Karima, please check not only the town name but also which side of the Toride-Tsukuba Prefectural Road the land is on. Is it the calm, integrated Katsuragi/Kokki Gakuen, or the advanced, large-scale Kasuga Gakuen?

Even in the same "Karima," the school landscape that children attend every day changes. The deciding factor is not the town name, but the address.

Since school district boundaries are subject to review, please ultimately confirm with the Tsukuba City school district regulations.

Safety ── Peace of mind on the central plateau, and address differences at the periphery

The ground is relatively stable on the central plateau. However, the degree of peace of mind varies from plot to plot.

Karima is located on the plateau in the central part of Tsukuba, with the surface covered by the Kanto Loam layer. It is considered to have less amplification of shaking compared to low-lying areas, and because it is at a distance from major rivers, the risk of flooding is also considered limited.

It is a corner of the good ground that is continuous with Kenkyu-gakuen and is so-called "Tsukuba-like."

However, this is just a general theory that averages out the entire town. Karima is vast, and it is a town with a wide range of expressions, from the settlement areas in the urbanization control area to the plots near the station.

As for the voices of the residents, there are also points made that it is easy for recovery to take time in the event of a disaster when away from the center, and that the sidewalks are dark at night.

At the stage of specifically considering a purchase, please be sure to check the address itself on the Tsukuba City hazard map (Tsukumiru). Even in the same Karima, it is a place where the sense of security changes.

Asset value ── The conditions of "who can build and where" behind the low price

The low price of Karima is also the flip side of not being able to build freely.

First, from the numbers. According to calculations based on transaction cases from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the land market price in Karima as of 2026 is generally considered to be in the 200,000 yen per tsubo range (Real Estate Information Library).

Compared to Kenkyu-gakuen, which exceeds the city average, it is a fairly suppressed level.

The reason for the low price lies in the origin of the land. Much of Karima is an urbanization control area, where you cannot originally build houses freely.

However, Tsukuba City has a mechanism called "area designation." If it is within an area designated in advance by the city, you can obtain permission to build a house even if you are not a local resident.

Karima, which is close to urbanization promotion areas like Kenkyu-gakuen, is a place where it is easy to enter this designated area. And in recent years, the city has gradually expanded the scope of designation and the range of building methods. The background to the fact that new plots are being born little by little in Karima is this "expansion of designated areas."

Here, there is a turning point that cannot be overlooked. Even in the same Karima, the story changes completely depending on whether the land is "inside the designated area" or "outside."

If it is inside the designated area, anyone can obtain permission to build. On the other hand, land that has received individual permission outside the area (such as housing for branch families or special-purpose land conditional on a certain number of years of residence) tends to be difficult for a third party to buy and rebuild, or to sell later.

Another thing is that liquidity is also modest. There are almost no condominiums in Karima, and it is centered on detached houses and land. Because the depth of buying and selling is thin, there is a tendency for it to take time when letting go.

Future price movements cannot be determined. It is safe to understand it not as "safe because the price is low," but as "affordability after accepting the conditions of the area and liquidity." Several conditions to bear in exchange for affordability.

People who are suitable and people who are not suitable

Karima is a town suitable for "people who can receive the convenience of Kenkyu-gakuen next door, at a low price, and with conditions."

Those who are suitable are families who want to build a custom-built house while using the living area of Kenkyu-gakuen, taking a larger land, and keeping the price down. In particular, it is for the segment that cannot afford a new house in the center of Kenkyu-gakuen, but has a car and can proceed with the procedures until building without finding it troublesome.

Conversely, those who are not suitable are people who want to build freely immediately and anywhere, people who want to move in immediately with a condominium or used house, people who prioritize walking to the station and do not want to have a car, and people who value future ease of sale.

If Kenkyu-gakuen is a town of "change and asset value," Karima is a town of "affordability and accepted conditions." The only question is which side you choose to stand on.